By Megan Benoit
June 25, 2007 -
You gotta admire the chutzpah of an automaker that asks buyers to “rethink American” by pitting a German derived sedan against cars.com’s third “most American” automobile (Toyota Camry) and a sedan with 70 percent domestic content (Honda Accord). Although Saturn’s ads invites interested parties to a side-by-side-by-side comparison of all three “domestics”, like many intenders, I didn’t have time. So I decided to test the Saturn Aura XE and call it good. You know, if it was.
The Aura XE is certainly easy on the eyes, though you need the alloy wheel package to make its stand out from the Camcord. Given Saturn’s usual pug-fugly fare, the anodyne Aura is, relatively speaking, supermodel swank. Those Pokemon-adorable eyes, that misaligned chrome door trim… wait, what? Saturn is definitely raising its game, but I’d fire whoever did QA on the Monet-style exterior trim (it’s great from a distance, but don’t look too close).
Once inside, it’s immediately clear the look and feel of the Aura’s plastics won’t keep VW haptic hit squad up at night, but they’re definitely a cut above standard GM fare. As is the surprisingly hefty steering wheel and the sensible, ergonomically sound gauges and controls. The XE’s faux wood trim is cringe-worthy and the cloth seats seem carefully crafted to encourage a leather upgrade. Still, taken as a whole, the Aura’s cabin matches the transplants’ ability to raise unobjectionality to the next level (invisibility?).
The Aura driver can play with a large number of convenience options– eight-way adjustable power seat, tilt and telescopic steering wheel. Back seat passengers get plenty of room, but nary a floor vent or armrest to relieve the monotony.
Fire-up the Aura XE and the salesman fills your right ear with idle gossip. For less than a base Camcord, Saturn gives you a V6! Yes, well, the XE holsters a 224hp 3.5-liter six-pot mated to four-speed transmission. The base Camry and Accord may only have in-line fours, but they're damn good I4’s (158hp and 166hp respectively) connected to five-speed boxes that don’t hunt for gears like a pig looking for truffles in a French department store.
A few minutes on the road brings this fundamental deficiency to light; anytime you attempt to induce a downshift by mashing the throttle the pushrod V6 proves as responsive as David Hasselhoff on a drinking binge (and about as much fun). At least when the Aura XE’s tranny eventually decides to shift, it does so without appreciable lag.
The Aura’s engine whines increases with the rpm count, but there’s little of the finesse offered by its Japanese competition. As long as you don’t plan on any last-minute overtaking maneuvers or merging via short on-ramps, the Aura XE’s progress is pleasant enough.
Until you try to stop. The Aura’s brake pedal is stiffer than Detroit’s opposition to updated CAFE regulations and retard the car’s forward motion at roughly the same rate regardless of pedal pressure. It’s an entirely disconcerting binary proposition. The salesman was most enthusiastic about the Aura's standard electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), but on a practical level, deacceleration was indistinguishable from standard fare.
Through the twisty bits, the Aura's front struts and independent rear suspension maintain their composure with admirable aplomb. The four-door feels solid and surprisingly toss-able, with no more body roll than many sport sedans. The steering meets the Goldilocks’ standard: responsive without being too heavy or too light. This excellent handling screams out for a decent transmission (please Sir, can I have a manual?).
I shudder to think what would happen to the Aura’s gas mileage with a more responsive throttle. The Aura XE may have lots more poke than the base Camry and Accord, but its EPA fuel economy clocks in at 20/30mpg. I’m thinking great landing, wrong airport. Anyone shopping for a sedan at this price point will probably consider the Camry (24/33) and Accord’s (24/34) fuel economy figures more important than their accelerative abilities.
After driving the Aura XE, I came away with new respect for the Saturn brand. If they’d somehow managed to offer the larger engined, six-speed Aura XR at the same price as the XE, they would have bested two of the most highly developed mid-size cars in the world, built by longstanding market leaders. But they didn’t.
What’s more, the new Accord’s coming out this fall, Honda’s clean diesels are on their way and Toyota isn’t exactly known for standing still on the automotive development front. And then there’s the automotive elephant in the room: the 234hp, five-speed Sonata. For a grand more, Hyundai gives you stability control, automatic climate control, alloy wheels and “America’s Best Warranty.”
While you’ve got to hand it to Saturn for building a credible contender in the most deadly automotive sector, it’s what they do next that will ultimately determine the model’s success or failure.
3 / 5 Stars | Saturn Aura XE rating summary and performance review
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POWERED
June 25th, 2007 at 7:11 am
The base Camry and Accord may only have in-line fours, but their damn good I4’s (158hp and 166hp respectively) connected to five-speed boxes that don’t hunt for gears like a pig looking for truffles in a French department store.
Such a delightful way with words! I laughed so hard I almost forget what were writing about.
June 25th, 2007 at 8:20 am
Ah, what is American? I say it is any idea or concept that comes from or originates in America (North America and the USA to be more specific).
Most of what can be considered to be American are ideas. Creative new ideas that are generated by persons in the US. Of course these persons mostly come from elsewhere so what is American can and usually does have some influence from other cultures from around the world.
Hence the first automobile was made in Germany, but the automobile industry grew under the influence of American inventors, Ford, Leland, Olds, etc.
While the Camry and Accord may be built here in America, I still think of them as Japanese cars. They are designed and conceived by a Japanese company in Japan. Where they are built doesn't necessarily make them American.
At the end of the day you can probably conclude that just about anything you want to be American can be American. With Globalization we can no longer use country of origin as the definition of a products nationality. In fact products today are losing what could be considered a nationality.
Sometime in the 1970's the nationality of autos started to become indefinable. There was a movement then to buy American. I recall some confusion arising when municipalities ran in trouble purchasing trucks that were actually made in Canada as not in compliance with the buy American edict. With corporations now multi-national, the country of origin may only make sense when describing the location of the corporate governing board.
That makes Saturn, a GM product, as American as American can be. But then even this definition has problems.
Sony, a Japanese company, owns American based movie studios. The movies are considered to be American movies, even though the ownership of the studio is Japanese. This is probably why brand has taken on such importance in consumer product development and marketing. It is easier to identify the brand than the company that produces the product.
In conclusion, nationality of product really doesn't matter at all anymore. Why even Wal-Mart no longer has Buy American signs in its store anymore.
June 25th, 2007 at 8:38 am
I agree entirely Gottlieb.
The decisions made to improve upon, or diminish, these vehicles come from American executives, so the product itself should be viewed as American. If we must saddle a vehicle with a national identity, that identity should come from the source of it’s technical specifications and design.
June 25th, 2007 at 8:40 am
Considering the same car in XR trim has a 6-speed automatic, the 4-speed showing up here is a sore disappointment.
I gotta wonder if a 5-speed would bring the mileage up to near Camcordia standards.
Aside from that, I think this car’s better looking than its primary competition -the first time I saw one, out of the corner of my eye, I had it confused for an Audi.
June 25th, 2007 at 8:42 am
As responsive as david hasselhoff on a drink binge…..brilliant, but by all accounts he gets to the bar pretty quick!
June 25th, 2007 at 8:46 am
mrcknievel: If we must saddle a vehicle with a national identity, that identity should come from the source of it’s technical specifications and design.
In which case the Aura should not be considered an American car, since it was designed by Opel in Germany.
June 25th, 2007 at 9:00 am
In which case the Aura should not be considered an American car, since it was designed by Opel in Germany.
too-shay.
I’ll take my hot cup of stfu with a slice of humble pie please.
*takes off to stare at a spreadsheet*
June 25th, 2007 at 9:16 am
Megan - an entertaining and fair review. Some comments:
- All of the exterior shots were of the XR. Don’t know if this was intentional.
- I hear you on the exterior trim. To make matters worse, our local Saturn dealership is adding chrome wheel well moldings to many of the cars on the lot. Ewww. If Saturn wants to compete on an international stage, making its cars look like Oldsmobiles from the seventies will have the opposite effect.
- The fake wood on the IP is optional. You can get silvery painted trim on both the XE and XR models; not world class mat’l but much better than the wood.
- I think one of the major problems with the Aura’s slow sales is the lack of a four cyl/5+ speed auto trans. Economy minded buyers shopping in this segment (which is probably most of the shoppers in the segment) will go straight to the fours. The cheap six is no longer an advantage.
- Nice work linking to the specs page. This web site is coming along very nicely!
June 25th, 2007 at 9:19 am
Not so fast, Frank,
The technical specs for the Aura come right off the G6. The styling may say Opel, but the vehicle dimensions tell a different story.
Either way, I have no idea why we continue to get hung up on how ‘Merican the vehicle is. All those consumers who bought Big 3 in the past because they thought they were supporting ‘Merican auto workers were really just enabling the Big 3 to continue making shoddy product. The sooner they heard the truth, the sooner they’d start improving.
Which is what the Aura represents. Even in its weakest form, the XE, it rates above Camry and a host of other midsize sedans. Huge improvement, and now competitive with the best.
June 25th, 2007 at 9:23 am
I know people always mention “body roll” as a simple measure of a suspension’s abilities. However, after playing around with my own FWD sedan’s front sway bar (ie, removing it), I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ll take more body roll in order to achieve more neutral handling. I’ve discussed this ad infinitum with people on my car forum, and many of the enthusiasts feel the same–most long-wheelbase cars achieve flat cornering by adding understeer via a front sway bar. For most drivers, this is ideal because people have apparently become conditioned to understeer. Just a quick side-note.
I saw one of these Auras up close for the first time yesterday. I commented to the owner (a family member) that she was actually driving an Opel sedan, and she literally did not believe me. I explained the whole “Opurn” (”Satpel”?) business plan to her and she had absolutely no clue. Apparently the marketing is working very well.