Once upon a time driving was fun; the driver was controlling power capable of a thrill. No more. From Eric Peters at ericpetersautos.com:
If you watched the Super Bowl, you probably saw the 1987 Buick Regal Grand National that was part of the show. This car was the last rear-drive Buick coupe as well as one of the first modern cars to be powered by a turbocharged engine. When it was new, it was also one of the most powerful cars you could buy – which brings up an interestingly different thing about turbos, then vs. now.
The Regal – which was the car that the GN was based on – did not need a turbo. Because it already had enough engine. The turbo that was the heart of the GN upgrades added power that wasn’t necessary.
It was just a lot more fun.
Regular Regals came standard with a 3.8 liter V6 engine – which is a huge engine by the standards of 2025. It was nearly twice the size (displacement) of the typical 2.0 liter four that you get in a 2025 model vehicle.
If you get an engine as big as that.
Many 2025 vehicles come standard with sub-2.0-liter engines and some of these aren’t even four cylinder engines, as for instance the 1.5 liter three cylinder engine that is the only available engine in the 2025 Nissan Rogue I recently reviewed. These small engines need turbos – precisely because they are so small. Put another way, without the boost – which makes a smaller engine produce the power of a larger engine – a small engine would only make enough power to propel a small, lightweight car. Which is why – back in the ’80s and before – small four cylinder engines were found only in small, lightweight cars.
Now you find them in 3,500-plus pound crossovers such as the Rogue.
