GM turns to German engineering to boost Saturn - with Jekyll & Hyde results.
Pete DeLorenzo
Autoextremist.com
Detroit. Driving the new Saturn Vue XR is a revelation. Taut, competent, exquisitely detailed - and superbly capable - the Saturn Vue is clearly one of the stars in GM's burgeoning product arsenal. Based on a vehicle from GM's Opel in Germany, the Vue feels Germanic, imparting that over-the-road confidence and solidity that German vehicles have long been known for.
Saturn has gone from being the forgotten division languishing in GM's product limbo to undergoing a complete transformation in just three years, with the Aura sedan, the full-size Outlook crossover, the Sky roadster, the new Vue, and the upcoming Astra sport compact making up one of the most impressive vehicle lineups in the business.
Saturn is one of the most glittering examples that the Bob Lutz-led product renaissance is finally bearing fruit for General Motors, and GM's strategy of taking advantage of existing world-class German Opels to flesh-out Saturn's product portfolio is looking to be a brilliant stroke. But as good as the Opel engineering is in the Vue (and the upcoming Astra is purported to be), one serious drawback is emerging that gives me reason to pause. And that is the fact that the Vue, for all of its goodness, is heavy. As in seriously heavy. As in 4,325 pounds heavy (for the AWD XR we've been driving).
That's a lot for a "small" sport utility-crossover vehicle.
And that weight results in an EPA estimated 16 MPG in the city and 22 MPG on the highway. The mileage you get may vary, blah-blah-blah, but as we can attest, the real world mileage we achieved around town on our top-line VUE left a lot to be desired. It's clear that the solid composure that the Saturn Vue displays at speed comes with a steep price.
Where is this weight coming from? That's easy. It seems that by leaning on its compatriots at Opel, GM has not only dramatically shortened the time it takes to boost the Saturn portfolio, it has also signed-on for the downside of contemporary German engineering - and that translates into bloated curb weights.
Somewhere along the line, the halo of "German engineering" and the air of superiority that German automakers have enjoyed (and lorded over their competition over the years) has devolved into vehicles that are overgrown, overweight, overwrought and overcomplicated. It seems that in their zeal to load up their vehicles with every hi-tech gizmo available - combined with their fundamental belief in engineering structures that bristle with vault-like solidity - they have lost their way. And now, virtually every German manufacturer is guilty of churning out shockingly heavy vehicles.
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