12/1/2023 0 Comments 2007 saturn aura xe reviewIts closest competitor is the VW Rabbit, and the best selling Rabbit is the Jetta. It’s not quite as cushy as the Corolla or Civic. It’s not quite as sporty as the Mazda3 or MINI Cooper. Taken as a whole, the Saturn née Opel Astra falls between two stools. It may as well have looked me in the eye, insulted my mother and lit up a cigarette. Even through a tight slalom, the Astra was nonplussed. I wrung the life out of my little tester without once becoming a person of interest. Zero body roll in cornering, and still totally forgiving over rough pavement. There are “sport-luxury” cars in the $30k range that don’t ride like the Astra. If the rest of the car is the Burger, the suspension is the King. The hatch looks nice, but why is the opening such an inconvenient shape? Why does the clock display only 24-hour time? Why is the multifunction display so confusing? Ergonomically, the Astra’s papers are also not in order. Why is there no center armrest? Why is there one puny, small, out of the way cupholder that couldn’t fit a shot glass (never mind the U.S.-requisite Big Gulp). The fit and finish is at the very top of the segment, at least as good as this writer’s VW GTI and, in many cases, superior.īut the interior’s construction is missing creature comforts, leaving you asking uncomfortable cross-cultural questions. But the basic design is sharp (especially the crease down the middle of the center stack), modern and clearly Germanic ( Das ist ein Opel, nicht wahr?), complete with bright orange interior lights. I’m sure Alice Cooper picked the grey and darker grey color scheme. You might even say the Astra’s cabin is a piece of cold coal. The Astra’s interior, however, is worth the international intrigue. America-friendly body styles have been eschewed for a racy three-door hatchback and a more traditionally proportioned five-door hatch. More importantly, the Astra’s not available as a sedan or coupe. I’m thinking a squared off Golf/Rabbit, or a slightly more muscular Mazda3. While I wouldn’t call the Astra boring, it’s an entirely familiar design. The Astra’s exterior is no more ground breaking than Dunkin Donuts’ Gingerbread latte. Starting this January, you can buy an Astra in America, only with the logo swapped from Opel’s lightning bolt to Saturn’s rings. They've brought over the Eurozone’s best selling passenger car: the Astra. And now, once again, General Motors NA turns to Opel to get back in the small car game. Unfortunately, a rising dollar and a lack of marketing and development vis-a-vis the Japanese competition (Datsun 510) doomed the 1900 to footnoted obscurity. The imported rear wheel-drive Opel 1900– the sedan version of the Manta– was a superb machine for its day. “GM has never sold a competitive small car in America.” Not true.
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