Aura fades against rivals (Review)

[MNdudeswitz]

Aura fades against rivals

Saturn's new-world design doesn't impress
Anita Lienert / Special to The Detroit News


SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- The 2007 Saturn Aura mid-size sedan is a study in "European design," according to General Motors' vehicle line director Gary Kovacic.
"We tried for a more European character," he explained to me as we stood in a grassy courtyard at the Four Seasons Hotel here, where Saturn's new lineup was arrayed for the media. "By that I mean clean lines, pronounced flares around the wheels and muscular shoulders along the beltline."
Then I heard tittering over my shoulder.
"Why, honey, that looks like the Taurus we rented in Rapid City when we visited mom," said Susan Hicks, 50, the owner of a collection agency in La Crescenta, Calif., to her husband, John.
The two, who own a 2002 Honda Odyssey minivan and a 2001 Lincoln Continental, were at the hotel celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary. But they couldn't resist crashing the Saturn media preview event.
"I don't like it," John, 54, replied, studying the Aura. "It leaves me cold."
With that kind of off-the-cuff consumer input, it was hard to stay focused on the corporate party line about the five-passenger Aura, a New Age Saturn in name and intent that was actually designed and engineered in Germany by GM's Opel subsidiary.
Despite the great strides made by the brand, especially with new products like the sexy Sky roadster, it's clear that Saturn faces an uphill battle in the tough mid-size family sedan segment.
It's here that the Kansas City-built Aura, which is on sale now, will duke it out with major players such as the best-selling Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.
The base Saturn Aura XE starts at $20,595, including a $650 destination charge, while the uplevel XR model starts at $24,595. Expect a fully loaded Aura to top out at around $27,700.
In comparison, the '07 Camry starts at $18,850 and the '07 Accord starts at $19,220, while the Ford Fusion and the Hyundai Sonata are both priced from under $18,000.
After spending the better part of a day driving a pre-production Aura XR, nicely equipped at $25,319, I didn't feel as cranky about the car as the Hickses. I'm more lukewarm. And I'm more impressed with one trim level on the Aura than the other.
Overall, the Aura is much better than previous Saturn sedans, but it may not look as striking next to its competitors from Japan, Europe, Korea and Detroit.
Consumers should be aware that the two Aura trim levels have some major differences -- including engine and transmission -- and that the uplevel XR is really the way to go if you can spring for the extra cash.
I'm disappointed that you can't get stability control on the base XE (it's standard on the XR). Or that the base XE comes equipped with the old-fashioned four-speed automatic transmission; the XR is outfitted with the more modern six-speed automatic transmission.
I was surprised that, for a family offering, the new Saturn sedan doesn't come with such options as a rear-seat entertainment system, a rear backup camera or a navigation system. (You can get a turn-by-turn navigation service as part of a subscription to OnStar.)
I also found it weird that the Aura XR features "tap" shifters on the steering wheel, which executives proudly pointed out are the same as the ones on the Chevrolet Corvette and race cars. Why any car-pooling mom would get excited about this on a family car -- or even use them on a regular basis -- remains a mystery.
In terms of appearance, the Aura is not as arresting as the new Camry, but its conservative looks should hold up well for many years.
In many ways, the new Aura gives buyers the best of both worlds. You still get Saturn staples, like the no-dicker sticker and the 30-day return policy. But the Aura skips the traditional Saturn plastic body panels in favor of steel ones, and the car is much more substantial looking and feeling than the L-series sedans it replaces. (The Aura rides on the same corporate Epsilon front-wheel-drive platform as the Chevrolet Malibu.)
I was mildly annoyed that the gorgeous tobacco-colored "Morocco brown" leather seating with embossed leather inserts that helped to define the well-received Aura concept car at the 2005 North American International Auto Show is an extra-cost item on the production version of the car. Granted, it will only cost you another $100 to get it, but it would have been truly impressive to see it as a standard feature on the base car.
The Aura is a decent driving companion, although I thought the ride could have been a little stiffer, and there were some visibility issues with the wide pillars and the high parcel shelf. The way the front end is styled also makes it difficult to see where the nose ends, which makes parking a bit of a challenge.


Rest of Article : http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...608230309/1149

[Tiger]

This is journalism? Her snobbish friend who crashed the party disapproves (they drive a Lincoln) and she starts nitpicking style points? On a 20k base model sedan? Ha ha ha ha...what a card.

The disappointing part is the rest of the article wanders all over the place. I read it twice and am unable to follow her thought.

Her closing statement is really odd though.

"I kept finding little things that made me think Saturn was cutting corners where it could with the Aura, including the lack of dual-zone climate controls for front-seat passengers and the use of a too-big corporate-issue steering wheel that feels more suited to a truck than a sedan.

On the way home, I kept thinking about the car's name and how New Agers define an "aura" as the vibration or color surrounding people and objects.

What would it be for the new Saturn sedan?

I think blue, as in blue collar. And I say that as a person whose grandfather labored in the Ford Rouge foundry and whose father worked as a Detroit cop for 30 years. For as much as the Aura is intended to lift up the Saturn brand, with its European roots and styling, there is too much old-school about the sedan to make it more than a classic, blue-collar Detroit offering."


She's looking for a flood of emails reminding her how important she is in the automotive world? At least that's what I'm guessing.

[New_Mexico_Sunset_on_Rt66]

I was surprised at the comments, then read the author.

[mbukukanyau]

A consumer survey of 1 couple...

[JVal14]

This just might be the worst review I've ever read.

First off, when making the starting price comparisons, the author fails to mention that the Aura offers only V6s and ATs, while the others have 4-bangers and manuals. BTW, if you want an auto-V6 in a Camry, it'll cost you at least $23,000.

She then claims the Aura should be family oriented with backseat entertainment and no tap shifting, but then thinks the ride should be stiffer. And NONE of the sedans she mentioned in the article has a back-up camera!!!

And the styling is conservative??? Is that why everyone went nuts over the concept that looks almost exactly the same as the production version?? And are you really niggling over the Morocco leather being an option? Some people might actually prefer black leather.

And don't even get me started on the twits at the beginning that thought it looked like Taurus!!!

I think these folks are smokin' some good stuff in Santa Barb. Honestly, how do people like this get to write for any sort of publication?

[guitarlix]

I was surprised that, for a family offering, the new Saturn sedan doesn't come with such options as a rear-seat entertainment system, a rear backup camera

What the hell is she smoking?! Since when do family sedans come up with rear backup camera's and rear-seat entertainment systems? And she's whining about $100 for the Moroccan leather? This review is pointless.

[cincygoblue]

Well, I've been scouring the web for reviews on the Aura, and I think there have been 5 or 6 posted here on GMI. This is the first one to be more than 10% negative, and Leinart went about 60% negative on this one. She's ridiculous. I think her mind was tainted by a couple of geezers at the start (and one could have been a Ford retiree for all she knows, badmouthing the competition). But she is easily tainted, and not a very good writer nor car person.

She complains about things she thinks shouldn't need to be on a "family car" like the tap shifters, but then complains that it doesn't have the Morroco Leather standard!

And what does the comment about the Camry's "arresting looks" mean? Does she actually like the looks of the Camry?

Seriously, the Detroit News should be embarassed to have her and her hubby writing for their paper. They never check their facts, are obviously biased toward their specific tastes, and again, are not very good writers. There are hundreds of freelancers that write reviews for MSNBC, the WSJ, etc that do a job 10 times better than the Lienarts. I guess the Lienarts must just be cheap to employ.

[GM>Toyota]

We shouldn't even worry about a POS article like this because she is obviously writing a review for the sake of writing it. Even Motor Trend said this is the car that will change saturn forever. What crap! I just hope consumers don't take her seriously.

[paul8488]

They drooled all over the Fusion and its siblings... and while the Aura isn't the second coming of the sedan, it will be able to hold its own with the big boys, no problem.

[DuSpinnst]

After reading her review and the review in the new Motor Trend today (which was positive). I have on thing to say:

Anita Lienert can go JUMP OFF OF A <inset generic expletive here> CLIFF!

That women is a waste of a human, seriously, her opinion is worth about an ounce of mudd, mixed with human waste.

[paul8488]

Wait... she says that the steering-wheel mounted tap shifters won't interest soccer moms... but says the ride should be stiffer. Just what every soccer mom wants... a hard-carving sedan, but certainly one without tap-shift. What angers me is that she starts off in such a negative light, but doesn't outright hat the car, instead of being a little more neutral, and pointing out its faults.

And Suan Hicks needs a wedgie, because this car simply looks nothing like any Taurus ever. Odyssey and Continental? Yowza.

[tomcat_cool17]

Lets see, does the base Accords or Camry have a V-6? Didn't think so, end of story.

[56 Starchief]

and this, ladies and gentleman, is why you should never buy crack off the streets of Detroit.

she's pissed about some incident where GM almost banned her from testing all cars. ever since she has pissed all over every GM car she has reviewed. She is the one who bitched about there being no drip rails on a hardtop convertible G6.

never mind that her rants make about as much sense as my senile grandfather--WHO in their RIGHT mind would expect an uplevel leather standard?

little anita, put that crack down!

[markusername]

I for one am looking forward to test driving the car for myself. I'm not one to really take too much stock in reviews.

Most of the reviews have been positive, and I for one, hope that this time GM is serious. I've been put off too many times with the words 'wait till next year, or wait till the next version'...

On paper the car looks very competitive and I hope when I put it thru the ringer in my test drive it matches the best imports (I'll be comparing it to the Camry and Accord). It will be good for GM to finally have something competitive in the mid size segment.

[tama z71]

Whatever. She's been writing stupid commentaries with her husband for too long. One negative review amongst ten good ones shows how far GM has come.