Our tester was a Leather Group model and the amenities were indeed fabulous, with a rich leather interior (duh!), heated steering wheel, heated power seats, a very nice Bose nine-speaker sound system, ambient lighting, rear-park assist, GM’s OnStar service and numerous other goodies.

And there are the requisite gee-whiz features such as your choice of either Bluetooth technology or a USB port to link your smart phone to the car’s audio system so you can stream Pandora Internet radio in the car. Very cool.

Verano's top Leather Group model is outfitted with a rich array of luxury trim. (Photo: Buick)

The most impressive part, however, is that the Verano truly feels like a premium automobile, not a compact car with a lot of luxury features troweled on like pancake makeup over a bad complexion. The Verano is a very rich-feeling automobile.

On the road, the Verano’s driving experience, while tilted much more towards luxury than sport, is still very good. The car is admirably quiet, the steering gives reasonable feedback and visibility is good at all four corners.

You aren’t going to autocross with this car, but it wasn’t designed to do that anyway. By the same token, the back seat is a snug fit for larger adults, but this car isn’t supposed to replace minivans or SUVs. It’s a compact and scaled accordingly.

All told, Buick has done a superb job with the Verano. The styling is crisp and understated, the interior is very nicely finished, the road manners are good and the performance is certainly acceptable. And it feels like a Buick, not a pimped out Cruze.

With gas prices what they are, I expect a booming market for small cars that don’t feel like small cars, and Buick already has a leg up on the competition with the Verano.

Details

Vehicle type: Five-passenger, four-door sedan, front-wheel drive.
Engine: 2.4-liter inline-4, 180 horsepower at 6,700 rpm, 171 pound-feet of torque at 4,900 rpm.
Transmission: Six-speed automatic.
Wheelbase: 105.7 inches.
Overall length: 183.9 inches.
Curb weight: 3,300 pounds.
EPA mileage rating: 21 city, 32 highway.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.