American-as-apple-pie Saturn now has European style and driving dynamics in its showrooms in the form of the new entry-level Astra three-door and five-door hatchbacks.
Manufactured in Belgium, the Opel Astra is the best-selling car in Europe and it reaches our shores basically intact. The only major changes are a Saturn grille and Saturn's badge on the rear end.
The Astra is a well-built and fun-to-drive compact starting at under $16,000 replacing the Ion, perhaps the worst small car sold in North America in the 21st Century.
This is a strange turn of events for the General Motors' brand that started from scratch around 1990 as America's answer to the foreign invasion with an all-new plant in Tennessee, building an all-new car loaded with import-fighting ideas such as ding-resistant doors.
The original Saturn concept was generally well done and caught America's imagination for five or six years. But interest in its one-segment lineup began to wane when it came time to redesign its original vehicles and when many of its original customers found the need for a bigger sedan, a sport utility or a minivan.
Saturn had nothing beyond compact entry-level vehicles to offer its faithful.
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Early in the 21st Century it was clear the bold Saturn experiment was in the tank.
Then a strange thing happened. Saturn re-invented itself building on superior vehicles from General Motors' European Opel division. You might say Saturn, once the antithesis of foreign, has become the European arm of GM in North America. This time thanks to GM Saturn seems to have found its mission and is enjoying a real renaissance.
This transformation has never been more evident than in the newest piece of the brand's makeover, the Astra.
In fact, the Astra may be too European for some American tastes. But it's without question a giant leap from the now-departed Ion and all things of Saturn of old.
We were surprised and pleased during our first spin in a three-door Astra with its solid feel and superb handling traits. We found the driver's seat near perfect for our rear end and the audio - once you figured out how to use it - emitted pleasant sounds as background for our drive.
The Astra is simply fun to drive.
We had other more expensive vehicles in the driveway during our test week, but we found ourselves fumbling for the Astra keys each time out the door.
We think Saturn has a winner, but unfortunately not all is perfect.
Some European interior elements don't translate well into the American market. If Saturn had done a bit more work - spent a little more money - we would consider the Astra the equal of any compact sold in the U.S.
But, alas, perhaps because of budget constraints or simply the need to get the Astra to American shores as quickly as possible, at least one American necessity was overlooked. Specifically, there are no decent front cupholders.
We can almost hear some readers thinking, picky, picky, picky! And yes we managed nicely over seven days without a place for our big gulp. But are the people who buy this car going to be willing to drive four or five years without a place to put their morning coffee or their extra-large diet Coke from McDonald's? Are Astra owners going to willingly change their driving and drinking habits?
There is a small cutout in the door pockets big enough to put a 12-ounce soft drink can, which is not easy to reach while hurtling down the highway, and there is one cupholder at the rear of the center console, presumably for a rear-seat passenger. We couldn't reach it from the front without performing contortions our old body can no longer manage.
We don't think would-be buyers should pass on this remarkable small car because it is cupholder challenged, but if they do we completely understand; although why we even think in these terms about cupholders is beyond belief. It wasn't that long ago that we spelled out our distain for cupholders and for drivers that drank while they should be driving. Cupholders are great in the rear of minivans at best. But we digress.
The audio system controls are also a bit befuddling. Audio information is displayed in a center-mounted screen. We can defend the European influence here because once you have mastered the controls, which won't take long, they are very intuitive. And the information screen offers other useful information in addition to the audio settings. It's a very upscale setup for a car selling for less than 20 grand.
But, here again, Saturn should have gone one small step further. Missing is an auxiliary input jack for an iPod or MP3 player, which may be more off-putting for younger buyers than the aforementioned drink holders.
That being said, the Astra has a load of neat features, especially if you stay away from the bottom trim level, including tilt and telescoping steering wheel, steering-wheel mounted controls and rain-sensing wipers.
Perhaps most important, all Astras come with an impressive array of safety features including stability control, antilock disc brakes, front seat side airbags, full-length side-curtain airbags, anti-whiplash front head restraints, the OnStar communication system and tire pressure monitoring.
Exterior styling in itself may be enough to sell the Astra, especially in coupe format with swoopy lines and wheels pushed to the corners. It looks modern and athletic.
While a sport-tuned suspension makes the Astra fun to drive on the winding back roads, not so much fun is a 1.8-liter 4-cylinder engine making 138 horsepower. It's the only available engine, mated to either a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic. Perhaps a turbocharged version will be an enticing option in future model years.
For now, the 4-cylinder gets the job done, sans excitement, while realizing excellent fuel economy. And for most potential buyers 24 mpg city and 32 highway with the manual and 24/30 with the automatic will be a strong selling point.
The Astra comes in the two hatchback formats and in two trim levels for the five-door - base XE and upscale XR - and simply the XR in the three-door. We recommend you skip the XE starting at $15,995 including destination. By the time you add on an automatic transmission and air conditioning the price skyrockets to $18,280.
The XR trim level comes with air standard and adding on an automatic takes the price to $18,870. The thing is you get other features as well that don't come on the XE.
We drove the sporty XR coupe starting at $18,495. It comes with 17-inch alloy wheels, a sport-turned suspension and sports seats. Eighteen-inch wheels are a $495 option. The only option on our test car was a premium sound system for $595 bringing the bottom line to $19,090.
For those wanting the sportiness of the two-door, but who need occasional room for extra passengers, we found that the rear seats have scads of headroom, but legroom needs to be negotiated with the front-seat occupants.
The Astra has what we consider some minor shortcomings. But if you want a stylish, well-built compact machine with decent gas mileage head to your nearest Saturn store.
The Astra can hold its own against products from Honda, Toyota, Hyundai and Nissan.
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DATA BOX 2008 Saturn Astra
Essentials
Base price: $15,995; as driven, $19,090
Engine: 1.8-liter 4-cylinder
Horsepower: 138 @ 6,300 rpm
Torque: 125 foot-pounds @ 3,800 rpm
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Drive: front wheel
Seating: 2/2
Wheelbase: 102.9 inches
Length: 170.5 inches
Curb weight: 2,833 pounds
Turning circle: 34.4 feet
Luggage capacity: 12 cubic feet
Cargo capacity: 38 cubic feet
Fuel capacity: 12 gallons (regular)
EPA mileage: 32 highway, 24 city
0-60: 8.6 seconds (Road & Track)
Also consider: Toyota Corolla, Ford Focus, Honda Civic, Nissan Sentra
The Good
Upscale interior with quality materials
Head-turning styling
Excellent fuel economy
The Bad
Lacks American necessities such as cupholders, MP3 jack
The Ugly
Only one engine choice
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