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2008 Saturn Astra Preview

When GM established Saturn, it was with the premise of having it become ahome-brewed import fighter. It approached the prospect of sales differently, with a no hassle, no haggle mindset, giving buyers a greater peace of mind when they walked into the showroom. It made buying and maintaining any of its vehicles a relatively happy prospect. The cars were also different. Up until the dawn of the Relay minivan, all Saturns' skins were made out of polymers that repelled dings and dents, not to mention they made for some interesting dealership demos - cue the image of a suited salesman jumping on a panel in front of a pair of amazed shoppers. Now only Ion and Vue use the polymer panels. The cars under the skin, however, weren't all that different than what GM was offering through its other entry-level brands at the time.

After trying different strategies of products, somewhere along the line the General realized that only having a great sales team wasn't going to cut it overall. That's when Saturn took on a new

This is the "domestic" car that compact fans have been waiting for. (Photo: General Motors)

role for GM of North America; it would be the brand that would capitalize on the technologies and designs that are used overseas by GM of Europe's main brand, Opel. In essence, Saturn is still GM's import fighter, it's just a better import fighter, using imported technology. In fact, you could very well say that the Astra is an import, as it's built in Germany and will be shipped over to North America, just like the Volkswagen Rabbit.

If there's one thing that Europeans have become very good at doing, it'smaking compact or C-segment cars. There, the competition isn't merely strong or heady, it's outright fierce with models hailing from dozens of manufacturers, from a wide variety of different European countries.

Our Astra is their Astra. Just the way the Astra should be. (Photo: General Motors)

Opel's core C-segment vehicle is called the Astra, and it competes directly with the Volkswagen Rabbit, Ford Focus, Mazda3, and many others. In some respects, the Astra does share some lineage with the soon to be defunct ION and the Chevrolet Cobalt/Pontiac G5 twins, in that they were derived from the same Delta architecture, but the relation is as strong (or weak, depending on how you look at it) as the one between the Saab 9-3 and the Chevrolet Malibu. Anyhow, Opel took the development of the Astra very seriously, setting its standards very high. The resulting product is a car that GM of Europe can be proud of, and one that has been selling extremely well. Now it's heading off to North America, wearing a Saturn badge on its grille and wheel caps, plus US-spec bumpers and lamps for our unique tastes, after its inaugural showing in Chicago.Available in two body styles, three-door hatchback, or five-door hatchback. (Photo: General Motors) />
The Saturn Astra will be available in two of thefive bodystyles that it's available with globally, a three-door hatchback and a five-door hatchback. The five-door hatch is going to be the volume seller, available in base XE trim or a better equipped XR trim. The three-door hatch is going to be Saturn's sporting model, but not in the same boy-racer way as the ION Red Line, but rather the sportier hatchback will have special tweaks for a more entertaining drive. It'll also only be available in XR trim. Time will tell if Saturn will also bring over the four-door notchback sedan, designed primarily for Eastern European, South American, African and Asian markets, the wagon, or the folding hardtop convertible model, though we'd think an expansion of the Astra product lineup could definitely be profitable for Saturn.

All Astras are powered by one engine, a 1.8-liter, 140-horsepowerEcoTec inline-four that incorporates variable valve timing.

Just one engine to power them all for now, a 140-hp, 1.8L I-4. (Photo: General Motors)

The engine itself isn't anything remarkable, but it's on par with the output of the Honda Civic. Nevertheless, it should provide the Astra with decent performance and the kind of fuel consumption figures which compact car owners come to enjoy. The current ION, incidentally, comes with a 145 horsepower 2.2-liter Ecotec in base trim, so from a straight-line performance perspective the Astra may be a step backward. Like the ION, Astras can be had with one of two transmissions, a five-speed manual gearbox or a four-speed automatic; we think the latter is a little outdated. Many of the car's competitors are now using five-speed autoboxes or CVTs. GM is most likely developing something more competitive for its numerous small cars to use, but for the time being its four-speed unit will have to do. Other differences worth noting include a quicker electromechanical steering rack for the 3-door model (an option on the 5-door), standard 17-inch alloy wheels (optional 18-inch on the 3-door; standard 16-inch on the five-door with the 17s as an option), and standard StabiliTrak stability

Thumbs up on the interior; it keeps the European version's build quality as it's built on the same line as the Opel. (Photo: General Motors)

control on the Astra 3-door (option for the 5-door).

One area where American cars havealways lagged behind the imports is in interior quality. With the perception that small cars must be cheap, fit and finish is not usually the biggest concern (see the Dodge Caliber as an example). Since the Astra hails from a market where compact cars are taken just as seriously as midsize cars or full-size luxury vehicles, build quality is dramatically higher. The Astra's key dashboard points are made from soft-touch plastics, while the center console is organized in a very European way with none of the usual GM Corporate stereo or HVAC controls (although GM's new corporate switchgear is pretty good compared to most competitors in this class - Ed.). Info about the stereo and climate control system are displayed on a central monitor at the top of the dash, which could conceivably also be used for a nav system. It's very refreshing to find this in a GM compact car, to be honest. Add that to the chunky, three-spoke wheel and straightforward gauges, and what you end up with is a very European feeling vehicle. Cloth seats are standard, but heated leather trimmed seats are an option, and on the

The small car that both Saturn and GM need. (Photo: General Motors)

three-door the bolstering on the seats is more aggressive. We like!

A couple of the cooler features found in European-spec cars can't be had on our Astra, such as the unique panoramic roof option, which extends the windshield into the roof, providing an uninterrupted view from road to sky. Another option that seems to have escaped the Saturn list is the IDC adaptive damping system. On the positive side, our Astras do come equipped with high levels of safety equipment include standard ABS brakes, front, side and curtain airbags, active head restraints and the availability of stability control. Stability control in a compact car? The number of other automakers that offer such critically important safety equipment in a compact car can be counted on one hand.

Not only does Saturn need the Astra, but North American buyers need it too. This is a market that could use more well-engineered, well-built vehicles that don't swill fuel yet are economically viable at the onset of purchase and enjoyable to drive every day from that time forth. And in the case of Saturn, it's finally marrying good sales and service tactics to a really impressive product, another car that automobile aficionados can get excited about. It's products like the Astra that will ensure GM gets back on the path to good health.

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