October 2006 Car and Driver Short Take on Aura XR 3.6

[wtgkb8]

Reading through my recent issue of the Car and Driver...October 2006 issue...decent Aura review.

"GM is set to turn at least part of the Saturn showroom into a pseudo-Opel showroom (Opel is the German part of teh GM empire) with its 2007 Aura sedan and upcoming ion replacement that will be based on the Opel Astra. The Aura isn't a made-in-Germany Opel--it's assembled in Kansas City, Kansas, but it carries enough Opel Vectra traits to sway a generation of buyers raised on German and Japanese cars--at least that's Saturn's hope. Think of the Aura as a Pontiac G6 in an Opel's lederhosen, and you'll get a realistic sense of it.

The Opel, the Pontiac, and the Saturn are all built on the same Epsilon front-drive architecture, but the Vectra rides on a six-inch-shorter wheelbase than the Aura and G6. The Saturn shares the G6's chassis setup of front struts and an independent rear suspension; only the tuning is different. The Aura XR we tested comes with the same 252-hp, 3.6-liter DOHC V-6 and six-speed automatic transmission that is available in the 2007 G6 GTP. In our test car, the powertrain produced an impressive 0-to-60 time of 6.2 seconds.

Hard acceleration from rest makes for torque steer and wheelspin, but above 30 or so mph the Aura collects itself and feels poised. Much of this composure is due to a six-speed automatic that anticipates one's passing needs like six well-trained bellhops. For those who prefer to select their own gears, there are steering-wheel-mounted paddles (borrowed from teh Corvette) that offer manumatic control. Upshifts are smooth, but downshifts are harsh and jerky. Handling with the standard stability control disabled erred on the side of understeer with moderate body roll. Despite nonlinear steering, the Aura feels willling, if not eager.

Driving the Aura on the highway is like putting on a set of Bose noise-canceling headphones. Although our sound-level meter measured a very average 68 dBA of noise, it seemed to our ears to be the quietest car since Rolls Royce Phantom. Double-paned front glass, a healthy dose of sound deadening, and laminated steel (dubbed Quiet Steel) go a long way toward canceling unwanted racket. There is little that disturbs the Aura. Ride quality, even on the optional 18-inch wheels, is compliant, if not soft. The only think that spoils the highway serenity is the Aura's light on-center steering that demands too many minute corrections to keep the car pointed straight.

What makes the Aura most like it's old-world compatriot, the Opel Vectra, is its exterior styling. The Aura isn't identical to the Opel, but it would take parking them next to each other to pick out the differences. The panel gaps are consistent and tight, the paint quality is excellent, and the headlights and taillights wouldn't look out of place on a $50,000 car. To our eyes, the Aura has a more sophisticated and cohesive design than its Japanese competition, and that along with the $24,595 base price, should be good news for GM.

Some shoppers might head for a Toyota store after spending time in teh Aura's interior. It's a shame Saturn didn't copy the Vectra's interior as closely as its exterior. The controls and the guages are well laid out, and the multiadjustable seat yields a comfortable driving position. The problem isn't so much with the design, although the Opel interior still strikes us as teh better of the two. Rather, it's the build quality: Several parts weren't aligned, the trunk-release bottion came loose from the door, plastics ranged from good (dash top) to bad (shiny door-panel grab handles with fake stitching), and mold part lines were in evidence. The word flimsy comes to mind.

Opels sold as Saturns strike us as a great idea, and the Aura delivers performance, looks, and value. But its disappointing interior makes us wonder why GM was willing to mine its German outlet to find Saturn's Aura but relectant to go all the way with it."

Performance:
0-to-60 mph: 6.2 sec
0-to-100: 16.6 sec
0-to-115: 21.1 sec
Street Start, 5-to-60: 6.3 sec
1/4 mile: 14.9 sec @ 95 mph
Top Speed (governor limited): 115 mph
Braking, 70-to-0: 172 ft
Roadholding: 0.82 g
C/D-observed fuel economy: 22 mpg

[silverado_13]

even a positive review from "Honda and Driver" is filled with them picking out little details and making the car sound a lot worse than it is.

[mgescuro]

Originally Posted by wtgkb8

Opels sold as Saturns strike us as a great idea, and the Aura delivers performance, looks, and value. But its disappointing interior makes us wonder why GM was willing to mine its German outlet to find Saturn's Aura but relectant to go all the way with it."

Because GM is stupid that way!!! They want a European car. Then dammit!!! MAKE IT EUROPEAN!!! There's already the Malibu and G6 that are as American as applie pie.

Make the Aura stand out and make it different!!!

[asim]

Wow! 6.2 seconds is freaking awesome. I may go test drive one tomorrow, and I'll make sure it's the XR!

[TahoeMikeZ71]

2007 Saturn Aura - Road Tests

Saturn Comes Back to Earth.

BY STEVE SILER, August 2006
After initial success offering a “different kind of car” from a “different kind of company,” Saturn slipped into automotive oblivion as people realized what the products actually were under those smack-proof skins: cheap. And no amount of cartwheels and balloons could mask the fact that most of its competitors could run rings, so to speak, around Saturn in terms of quality and character.
Enter the Aura, the newest and best Saturn product yet. With thinly veiled European roots, the Aura—along with the sexy Sky roadster—portends good things to come from a planet that’s being reborn as you read this. The Aura is the first of Saturn’s new family of European-based or Euro-influenced products that drive and look nothing like the plebian Saturns of yore.
Saturn Aura Euro Roots

Based on the Epsilon platform that underpins the Saab 9-3, the Kansas-City-built Aura has a 7.0-inch longer wheelbase and 7.5 inches of added length, but only about an inch of additional width. But whereas the Saab is considered a compact, the stem-to-stern stretch puts the Aura into the mid-size and bestows it with an appreciable rear legroom advantage. However, three butts in back is snug—a telltale sign that this car was intended primarily for European consumption.
That said, the Aura’s Euro roots serve to its advantage in the driving department. On our preview drive, we found the hydraulic power steering to be nicely weighted and surprisingly quick off-center. The Aura’s long wheelbase combines with relatively firm shock/spring tuning to strike a good balance of ride smoothness and crisp handling, even with the 18-inch wheels that come standard with the uplevel XR. Brakes appeared more than up to the task of bringing the 3647-lb sedan to a quick halt, though at no point during our afternoon drive with the car did we get them terribly hot to measure fade.

http://www.caranddriver.com/roadtest...turn-aura.html

[goblue]

thats a shame (about the interior) if GM had just brought it up to camry/accord standards this vehicle would have won comparisons in the most competitive segment in the US.

It drives better than the Camry, some say the Accord - or at least equal, in most people's eyes the exterior is top of the class, the XR has class tying acceleration (and it ties a vehicle that can't make full use of it), and to boot, it is sold at a franchise that consistenly gets high marks for being a place people enjoy buying a car. Wow GM. All you had to do was tweak the Vectra's interior, or copy Honda.

They got the hard stuff right, but blew it on what should have been the easiet part.

[Phillip]

Originally Posted by silverado_13

even a positive review from "Honda and Driver" is filled with them picking out little details and making the car sound a lot worse than it is.

Actually, you can find a few GM-faithful here who also consider the interior a disappointment design and quality wise, which is made all the more baffling when you consider that exterior craftsmanship was stated to be worthy of far more expensive cars. More Vectra in the center console would've gone a long way to distinguishing the interior because as is, it's a questionable match for the rest of the car...or so I think.

[Xenon]

Originally Posted by silverado_13

even a positive review from "Honda and Driver" is filled with them picking out little details and making the car sound a lot worse than it is.

If they didn't do so much fake crap on the interior, then most editors wouldn't have this complaint. Fake stitching belongs on toy cars, not full-scale production cars.

I mean damn, even the F150 has actual stitching on the dash.

[LeSabre]

Originally Posted by mgescuro

Because GM is stupid that way!!! They want a European car. Then dammit!!! MAKE IT EUROPEAN!!! There's already the Malibu and G6 that are as American as applie pie.

Make the Aura stand out and make it different!!!

Applie pie?

[DuSpinnst]

Here we go again, complaining about the interior.

[giagastormer]

I think the Vectra interior is horrible.

Aura is a sharp car, just needs a few interior tweaks.

[chad4835]

Sounds like good new for Aura! I am looking forward to our local dealer finally getting them in ...

[Robert G]

I agree. I find the corners of the dash where it meets the doors is better on the Aura (more modern design) than the Vectra.

Originally Posted by giagastormer

I think the Vectra interior is horrible.

Aura is a sharp car, just needs a few interior tweaks.

[Elk]

Originally Posted by mgescuro

Because GM is stupid that way!!! They want a European car. Then dammit!!! MAKE IT EUROPEAN!!! There's already the Malibu and G6 that are as American as applie pie.

Make the Aura stand out and make it different!!!

I don't see how you can say that, that is better then this:


The Vectra's interior makes me think “better built Dodge Caliber”.

[Murrow]

Originally Posted by Xenon

If they didn't do so much fake crap on the interior, then most editors wouldn't have this complaint. Fake stitching belongs on toy cars, not full-scale production cars.

I mean damn, even the F150 has actual stitching on the dash.

I was very disappointed to see the fake stitching in the Aura I sat in the other day. I didn't like the fake aluminum in the car or the fake wood in another one I looked at very much either.

Overall, I think the Aura by far has the best GM midsized car interior, but that's not saying a whole lot.

I definitely like the Vectra interior better, especially the center stack and the steering wheel which lacks the Saturn's insert-logo-into-this-circle airbag cover.