Lifting the hood on the Saturn Astra

Forbidden fruit - that's how some enthusiasts regard many models sold overseas that never make it to these shores. Alluring cars like Ford's second-generation Focus, Mondeo, and S-Max; the Honda Accord Tourer (wagon); and various high-performance Alfa Romeos, Opels, Peugeots, and Renaults are out of reach to the American car buyer.

The Saturn Astra represents something of a victory for the huddled masses yearning for these cars. The Astra is European through-and-through. Developed in Europe and built in Belgium, our Astra is almost identical (including suspension tuning) to the Opel/Vauxhall Astra that is one of Europe's top-selling cars. (The next Aura is also rumored to be a lightly altered Opel Vectra.)  Another victory worth celebrating: it replaces the highly undesirable Ion as Saturn's entry-level car.

But the story of the Astra highlights some of the problems of transforming a design intended for one marketplace into a global one. Since the Astra wasn't originally intended to be sold here, the decision to sell it in America reportedly came pretty late in its product life-cycle. GM made the modifications necessary to sell the Astra here in only 13 months, an impressive feat. But to do that quickly without investing a lot of money in the existing platform required some compromises:

—GM engineers picked the Astra's only existing gas engine - a 1.8-liter version of their Ecotec four-cylinder -- with an available automatic transmission. (Remember: Europeans aren't too keen on automatics.) That leaves Americans with 138 horsepower, and a choice of five-speed manual or four-speed (rather than five or six-speed) automatic. Most other competitors here have a lot more power. There are very tempting high-performance Astras in Europe, but we won't see them this time.

—Rather than using GM's very simple-to-use "Black Tie" corporate radio (the one that made even Saab dashboards simple), the Astra retains its complicated European radio. It's a mess to use. Furthermore, the only available connection in the back was used for OnStar. Big deal, you say? Well, that means that there is no auxiliary input or satellite radio, features almost every other GM car has. Worse, those are features that the Astra's target demographic will likely demand. (We've been told that the engineers are reconsidering.)

—The Astra picks up the three- and five-door hatchback body styles that the freshened-for-2008 Ford Focus dropped. Most of us at CR love hatchbacks because they add practicality without bulk. But most car buyers in this market don't share this view, considering hatchbacks to be downmarket. The Astra has a wide range of body styles in Europe, including a sedan, wagon, the Zafira microvan, and a nifty hardtop convertible - but we will not see such diversity in this generation.

—With the shrinking dollar and unfavorable exchange rates, the Astra is a rather expensive car to build overseas and import here. While Europe is more accustomed to paying a premium for well-equipped small cars, Americans see most small cars as entry-level transportation. So, in order to move any Astras here, they have to be priced to sell.

This creates a delicate balance. Consider that our Astra XE with a sunroof, automatic, heated seats, and stability control, just topped $20k—with no alloy wheels. (And you can't haggle at Saturn dealers— although incentives are sometimes available.) That money buys a Volkswagen Rabbit (the American version of the Golf, the Astra's main sales rival in Europe) with 170-hp.

On the flip side, while the Astra seems quite fully-priced here, buying a (mostly) equivalent Vauxhall Astra in England would run you 17,165 pounds (before lots of taxes). Basically double that to get the price in dollars. (It is about $32k in Germany.) Some of us have joked that you could run a lucrative business buying Saturn Astras and shipping them back to Europe for sale.

This pricing disparity has lead Bob Lutz, GM's vice chairman and head of product development, to quip that "We are considering applying for non-profit status." Later remarks from Lutz in Automotive News spun it a different way. They note that importing the Astra saved GM $900 million in developing a new platform. Of course, a new platform would have a much longer shelf life than the two or three years the Astra will be sold here—and GM is in the midst of developing a new global small-car platform, anyway.

Our first impressions are that the Astra has an impressive ride/handling balance, firm supportive seats, and some rather annoying controls. So, is the Astra a case of "be happy you got what you asked for," or will it leave buyers wondering what might have been? We'll see when we test it against the Rabbit, Subaru Impreza Outback Sport, and Toyota Matrix in a future issue.

—Tom Mutchler

Discuss Saturn in the Cars forum.

Comments

[Charles]

We drove an Astra in Germany for a week in 2002. Impressive car. Good handling and ride, could get up and stay at 90mph autobahn speeds. Got jinky with it in the Czech Republic, it held turns well. The engine was gutsier than a Focus wagon we rented the year before. Great interior quality. The backseat worked ok for our 3 boys aged 7, 5, and 3; and the hatch/trunk was just big enough for our luggage and folding compact stroller. The fuel economy was ok, not nearly as good as various turbo-diesels we drove later. We need the European turbo-diesel engines with our ridiculous gas prices (but still cheaper than across the pond). Bring the diesels, GM!
A nice car, but not competitive enough in the US as a Saturn for price vs. features. My prediction is a near miss for GM.

[Vladislav]

Frankly, I liked the little Astra. When his ball bought happiness, he has a new car. 1.6 litre engine. Petrol consumes little. But then it is disappointing. When the air conditioner a bit lost power. After six months in a car that is at the rear top creak, a little glass poskripyvayut, postukivayut small roughness. When very disappointed in the car, sold it and bought a Nissan Teana with 2.3 litre engine .. I understand that these can not compare two cars, they are in different classes, but still - that's it, my car. It suits me absolutely everything and I have already forgotten about Astra.

[insidertrading]

The US version is still inferior to the EUR version!!!! There are no other engine choices, no GPS, no AUX input, no keyless ignition and one transmission option; a crummy 4speed auto with no manual mode. I understand the exchange rate problem but at least offer these as stand-alone options, they're already available in other markets on the same car!!!

The car is so slow off the line I was laughing while being left in the dust by Neons and Aveos. To make matters worse the top MPG for the snail 1.8 is only 32 compared with Hondas 34 and Toyota's 36....

Get it right the first time!!!

[Joe Pelech]

June 2008: I researched the small call market for two years. What a delight to find the Saturn Astra! No, I'm not an employee or paid sponsor of Saturn. Just your average car buyer looking to save on GAS and have a nice car to ride. I went to Saturn - just looking - and I saw this cool looking car! The Astra! I bought the XE before the test drive! Just sitting in it and hearing the door close - closed the deal for me. This is a NICE CAR! After driving - what a wet dream! Very tight. Nice corners. Great control. The five speed is smooth. I rate this car a 10! Not including all the extras like a world car hands free telephone as a normal feature for $25 (130 minutes). The Astra has quiet road sound. The engine even grumbles for more gas which by the way is still on the FULL line after driving all over town. Yes, I'm VERY HAPPY with my new 2008 Astra :)

[Matt]

We just bought an Astra, being long-time VW drivers. I wanted a 5-door hatch, stick, with stability control, and in the $15k range give or take.

Why we ruled out competitors we also considered:

Mazda 3: hatch only available with 2.3 engine, wanted 2.0. To get stability control on sedan, had to buy top trim line, $$$.

VW Rabbit: insanely, the 4 door hatch is not available with a stick shift. our 1998 Golf is a year too old to qualify for owner loyalty bonus although we own 3 VWs currently. bye.

Scion xD: poor visibility. non-euro driving feel. pretty good, though, bang for the buck.

Honda Fit: our top choice, but ruled out because you have to buy the top trim line with nav to get stability. ridiculous. scratch.

The Astra people were willing to deal, and the car drives very well. We aren't hot rodders, plenty of power for us, and we can read an owners manual to learn to work things.