I put Sumitomos on my former Outback when the stock Bridgestones all-seasons got too noisy and worn for me....the Sumitomos were a decent tire overall, not bad considering the price.

 

I would say the issue with the OPs experience on the rental car is likely the tires. Never heard of Fake Tire, I always say to my family members whenever someone asks about tires, I almost always say "Have you seen that brand tire on a brand new car at the dealer?".....and when they say "no", I then say "Don't buy that particular tire".

 

FYI, an all-new Opel/Vauxhall Insignia is debuting, along with, of course, an all-new Buick Regal version this fall. The new Regal will have radically different marketing in the U.S. from the past. This time, no 4-door sedans will be offered in America...only 5-door hatchbacks and wagons (and AWD will still be an option).

 

I test drove a then new 2012 Regal and a 2012 Buick LaCrossee. Regal had the 2.0 turbo 4, Lacrossee the 3.6 V6. Two main things I noticed about the Regal vs the LaCrossee.

#1 The ride and handling, the Regal just loved to boogie around the corners, great turn in, no body roll, felt very direct. Ride was A LOT firmer, you could tell that in the first 20 feet of driving it. LaCrossee handled nicely, but it wasn't sporty like the Regal, but then again the ride was just sublime.

#2 Main thing that impressed me with the Regal was how tightly screwed together that car was. Fit/finish was way better on the Regal, but neither car rattled. Main thing that impressed me was despite the firmer ride, the Regal felt every bit as refined and quiet as the LaCrossee That annoying "tire slap" sound going over bumps was completely absent in both cars, despite the Regal having bigger wheels/lower profile tires. Noise levels in both cars were comparable, ie EXTREMELY quiet, much better than other cars like the Accord, Camry, Fusion, etc. The Regal just had that super tight fit/feel about it like a German car, IE like a nice Benz, Audi, or BMW in the way it was assembled. I didn't feel the same way about the LaCrossee, you could see the bad panel gaps all throughout the interior, plastics were not as nice, buttons/switches weren't as nice.

 

That's because the Regal (as with the Verano, Cascada, and Encore), is a rebadged Opel, and the LaCrosse isn't. However, the new 3Gen Lacrosse, while still being American-designed instead of German like the Regal, addresses some of the former problems you mentioned on the 2Gen.

 

I think you have mentioned this a time or two.

 

Yes definitely....but the same initial-references also keep coming up from other posters (not necessarily the same posters all the time) about how much better-built the German-sourced Buicks are.

Won't be going on forever, though......GM is selling off its Opel subsidiary. And, with no (future) Australian Holden connection, either, it looks like most of the future Buicks are going to be designed in-house....though some could (?) have South Korean/Daewoo influence.