Astra opens a new universe to Saturn

S eldom do TV car commercials capture our interest, especially not when professional drivers are zipping around mountain curves, through sand dunes or over frozen lakes.

[Joe S]

Why don't you ever post photos of the vehicles being discussed?

[Susan in Buffalo Grove]

I LOVE my Astra! I've had it since April 10th. They now have a dealer add-on arm rest with cupholder in front ...'course, that'll tack on another deuce and a quarter to the price ...

[Nice]

Saturns are great American automobiles!

[athoren]

I also test drove an Astra. "About the same size as Ion" is way off base. According to the salesperson, the interior has about the same room overall, but the Ion is something like 14 inches longer, which is noticeable immediately to those of us who like small cars and who are already tired of the clumsy Ion (mine's only a 2007). The cup holder between the front seats toward the back is a throwback to the old SL series, and a tragic one. The salesperson told me, "Europeans don't depend on their coffee in the car as much as we do." Strange then - why create a car to be sold in America that is better suited to European tastes?

I loved the test drive, but one has to wonder why on earth it's more expensive than the Ion. I would have traded my Ion in immediately after test driving the Astra had the Astra's cost made more sense to me.

[athoren]

...or rather, one has to wonder why such a small car (and European at that) doesn't get better gas mileage than the Ion...

[Scott Free]

Nice wrote:

Saturns are great American automobiles!

Did you actually read the article? The Astra is an Opel--a European car. Far as I can tell, GM no longer develops any of its passenger cars in the USA; they all come from European or (in the case of the Aveo) Japanese partners/subsidiaries. These days, Saturn is just a nameplate slapped on a generic corporate car; there's nothing at all special about it.

[Bob]

athoren wrote:

...or rather, one has to wonder why such a small car (and European at that) doesn't get better gas mileage than the Ion...

The 1.8 L 4 teamed up with the 5 speed manual trany is the same drive train I have in my 2000 Saturn SL. It is geared very high (1490 RPM at 40 MPH). That high gearing gives me GREAT MPG (last fillup, 90% highway @ 60.8 MPG). But the question is did GM leave the gear ratio on their new vehicle high?? If not, highway MPG could suffer!

[wu6j6u]

cay lon cho toi coi toi nung wua

[Jon from Chicago]

Aveo is Korean.

Outlook is a GM platform made in Michigan, same as the GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave.

Aura is also American made in Kansas City, MO.

[Royer]

athoren wrote:

I loved the test drive, but one has to wonder why on earth it's more expensive than the Ion.

Because, for one, it's just an all-around better car than the Ion, and for another... have you seen the currency exchange rates lately?(Bear in mind this car is imported from Germany.)

[Royer]

Jon from Chicago wrote:

Aveo is Korean.
Outlook is a GM platform made in Michigan, same as the GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave.
Aura is also American made in Kansas City, MO.

The Aura may be made in Kansas City but it's basically a rebadged Opel Vectra.

[Hank]

The Astra is built in Belgium.

[Kang]

Astra's fuel economy may seem low at first glance, but please note the EPA has updated their rating system, which lowers the MPG estimates by roughly 10% for current (and past) vehicles. Go to fueleconomy.gov to also see the revised EPA ratings for the old ION, which happen to be 32 mpg or less.....