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LIFESTYLE The Champion, Thursday, March 10-16, 2016
Cir show
drives iito town
Get the royal treatment ii the 201G Renal GS
by Gale Horton Gay
Car fanatics and those in the
market for a new ride may want
to head to the 34 th Annual Atlanta
International Car Show.
More than 400 new 2016
import and domestic cars, light
trucks, vans and sport utility
vehicles are being showcased
as well as a slew of 2017 pre-
production vehicles (Audi R8,
Buick LaCrosse, Cadillac XT5,
Ford F-150 Raptor, GMC Aca
dia, Hyundai Elantra, Lexus
LC 500, Mercedes-Benz GLS
63, to name a few). There are
a wide variety of styles: luxury
cars, economy cars, family cars,
sports cars, hybrids, electric ve
hicles, convertibles, limited pro
duction cars, light trucks, vans
and 4-wheel drive vehicles. Fac
tory and dealer representatives
will be on site to talk about the
vehicles and answer questions.
The show is interactive with
several manufacturers holding
“ride and drive” events includ
ing Chrysler, Ford, Kia, GM and
Honda.
Vintage cars as well as exotic
and high-performance vehicles
There also will be appear
ances by Spider-Man, Ant-Man
and actors who play walkers on
The Walking Dead.
The show runs March 9-13
at the Georgia World Congress
Center. Tickets are $5-$10 and
those 55 and older receive a 50
percent discount on tickets and
parking on March 10 and col
lege students are eligible for a 50
percent discount on March 11.
Proper identification is required
at the box office.
The Georgia World Congress
Center is located at 235 North-
side Drive (next to the Georgia
Dome) in Atlanta.
For more information on the
car show, go to www.goauto-
show.com.
by Gale Horton Gay
For the 2016 Buick Regal GS,
the name really does say it all.
This is one refined vehicle in its
interior and exterior appearance as
well as how it performs on the road.
It delivers an exceptionally smooth
ride and the handling is top-notch. I
found myself in awe of almost every
aspect of the mechanics and aes
thetics.
The Regal GS comes with a 2-li-
ter turbocharged engine, six-speed
automatic transmission and the op
tion of front-wheel drive or all-wheel
drive.
Driver chooses between differ
ent driving modes including a GS
mode as well as a “track-oriented
competitive” setting. Inside, even
before pushing the start button, the
Regal’s passive entry system rec
ognizes that the driver has arrived
and turns on some of the vehicle’s
information systems.
The Regal’s designers have tak
en a less-is-more approach as de
sign elements are streamlined but
extremely stylish. Nothing screams
“look at me,” however its under
stated elegance immediately draws
attention. On the outside I took note
of the chrome accents on the front
hood air vents and door handles as
well as the stainless steel dual ex
haust tips.
Apple CarPlay is one of the ve
hicles “new for 2016” features. On-
Star 4G LTE connectivity with Wi-Fi
hotspot is another feature sure to
be popular with potential buyers.
Directly in front of the driver is
the driver information system which
displays the data drivers rely on
most. The center stack isn’t clut
tered with controls—instead one
can use the touch screen for such
selections as music, phone, weath
er, navigation, etc. And below that
is the dual temperature controls
that again are adjusted via individu
al touch screens.
Among the safety features, the
2016 Regal GS offers two “driver
confidence” packages with features
such as forward collision alert, lane
change and departure warnings,
blind side alert, following distance
indicator, collision mitigation brak
ing and more.
The Regal GS (front-wheel
drive) achieved 21 miles per gallon
in the city and 30 mpg on the high
way and the all-wheel drive model
achieved 19 mpg in the city and 27
mpg on the highway in government
fuel economy tests. It’s equipped
with an 18-gallon tank.
The vehicle comes with 19-inch
wheels (20-inch are optional) as
well as a rear vision camera sys
tem. Other standard equipment
includes heated front seats, leather
trimmed seats and leather wrapped
steering wheel.
The Regal provides people and
their things with adequate room to
stretch out and store luggage, gro
ceries and other gear with a gener
ous trunk with 14.2 cubic feet of
space. Interior legroom ranges from
42 inches for front seat passengers
and 37 inches for those in the rear.
The 2016 Regal GS starts at
$27, 065 but can easily reach
$34560 with many of the options
mentioned.