At $27-$35 grand, the new Buick Regal has managed to squeeze itself between two very formidable bowls of porridge.

On one side of the table lies the premium sedan. These big four-doors, like the Ford Taurus, Chrysler 300, and Nissan Maxima, tend toward bold styling and powerful V6 or V8 engines.

On the other side lay small luxury cars, like the Acura TSX, Audi A3, and Volvo S40. These offer lighter fare: zippy handling, premium appointments, and an extra helping of cachet.

The Regal, with its generous size, stylish cabin, and thrifty engines, attempts to bridge these two segments. But with buyers so clearly divided, the risk is that this Buick may only appeal to a few picky eaters.

On the plus side, the Buick offers a whisper quiet cabin that makes highway miles evaporate around you. Grab hold of the Regal’s chunky steering wheel and you’ll swear that the silky smooth leather was stolen from a Lexus.

Entertainment and technology options abound, too, with a USB port for music, Bluetooth connectivity for phones, and optional sonar assist or backup camera for tight parking maneuvers. At night, the mood lighting glows a sophisticated phosphor blue.

The trunk is enormous, as well.  If you can’t fit a week’s worth of vacationing in there, I suggest you book passage on a cargo ship for your next adventure.

But given the Regal’s premium mission, I was disappointed to find such obvious cost-cutting inside the cabin. Many panels and buttons had rough, unfinished edges and the faux wood and aluminum appliques looked unconvincing in person.

At the Regal’s base price of $26,245, these trespasses would be entirely forgivable. But at the $29,980 that my optioned up CXL test car demanded, I felt somewhat cheated.

As if to make amends for the sticker shock, the Regal CXL comes powered by a modern 2.4-liter EcoTec four-cylinder engine that knocks out a frugal 30 miles per gallon on the highway.

Key to this miserly MPG is a 6-speed automatic transmission that allows the engine to sip regular unleaded while humming quietly near idle.

The transmission is eager to upshift, though, and it takes a determined right foot to elicit a downshift for faster acceleration.  And with only 182-horsepower on tap, you’ll need those lower gears frequently. Zero to sixty takes a leisurely nine seconds.

Blame all those heavy sound-deadening materials for the relaxed pace. The Regal may be as quiet as a library, but at 3,600 pounds it also weighs nearly as much as one.

Speed demons should opt for the Regal’s optional 2.0-liter turbocharged engine, which boosts output to 220-horsepower at a $2,500 hit to your bottom line. Fuel economy remains respectable at 18 miles per gallon in the city and 28 on the highway.

Fortunately, the hushed cabin and thrifty base engine makes the Regal a great highway car. I found it a smooth and confident cruiser, though the “performance-tuned” suspension did hop a bit more than I’d prefer over expansion joints.

All things considered, the 2011 Regal falls into an interesting niche. It’s nicer than a mid-range family sedan, more affordable than a luxury car, and more efficient than a big four-door.

If there’s a problem to be found with this Buick, it’s that thirty grand opens up a lot of possibilities in today’s market. The Regal’s price invites you to make a lot of tough comparisons and only you can decide if this stealthy cruiser is too hot, too cold, or just right for your palate.

Held at the beautiful Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the event was a debutante ball to introduce the striking and seductive Evoque to San Francisco’s most elite trendsetters.

As we reported a few months ago, Land Rover is trying something new with the Evoque. This is a Range Rover for a new era and has a much greater focus on efficiency, technology, and design. If the reaction from these Bay Area hipsters is positive, the company can likely look forward to sales success when the Evoque hits the road this fall.

“The people we appeal to have an entrepreneurial spirit and are very discriminating about the products they buy,” explained Andrew Polsinelli, Land Rover’s general manager of product planning. “You can’t define a Range Rover customer by their demographics,” he continued. “It’s much more about a mindset.”

Polsinelli says that Range Rover customers are looking to make a statement and he believes that the Evoque – daring, luxurious, capable, and environmentally sensitive – is the right statement for today’s market.

Finbar McFall, Land Rover’s head of marketing for North America, confirmed that this is the direction the company is headed: intelligent design that doesn’t require the customer to sacrifice luxury or performance.

Case in point: McFall boasts that the Evoque’s turbocharged 4-cylinder engine and lightweight construction will allow it to rocket to 60 miles per hour as fast as today’s V8-powered Range Rover Sport.

Judging by the enormously positive response at the party, I’d say that Land Rover is right on the money. The crowd swarmed the white show car as soon as the cover was lifted, with a long line forming at each door.

Waiting my own turn to step inside, I heard some attendees whisper concerns about the snug size. Fortunately, the Evoque’s cabin proved surprisingly roomy. Several NBA-sized guys were able to sit up front comfortably with head and legroom to spare.

The rear seats are cozy but livable, offering enough space for adults to relax and stretch out a bit. I met several moms and dads who were eager to ditch much larger SUVs in favor of the tidy Evoque. After close inspection, they assured me that the back seat was kid-friendly and that the cargo hold large enough for a diaper bag, stroller, and other vital parent gear.

Whoever is in the back seat will no doubt enjoy the gorgeous glass roof, which offers uninterrupted views of the sky. High-strength boron steel in the surrounding structure allows Land Rover to skip unsightly cross-braces without compromising safety.

One of the Evoque’s most controversial elements, the turbocharged 4-cylinder engine, drew solemn nods of approval from the green-leaning crowd. Several people I spoke with expected to find a V8 engine under the bonnet and were pleasantly surprised by the company’s fuel-efficient choice. “I’m just waiting for gas prices to go back up,” explained one venture capitalist. “This seems like a very smart move.”

Based on the warm welcome from this hard-to-impress San Francisco crowd, it’s clear that Land Rover has much to look forward to when the Evoque comes to market in late 2011. Just make sure you’re not late to the party or you may find yourself stuck waiting in line.

Did they succeed?  Judge for yourself: this Rover features custom leather upholstery and breathtaking woodwork hand-selected to match the owner’s gun collection.  Customers can choose from seven exclusive exterior paint colors, four different types of wood, and a seemingly endless number of leather options.

While there is something to be said for lavish trim and an opulent exterior, there are two amazing and never-before-seen amenities (limos excluded) that make this Range Rover stand out:

First, there’s a custom console with functioning refrigerator and an amply-stocked liquor cabinet.  The cabinet includes a one year supply of top-shelf whiskey, gin, vodka, and champagne – as well as custom crystal ware.

To the rear, there is a trunk-mounted gun cabinet replete with custom woodwork.  Yes, a luxury gun cabinet… in the back of a Range Rover.  And it’s functional, too, with enough space to fit guns, ammunition, and hunting accessories.

If a vehicle’s worth can be measured by the labor put into it; the H & H Overfinch is the gold standard.  Over 150 hours are spent customizing and fitting the interior trim and more than 130 hours are spent painting and hand polishing the exterior.

This luxury off-roader is old-world luxury on wheels.  Make that fast wheels (the 503-hp supercharged V8 does 0-60 mph in less than 7 seconds and has a governed top speed of 140 mph).

So what’s keeping us all from buying this amazing vehicle?  Production is limited to 100 vehicles and they cost a cool £139,650 in the UK and about $182,597 for export.  At that price, this Range Rover will have to stay on our already long list of dream cars.

For those of you who can afford a Range Rover with expensive rifles and a never-ending supply of alcohol, please do be careful about how you mix those three ingredients.

Anyone who’s ever made their down an alpine slope can tell you that snowboarders and skiers don’t always get along.  Each group is prone to complaining that the other is in their way, with skiers calling first dibs on mountain sports and snowboarders claiming to represent the vanguard.

In researching our post on Shaun White’s ultimate mountain ride last week, we came across some interesting data that may help shine light on the people behind this decades-old rivalry.

We crunched some numbers in the Honk database and created top-50 lists of vehicles for both sports.  Most notably, the list for skiers was dominated by expensive sheetmetal, with luxury brands filling out 26 of the top 50 spots.  That same measure was only 15 for snowboarders, suggesting that skiers have the edge when it comes to household income.

That number doesn’t tell the full story, though.  Honk data shows that snowboarders are a much younger group overall and that means that they are still in the early stages of their careers.  About 28% of snowboarders are under age 30, compared to only about 9% for skiers.

Curiously, skiers also had seven convertibles in their top-50 list while snowboarders had none.  Since convertibles are often purchased as a second or third car, this could be merely a by-product of skiers being older and more likely to be married with multiple cars in the household fleet.

Don’t get your bindings in a twist over these results, though, because both sides will no doubt agree that the most important thing is to get out there and enjoy the ride.