Topic: CD Article: 2007 Saturn Aura XR

[Autos_Editor]

You may discuss our cover story of the day in this thread....
Test Drive:

Saturn's new midsize, front-wheel drive sedan replaces the L series and has already won the North American Car of the Year Award, reports Senior Editor, Paul Williams.  It's offered with two different V6 engines, and ranges in price from about $25,000 to $35,000. "It looks good, is roomy, has a generous trunk, has good power, is comfortable and is well equipped," he says.  However, "City driving and parking lot manoeuvres don't flatter this car, as the steering seems sluggish and heavy," he notes.
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[Leviathan]

>Price as tested: $35,700

Sounds like a pretty nice ride and that price isn't too offensive.

[Ice]

i'll get this over Camry or Accord or Legacy any day...

IF.......

I can find an Opel badge to replace the Saturn badge.

[Mitlov]

The second one (silver exterior, black leather-and-metallic interior) is pretty darned classy looking.  I think that the brown leather and fake wood ruins the first.

The review sounds nice, but I wouldn't consider it without a manual.

[carcrazy]

i'll get this over Camry or Accord or Legacy any day...

IF.......

I can find an Opel badge to replace the Saturn badge.

Amen to that.

Too bad that in its supreme "wisdom" GM totally changed the Vectra's interior to the bland, boring "american style".
The good thing for the compact hatch buyers is that they did not have the resources to mess up the Astra and at least for now it will be nearly identical with the Euro model.

[Mitlov]

Too bad that in its supreme "wisdom" GM totally changed the Vectra's interior to the bland, boring "american style".

Opel:


Saturn:


Looks like a different flavor of understated to me.  It's not exactly remarkable, like a 9-3s or a Civic's.  I don't think GM made any sort of big mistake by changing the interior.

[Ice]

The interior is not THAT bad, altho Opel is defintiely better.
There's just something about driving a Saturn that bugs me.

[carcrazy]

OK, the interior is not THAT bad for a GM car, but it has a very non-European (German to be more precise) feeling. Without any badge I could say it's not a German car. Perhaps this was not GM’s intention, who knows, but this would not make me buy a "European" Saturn. The exterior is a significant departure from GM design, why not the interior? One small detail: look at the picture above, center console - why the top left button is smaller than the one on the right side? It looks out of place. And I noticed few interior parts from the GM general-use bin.
Why do they keep making the parking brake pedal and the bulky gear shifter, non-gated? So last decade.... in America.... I cannot remember any European car with the foot parking brake.
I guess my point in that while the Aura's exterior has personality and it is different from any other GM car, the interior reminds you who makes the car. Too bad, I wouldn’t want that ….

[Cam]

We all want GM to stay in business, but not to the point of inaccuracies in car reports.  "But - it will save you thousands of dollars over a loaded Accord, Camry or Maxima." The price as tested of $35,700 is more than the $34,200 of the website price of the Honda Accord EX-V6, and only a $1000 less than the full-house Accord EX-V6 Navi.  Is Nav an option on the Aura?  Especially when you factor in resale value, the Aura is far from the bargain that this article suggests.

[carcrazy]

We all want GM to stay in business, but not to the point of inaccuracies in car reports.  "But - it will save you thousands of dollars over a loaded Accord, Camry or Maxima." The price as tested of $35,700 is more than the $34,200 of the website price of the Honda Accord EX-V6, and only a $1000 less than the full-house Accord EX-V6 Navi.  Is Nav an option on the Aura?  Especially when you factor in resale value, the Aura is far from the bargain that this article suggests.

I think the comparison takes in account Aura XE model starting at $25,000, which has the old GM powertrain - 3.5 V6 with 4AT. This is another thing I don't like - a brand new, redisigned model with an ancient power train ... Welcome to GM wisdom .... I guess people will still buy it, but ....
I want good domestic cars, but with every attempt they screw something up.... so I end up looking elsewere ...

[Arthur Dent]

I'll bet a 3.6L V6 / 6spd auto would make a heck of a used car buy though. Still they should have offered an manual even if ala BMW almost no one orders it - gives it a bit more crediability.

[airbalancer]

OK, the interior is not THAT bad for a GM car, but it has a very non-European (German to be more precise) feeling. Without any badge I could say it's not a German car. Perhaps this was not GM’s intention, who knows, but this would not make me buy a "European" Saturn. The exterior is a significant departure from GM design, why not the interior? One small detail: look at the picture above, center console - why the top left button is smaller than the one on the right side? It looks out of place. And I noticed few interior parts from the GM general-use bin.
Why do they keep making the parking brake pedal and the bulky gear shifter, non-gated? So last decade.... in America.... I cannot remember any European car with the foot parking brake.
I guess my point in that while the Aura's exterior has personality and it is different from any other GM car, the interior reminds you who makes the car. Too bad, I wouldn’t want that ….

Why make a big deal out of a parking brake?
What do you mean by bulky gear shifter, non-gated?

[carcrazy]

OK, the interior is not THAT bad for a GM car, but it has a very non-European (German to be more precise) feeling. Without any badge I could say it's not a German car. Perhaps this was not GM’s intention, who knows, but this would not make me buy a "European" Saturn. The exterior is a significant departure from GM design, why not the interior? One small detail: look at the picture above, center console - why the top left button is smaller than the one on the right side? It looks out of place. And I noticed few interior parts from the GM general-use bin.
Why do they keep making the parking brake pedal and the bulky gear shifter, non-gated? So last decade.... in America.... I cannot remember any European car with the foot parking brake.
I guess my point in that while the Aura's exterior has personality and it is different from any other GM car, the interior reminds you who makes the car. Too bad, I wouldn’t want that ….

Why make a big deal out of a parking brake?
What do you mean by bulky gear shifter, non-gated?

I admit, it's a personal choice, but I like the parking brake on the centre console, same place where your BMW has it. As a metter of fact, in almost any BMW, Audi, VW, Volvo it's where it is.
As for the the gear shifter, here it is a good ilustration of what I would like in a car: short, stylish and sporty looking gear shifter. The one in Aura, and in many GM/Ford cars are better fitted in an aeroplane.


 

[airbalancer]

The picture you post is pretty ugly.
I drive a BMW, and been sat in a Aura, I find both shift to be good
With the Aura auto is shifted by a button on the side, up to shift up , down to down shift
The Outlook I drove have the same shift and it works fine

[tortoise]

Why make a big deal out of a parking brake?

How else are you supposed to do the hand-brake turn in an empty parking lot?

[UmroAyyar]

2007 Camry has the parking brake pedal as well. I don't like it. I prefer the 'hand brake'.

That doesn't mean its a terrible car. Aura XR has a setup just like its competition.

[carcrazy]

Why make a big deal out of a parking brake?

How else are you supposed to do the hand-brake turn in an empty parking lot?

Oh yeah... I do this every day ....

[carcrazy]

2007 Camry has the parking brake pedal as well. I don't like it. I prefer the 'hand brake'.

That doesn't mean its a terrible car. Aura XR has a setup just like its competition.

I never said that the parking brake placement makes Aura a bad car. All I said is that, IMO, GM would have been better off keeping the Vectra's interior. It would have been a welcomed change from the regular GM look and feel. The exterior looks nice and non-typical GM. Why not the interior?
Look at the Saturn Astra - they kept the car as it is in Europe, with virtually no changes. Good for them and I think it is a smart move as GM could win some of the European crowd...

[UmroAyyar]

2007 Camry has the parking brake pedal as well. I don't like it. I prefer the 'hand brake'.

That doesn't mean its a terrible car. Aura XR has a setup just like its competition.

I never said that the parking brake placement makes Aura a bad car. All I said is that, IMO, GM would have been better off keeping the Vectra's interior. It would have been a welcomed change from the regular GM look and feel. The exterior looks nice and non-typical GM. Why not the interior?
Look at the Saturn Astra - they kept the car as it is in Europe, with virtually no changes. Good for them and I think it is a smart move as GM could win some of the European crowd...

I do agree with you about the interior, specially the parking brake. I have the same issue with my 2007 Camry.

I guess, GM made changes to Aura to make it look more mainstream i.e. understated. At that price point, I would prefer a not so understated look.

[Cam]

We all want GM to stay in business, but not to the point of inaccuracies in car reports.  "But - it will save you thousands of dollars over a loaded Accord, Camry or Maxima." The price as tested of $35,700 is more than the $34,200 of the website price of the Honda Accord EX-V6, and only a $1000 less than the full-house Accord EX-V6 Navi.  Is Nav an option on the Aura?  Especially when you factor in resale value, the Aura is far from the bargain that this article suggests.

I think the comparison takes in account Aura XE model starting at $25,000,

Still wrong.  The base Accord is $24,800.