Per a variety of sources, but mainly http://gmauthority.com - the 2013 Verano Turbo's suspension is 20% stiffer.
Yes, this does change the ride in comparison to other Veranos, but to me it is a worthwhile change. It isn't really all that substantial and the car just "feels" a lot more connected and stable.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Day 3 - A couple more pictures
Handle: http://i.imgur.com/5oyYd.jpg
Rear-end with wing and dual-exhaust and turbo emblem: http://i.imgur.com/rOHgG.jpg
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Day 2 with the new 2013 Verano Turbo
Here
are some pictures of XM background which I found cool (maybe the '12
Intellilink had this, but I don't know). As well as the wireless
bluetooth pulling album art and the new separately-colored ignition
button.
- https://www.dropbox.com/s/p6fak96fdrojd2x/WP_20121230_002.jpg
- https://www.dropbox.com/s/g73mr12qeklnhk4/WP_20121230_003.jpg
- https://www.dropbox.com/s/5i3ivpypu65ajol/WP_20121230_004.jpg
- https://www.dropbox.com/s/5dhe4rsogh1qolv/WP_20121230_005.jpg
- Tone is no longer a dash button, but is a shortcut on the Home panel. At first I thought, "Oh, nice, they finally centralized it". But no, Bluetooth/FM/XM all still have separate Tone profiles, so placing that shortcut on Home is actually kind of unintuitive.
- My bluetooth driver must suck on my rooted/customized Android phone, because sometimes it either 1) stops playing, 2) disconnects, 3) gets my phone stuck in a state where the screen won't go off, or 4) forgets it's playing music and doesn't power the subs for bass.
- I am going to transfer my music over to my Lumia 920 Windows phone and try again tomorrow (I may also try the USB approach, I noticed when I plug my phone in by USB it tries to scan for music under the guise of "Windows Vista" capable phone, so maybe this would work too).
- Worst case scenario, I go back to AUX, no big deal, except I liked the album art and being able to seek tracks with the steering wheel.
- The navigation is superb, maybe it is just updated for my area, but for most of where I went today it not only showed me arrows, but showed me actual lane depictions when approaching intersections (like highway exit depictions, only more detailed). I would love to get a picture of this for you, but kind of dangerous to do while driving so this will have to wait until I have a passenger. A lot of this helped me prepare better for turns because I could better anticipate where to be lane-wise. Don't kill me, but I never used the nav voice on my '12, in fact, it was the first thing I turned off. I used it today on the '13 and I was surprised that it told me what lane to "bear" in to in preparation for the next turn, super handy (can't comment on whether the '12 did that or not, of course).
- One downside to the nav I noticed...in the '12 I could turn off the Voice Prompts in Config and with nav running my music would play just fine. In the '13, with Voice Prompts off, it still quiets the music/makes it click when a voice prompt would have occurred. This isn't a *huge* deal because my Infiniti's both did this as well, but I was really excited when my '12 *didn't* and was sad to see this disappear. OTOH, this could be another oddity with my bluetooth issues, so I will report back after trying AUX, USB, and/or bluetooth with my other phone in the next day or two.
- I was expecting a significant drop in MPG's with this Turbo model. My '12 averaged 24-26. I drove a bit over 80 city/highway miles today (sometimes a little more aggressively because I was enjoying the turbo), and I am seeing an average of 25.2mpg right now. This makes me pretty happy (if you'll remember, I was getting 18.7 - 19.2 on my Infiniti, so I see 25.2 as a welcome improvement).
- I think the engine is quieter when sitting idle. It could be because it is the 2.0L turbo, though, and this isn't really a big deal because inside the car you don't hear it. I only ever noticed when remote starting.
- Blind spot monitor actually saved me during a lane change today, I just did not see a motorcyclist, even after checking my blind-spot manually. But the light was on, and even though my instinct was to trust my own eyes versus technology, I said screw it and stayed in my lane. 1-2 seconds later, the motorcycle zoomed into view. That could have been bad. If I never use the blind spot monitor ever again, ever, that one incident still made it totally worth it.
- There were a couple of complaints about the bass being too high in the '12, even when turned down, and even with the volume down. I'd say it is much more even in the '13, and listening to the same songs as before I actually felt like something was missing. In turn, I cranked up the bass under Tone, to each their own, but I thought some would be happy to know that has been smoothed out. Now let's hope that rear speaker cover doesn't come lose and vibrate on this model too :P
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Traded 2012 Verano Leather for 2013 Verano Premium
I just traded my 2012 Verano Leather with
nav, split multi-spoke wheels, and sunroof for a 2013 Verano Premium
with nav, intellilink, all-weathers, cargo net, sunroof, and split
multi-spoke wheels. Both automatic. Both diamond white tricoat.
Yup, I liked my Verano *that* much.
It was this or a Cadillac ATS. I chose this, because I would have had to pay over $50k for an ATS + more to re-do the exhaust, wheels/tires, and custom work to insulate it for road noise. With the Buick I get a personally preferred exhaust/wheels/tires right out of the box + most ATS features, for a MUCH lower price tag.
Notable additions that drove my decision, with comments:
Intellilink available with Nav
--I love being able to wirelessly play music without an aux cable.
--It pulls album art/song name and displays on-screen!
--Pandora!
--Movie showtimes (I don't know yet if this is using my phone or using OnStar).
--NOTE: The navigation is no longer loaded from an SD Card in the center console. I don't know what this means in terms of upgrades or upgrade cost. OTOH, the navigation experience loads a lot faster now, which is nice. Or maybe the SD Card slot is somewhere else on the car now? If so, I haven't found it.
Refined UI
--The UI seems...clearer. The font is nicer.
--The nav looks much more detailed.
--Options are a little better organized, only slightly so.
--Overall it seems a lot more responsive.
Turbo and performance
--I always missed the power of my V6 Infiniti G37x. Now I essentially have it, with better MPG.
--The transmission seems more refined from 2012, it seems to shift more like when I would shift it as a Manual.
--The suspension is tighter, but not uncomfortably so, turns just seem less "floaty". I sense less body roll and I don't bottom out as easily going in and out of steep driveways.
--Steering is more responsive and I like the extra degree that I feel connected to the car. It is just enough sport edge, while maintaining the luxury-journey feel.
--The brakes seem a little nicer as well, I don't know for a fact if they are, and maybe its just the mechanisms behind the now chrome sport pedals, but they seem tighter.
Dual-exhaust
--Last summer I was going to shell out $1,000 for custom work to give my '12 Verano Leather a dual-exhaust appearance. Now I don't have to.
--It has a much more guttural exhaust note/tone now, I like it.
--It seems to have *less* exhaust "smoke" on a cold start-up, maybe its placebo. But pulling UP and out of my driveway on cold mornings I would actually have to stop periodically and let the smoke or whatever it is clear. Maybe it is just because there are two pipes and it dissipates faster.
Blind spot, cross traffic, back-up camera monitoring
--I missed the back-up camera from my Infiniti's, this is much appreciated because I suck at parallel parking and I have a long driveway that I back out of.
--I've never owned a car with Blind Spot alert, it is actually really nice. I drive on the freeway a lot each day and do a lot of lane-changes just to get where I'm going and this extra level of protection is nice.
--I've never owned a car with cross traffic alerts. At the end of my driveway, though, this should be helpful "just in case". Better safer than sorry.
Smart key
--The smart-key system is better on this. The 2012 didn't always recognize touches, it was also a white square that stood out from the door handles. It also had a bad delay. This new one fixes all that by using a chrome-color-matched button that not only has the benefit of tactile feedback, but also seems to respond instantaneously.
Misc.
--Rear-spoiler is a nice addition.
--The start button is now a silver color to give it contrast from the dash. This is actually a welcome addition, when valets or friends would drive my car, it took them FOREVER to find the start button.
--Glove box top shelf is now removable, but as such, also doesn't seem to stay put as well. Also, it doesn't hold pens the same way and for the particular pen I was keeping there, it doesn't exactly fit. Not a big deal, but again, thought I'd mention it.
--Still "Buick-quiet". As much more connected to the road as this feels, the cabin is still nice and quiet. I commute A LOT and this is a necessity for me.
--The horn sounds different...maybe its just me? It sounds more succinct.
--They gave me all-weather floor mats to go with my carpeted ones. Much appreciated, especially here in the pacific NW.
--Where the heck did my Tone button go?? Probably buried somewhere in options.
--My Verano Leather had a weird issue where lowest brightness would make the dashboard lights flicker. Seems fixed on this.
--The turn signal is a little easier to flip.
--Same split multi-spoke 18's. These are hands-down one of the best looking factory wheels on a car I've ever seen. I really like them. It's these: http://i.imgur.com/rXItb.jpg
Things I wish I still, but aren't a huge deal
--Color-keyed trunk button...on/near the trunk itself
--Lumbar seat adjustment
--Front parking sensors (I will probably add these myself aftermarket in the future)
---
All the benefits below and after trade-in and a variety of other discounts, I am only paying $29 more a month.
Totally. Worth. It
Yup, I liked my Verano *that* much.
It was this or a Cadillac ATS. I chose this, because I would have had to pay over $50k for an ATS + more to re-do the exhaust, wheels/tires, and custom work to insulate it for road noise. With the Buick I get a personally preferred exhaust/wheels/tires right out of the box + most ATS features, for a MUCH lower price tag.
Notable additions that drove my decision, with comments:
Intellilink available with Nav
--I love being able to wirelessly play music without an aux cable.
--It pulls album art/song name and displays on-screen!
--Pandora!
--Movie showtimes (I don't know yet if this is using my phone or using OnStar).
--NOTE: The navigation is no longer loaded from an SD Card in the center console. I don't know what this means in terms of upgrades or upgrade cost. OTOH, the navigation experience loads a lot faster now, which is nice. Or maybe the SD Card slot is somewhere else on the car now? If so, I haven't found it.
Refined UI
--The UI seems...clearer. The font is nicer.
--The nav looks much more detailed.
--Options are a little better organized, only slightly so.
--Overall it seems a lot more responsive.
Turbo and performance
--I always missed the power of my V6 Infiniti G37x. Now I essentially have it, with better MPG.
--The transmission seems more refined from 2012, it seems to shift more like when I would shift it as a Manual.
--The suspension is tighter, but not uncomfortably so, turns just seem less "floaty". I sense less body roll and I don't bottom out as easily going in and out of steep driveways.
--Steering is more responsive and I like the extra degree that I feel connected to the car. It is just enough sport edge, while maintaining the luxury-journey feel.
--The brakes seem a little nicer as well, I don't know for a fact if they are, and maybe its just the mechanisms behind the now chrome sport pedals, but they seem tighter.
Dual-exhaust
--Last summer I was going to shell out $1,000 for custom work to give my '12 Verano Leather a dual-exhaust appearance. Now I don't have to.
--It has a much more guttural exhaust note/tone now, I like it.
--It seems to have *less* exhaust "smoke" on a cold start-up, maybe its placebo. But pulling UP and out of my driveway on cold mornings I would actually have to stop periodically and let the smoke or whatever it is clear. Maybe it is just because there are two pipes and it dissipates faster.
Blind spot, cross traffic, back-up camera monitoring
--I missed the back-up camera from my Infiniti's, this is much appreciated because I suck at parallel parking and I have a long driveway that I back out of.
--I've never owned a car with Blind Spot alert, it is actually really nice. I drive on the freeway a lot each day and do a lot of lane-changes just to get where I'm going and this extra level of protection is nice.
--I've never owned a car with cross traffic alerts. At the end of my driveway, though, this should be helpful "just in case". Better safer than sorry.
Smart key
--The smart-key system is better on this. The 2012 didn't always recognize touches, it was also a white square that stood out from the door handles. It also had a bad delay. This new one fixes all that by using a chrome-color-matched button that not only has the benefit of tactile feedback, but also seems to respond instantaneously.
Misc.
--Rear-spoiler is a nice addition.
--The start button is now a silver color to give it contrast from the dash. This is actually a welcome addition, when valets or friends would drive my car, it took them FOREVER to find the start button.
--Glove box top shelf is now removable, but as such, also doesn't seem to stay put as well. Also, it doesn't hold pens the same way and for the particular pen I was keeping there, it doesn't exactly fit. Not a big deal, but again, thought I'd mention it.
--Still "Buick-quiet". As much more connected to the road as this feels, the cabin is still nice and quiet. I commute A LOT and this is a necessity for me.
--The horn sounds different...maybe its just me? It sounds more succinct.
--They gave me all-weather floor mats to go with my carpeted ones. Much appreciated, especially here in the pacific NW.
--Where the heck did my Tone button go?? Probably buried somewhere in options.
--My Verano Leather had a weird issue where lowest brightness would make the dashboard lights flicker. Seems fixed on this.
--The turn signal is a little easier to flip.
--Same split multi-spoke 18's. These are hands-down one of the best looking factory wheels on a car I've ever seen. I really like them. It's these: http://i.imgur.com/rXItb.jpg
Things I wish I still, but aren't a huge deal
--Color-keyed trunk button...on/near the trunk itself
--Lumbar seat adjustment
--Front parking sensors (I will probably add these myself aftermarket in the future)
---
All the benefits below and after trade-in and a variety of other discounts, I am only paying $29 more a month.
Totally. Worth. It
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