Buick Regal eAssist mild hybrid, standard engine for 2013

The Buick Regal will come with eAssist hybrid technology in 2013 as standard equipment. A system that provides a light, but effective, secondary electric motor that assists to either motivate the car during slow traffic or to provide an additional boost to the engine, eAssist was initially a $2,000 option for Regals equipped with the Ecotec 2.4 liter engine. According to EPA ratings, the eAssist Regal reaches 25 mpg city and 36 mpg highway.

GM will phase out the base 2.4-liter engine which delivers 19 mpg city and 31 mpg highway.

No word yet on the 2013 Regal eAssist pricing, but the 2012 model starts at $28,490 excluding an $885 destination charge.

If the thought of conservation takes away the fun of driving cars, there are a few like-minded individuals at GM. For 2013, the Buick Regal GS will have an automatic transmission option. Currently, standard equipment is a manual transmission paired with the high-performance Regal GS’s 2.0-liter that produces 270 hp.

The new Aisin AF40 automatic transmission will be a no-cost option from the manual and has been tuned specifically for the high performance Regal GS. This transmission features driver shift control and when the “GS” performance mode is selected, the new 6-speed auto transmission provides harder, more positive shifts for improved performance.

Manual or automatic, the Regal GS will launch from zero to 60 in 6.7 seconds while still maintaining the EPA estimate of 19 mpg city and 27 mpg highway.