Saturn's Looking For A Few Astra-Nuts

Tag : Hydraulic Power Units

The Saturn Astra, according to a radio commercial in my neck of thewoods, is the top selling car in Europe.
Really? It's certainly not a "disAstra", but the bestselling car ofany sold in all of Europe? I don't get it.
Maybe it was the automatic transmission of my test unit thatcolored my opinion. Or maybe it was the periodically-annoyinginterface. Or maybe it's just me.
Anyway, my test Astra was the five door wagon-like version, whichlooks quite a bit like a VW Golf/Rabbit, not that there's anythingwrong with that. Saturn offers the five door Astra in XE and XRtrim levels; my test car was of the XR variety. The three-doormodel, which Saturn says was created with enthusiastic drivers inmind, gets only the XR trim.
Horsepower from the standard 1.8 liter Ecotec DOHC four cylinderengine with variable valve timing is rated at 138 horsepower with125 lb.-ft. of torque. These aren't "Astra-nomical" figures, butthey're reasonably competitive in this segment and perfectlyadequate for tooling around the urban and rural environs found inmy neck in the woods.
The standard transmission is a five-speed manual; my test unit hadthe optional Aisin electronically controlled four-speed automaticand, as mentioned, it may have taken away some of the fun I imaginedriving the Astra would be otherwise. Shifts are smooth, but Ipined for the manual transmission. Auto/manuals can strike a nicebalance between performance and convenience, but the Astra's box isstrictly auto.
The car handles just fine, though. Its front suspension is astrut-type with the control arms, stabilizer bar and steering rackmounted to the subframe. Saturn says the front suspension'sbushings are designed to minimize noise and vibration, so if youfind the Astra quiet and vibration free it's (to paraphrase theliberal left) Bushing's fault!
Astra's bum features a semi-independent torsion-link axle designwith "an axle-beam formed to a double-U-shaped profile", whichreally does sound buttock-like.
The steering feel is also very nice, thanks to the optionalelectro-hydraulic, rack-and-pinion system with which my Astra wasequipped. Saturn says it ups the ante on a garden variety hydraulicpower steering system by operating the power steering pump onlywhen necessary (such as when steering?), which they claim increasesfuel efficiency.
Brakes are power-assisted four-wheel discs all around, with ABS asstandard equipment. Pedal feel and stopping power are very good.
Five-door Astras come standard with 16-inch wheels, but mine worethe upgraded 17-inch aluminums that are standard on the three door(which in turn can be upgraded to 18 inchers). My Salsa Red samplealso wore a nice set of Hankook P225/45 17 inch tires.
Inside, the Saturn Astra is comfortable and attractive, though thecloth upholstery on my test unit proved to be a pet hair magnet -and I didn't even bring a pet into the car. The hair (from threecats and a big ol' dawg) must have migrated from our clothes to theseats. And there it stayed despite much vacuuming and cussing.
The front seats are firm and offer good support. On the other hand,I couldn't find the right driving position from its manualadjustments; it wasn't bad, but I could've used more height and alower thigh position.
Of course that's the story of my life outside of cars, too...
The thick, three-spoke tilt/telescoping steering wheel feels greatin the hands and sits in front of a rounded binnacle housing alarge and clear analog instrument cluster with a smaller digitaldisplay below the tach and speedo.
The rear seats are fine for two, and there's a nifty little doublecup holder that slides out from the middle of the bottom cushion.
One thing I loved about the Astra was its huge, two-panel sunroof,though it's only available on the five door version. Saturn saysit's the largest in its class, and it would work beautifully withthe as-yet-unannounced-and-unavailable (and possibly unplanned)passenger ejector seat. The sunroof opens with two touches, one totilt it and the second one to open. You have to keep your finger onthe switch until it's closed all the way, though, which is a longtime to have your hand off the steering wheel and could cause otherdrivers to think you're making a rude gesture at them.
My test unit featured the optional heated front seats as well aspower door locks (controlled either via strangely labeled buttonson the key fob or from a switch mounted on the center stack), andpower windows - all of which feature one touch opening but none ofwhich feature one touch closing.
The standard stereo is a six-speaker AM/FM/CD unit. Aseven-speaker multi-disc and MP3-capable sound system is available,and that's what my XR test unit had. Its sound quality is aboutaverage, though it has good power. And it's always nice to havesteering wheel-mounted controls, though in this case the head unitis also close at hand. The steering wheel's volume control lookslike the kind of thumb-operated volume wheel that's available (andso very handy) on Porsches, but it works just like astraightforward up/down button.
The central computer display could be a tad more intuitive, butworst thing about the interior is the cruise control controls. Ihad to check out the owner's manual to see how the little tabs onthe end of the signal light stalk operate the cruise control - andeven then it took trial.
Since when should you need to check out the documentation just tofigure out the cruise control?
Maybe the car should come with a Euro-technish translator...
On the other hand, the Astra had rain sensing windshield wipersthat worked beautifully.
The hatch - and the storage space behind it - is of a decent size,but I had to slam it to get it to close properly. The rear seatsfold down, of course, to increase the storage space.
Safety equipment is what you'd expect from a modern car. Six airbags are standard, including roof rail head curtain air bags. Thereare also active head restraints, a pedal release system (hey,where'd the pedals go?) and front safety belt pretensioners andload limiters. The car is also equipped with OnStar and a tirepressure monitoring system.
The Saturn Astra 5 door starts at $15,995 U.S./$17,900 Canadian,which seems like a reasonable price. My optioned up test unittipped the fiscal scale at about $22,110 U.S./$24,500 Canadian.Besides the auto tranny, heated front seats, upgraded stereo andthe lovely sunroof, it had the Sport Handling Package (whichincludes the 17 inch wheels), Stabilitrak electronic stabilitycontrol system, electro-hydraulic power steering and a loweredfront suspension.
I'm really torn by the Astra. Other than the really strangecontrols (which you'd get used to soon enough) and the no-funautomatic transmission, it's a nice little car. But I never reallyconnected with it like I do with some (many!) vehicles, and at theend of the review period I was ready to give it back.
Shucks. And I've always wanted to be an "Astra-naut."