Comments on: Saturn Aura XE Review

By: ponchoman49

ponchoman49 — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:40:17 +0000

The Saturn Aura is hands down a better car than the rental car base bland Camry with it’s wheezing 4 cylinder and hesitating 5 speed automatic tranny that almost everyone in car forums has complained about and very noticeable on 3 out of 4 Camrys I have tested. The 3500 V6 which is the same setup in my 2007 Malibu is a rock solid powertrain and I would never in a million years trade it for a Camry or Accord 4 banger. And for those worried about mileage, the 3500/4 speed automatic cars I have driven on pure highway trips have have seen as high as 35 and quite often 34 MPG with a 4 cylinder spanking V6 and 224 HP. The Auras exterior is much more pleasing than the bland generic plain Camry with it’s taxi cab cheap plastic wheel covers, no bodyside moldings and frumpy front end treatment.

By: njnikusha

njnikusha — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:32:05 +0000

well better than pontiac i guess

By: njnikusha

njnikusha — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:29:06 +0000

Ok gus let me just say that i like Saturn brand, they make descent cars but its as good as it gets for saturn ……….for now. what i find disturbing with Aura is that in 2007 it was named as ” BEST CAR OF THE YEAR” but managed to sell only 60.000 of ‘em

sorry saturn but your quality is as far from perfect as a planet saturn from us

By: Cblue

Cblue — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:58:05 +0000

I’m not much of a car enthusiast… just an average American that was looking for a car. I test drove the Camry LE and Aura XE, both for the same price. I bought the Aura. The Camry was plain, inside and out. The Aura felt better, has more acceleration, better interior, exterior, etc.

Yes, Camry gets 4 miles more per gallon, but I’ll sacrifice a little. Besides, I drive rather safely and conservatively – I don’t “floor it” when a traffic light turns green like a lot of people do.

I never considered buying a Honda. I was never impressed with the feel of the car. Also, I live in a very hot part of the USA. I need an A/C that actually works during the summertime..

By: willbodine

willbodine — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 18:04:38 +0000

I can’t help but notice what a design improvement the Aura is over the first Saturn mid-sizer, the LS (also Opel-based) it replaces. If only this Aura had been the original LS. It demonstrates perfectly GM’s dilemma…they keep playing catch-up when they need to play leap-frog.

By: sjg

sjg — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 16:31:41 +0000

I’m always facinated by the confusion about who “owns” the brand and the owners nationality.

Follow the money! Who ever controls the money, controls the company. If the money flows to an American company, guess what, it’s American. Who cares if work is done in another country? Why should the American auto industry be hindered by building (or designing) their products in the US? Take a look at just about every other American company. Where do you think Apple, Trek, or Dell builds their products?

By: Mcloud1

Mcloud1 — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 20:42:38 +0000

I don’t understand the whole thing with comparing the Aura with the Camcord. To me, the Aura and Camcord are like an apple and an orange. GM instead should be putting Camcord up against the Chevrolet Impala, as I believe that is their true Camcord fighter.

By: vento97

vento97 — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 12:31:57 +0000

VW also in many ways made the current generation Passat a less desireable car than the one which went before.

Which is why my wife and I intend to hold on to our 2003 Passat GLS. The leather interior package still rivals that of much more expensive marques. And the handling is pretty good, too.

By: Megan Benoit

Megan Benoit — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 01:11:38 +0000

Throw in an AC system that would have trouble keeping you cool in Alaska and I still can’t see how Honda sold so many of these.

You know, I have yet to find a Honda that didn’t have a weak A/C. Even my integra, great as it was, had a crappy A/C. The best I’ve ever seen are usually in Fords… you’ll freeze to death, even under heavy acceleration.

By: airglow

airglow — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 19:41:42 +0000

David Holzman:
June 26th, 2007 at 2:15 pm

Sajeev Mehta: I’m sure the XE’s engine is still smoother than the 4cyl Camcords, even with the 4-speed’s less than ideal gearing.

I don’t know about the Aura, but I bought my ‘99 Accord several years ago after driving a rental 03 or 04 Impala 6cyl for a month. When I tried the Accord out, I was truly amazed at how smooth and responsive–refined–the engine was. Different class from the Impala.

Whichever engine your rental Impala had, it wasn’t the 3500 LZ4 in the Aura. You either had a 3400 or a 3800 in the Impala. My old company car was a 3400 fleet model; I won’t argue that a 4 cylinder Accord’s engine is smoother. But I certainly would argue the old 3800 is smoother than any 4 cylinder I’ve driven, and has something called torque, something absent in every atmospheric 4 cylinder I’ve ever driven, including a 05 Accord.

My wife’s 96 Accord was the most disappointing car I’ve EVER driven. It’s the car that convinced me automotive journalist are mostly liars or mentally incompetent. The 96 Accord was noisy, slow (can you say “torque-less”) and Spartan in every way. Throw in an AC system that would have trouble keeping you cool in Alaska and I still can’t see how Honda sold so many of these.

By: airglow

airglow — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 19:27:10 +0000

jthorner:
June 25th, 2007 at 8:51 pm

The “American” car debate is getting silly in the modern world. How is a Ford Fusion with a largely Japanese design team and a Mexican factory an American car? As far as where the profits go, that is a rather moot point as all the US based automotive players are loosing money AND are investing what money they do have in China and other foreign countries. Meanwhile the “Japanese” companies are opening factories and design centers in the US on a regular basis. Profits from Japanese brand vehicle sales are being invested in the US and returning to US based shareholders as well as to Japanese shareholders. One place the profits go less to is the management as Japanese top managers generally consume only about 10% of the salary and benefits that their US based counterparts do.

Current North American Camrys and Accords are designed mostly in the US and are generally not sold in the rest of the world (actually the US style Accord is sold alongside the ROW Accord in some places).

The reason GM still builds their pushrod V-6 engine family is because it is cheap cheap cheap. One must wonder if the chronic intake manifold gasket failures of that engine family have finally been fixed or not. I would venture to guess that Toyota and Honda’s high tech four valve, DOHC, variable valve timing 4 cylinder engines would be more expensive for GM to duplicate than the the 3.5L is to build.

The latest Aura seems to be in the finally sort-of-competitive camp, kind of like an Altima. One would think that the worlds formerly largest automotive company would be able to hit the ball out of the park, but instead they are settling for singles and doubles while counting on the home team advantage.

Close, but no cigars.

Facts, Facts and Damned Facts. I really hate to confuse you with the truth, but here goes. The 3.5L V-6 (LZ4) in the Aura was ALL NEW in 2005 for the 2006 model year, so any head gasket problems would have to be all new too. You maybe thinking of the 3.5L (LX9) which has been discontinued and was based on the old 3.4L/3.1L/2.8L V-6 family. The OHV engine layout is NEWER than the OHC layout historically speaking. And yes, the OHV layout, especially in “V” configuration is significantly smaller, lighter and cheaper to build than the OHC layout.

Honda, and worse yet Toyota support far fewer US jobs per car sold than any of the Big 3 by several multiples. But keep telling yourself buying Toyota is better for the US than buying a Saturn, you may even convince some people who don’t believe in facts and data.

By: shaker

shaker — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 18:26:47 +0000

Omnivore:
It (the Astra) is defintely worth considering, but if it’s heavier in US Spec form, the 140HP mill might be insufficient. (I believe the first ones will be re-badged Opels, with domestic construction depending on its popularity.)

By: SherbornSean

SherbornSean — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 11:30:25 +0000

JThorner — you said that all Nissans are French because the firm is partially owned by Renault, which is run by a Frenchman. Except that Ghosn is actually Lebanese-Brazilian.

Where does this ridiculous nationalism end?

By: jurisb

jurisb — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 07:56:31 +0000

jthorner- If nissan is partially owned by renault, means nothing for the origin of the car, what matters is the goddamned physical engineering input with your hands and brains. the company that has the biggest share of engineering and blueprint input, can be considered a builder country. if nissan is even owned 100% by renault, but still the cars body/frame ,engines ,etc are designed by a japanese nissan that is based in japan and run by a japanese headquarters, the product is still considered japanese. if the new silverado`s engineering work was done by isuzu, if the platform and engines, and safety cage was designed by isuzu, and not ordered to be built by gm from her own blueprints, then we can consider it a japanese car. If brazil has a gm subsidiary , that designs trucks, yet the design company is not an independent brazilian registered engineering company, we can at least consider it non- brazilian.well chrysler voyager is also assembled in austria by chrysler european division subsidiary, but noone considers those voyagers austrian cars. because they were not designed and engineered by an austrian registered company.

By: jthorner

jthorner — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 07:17:21 +0000

“Safety Note: if you increase the stiffness of the front anti-roll bar without increasing the rear anti-roll stiffness, then you may induce oversteer, which can be dangerous for the inexperienced driver.”

I think you have the front/rear roll bar stiffness visa-vis under and oversteer backwards.

By: jthorner

jthorner — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 07:14:56 +0000

I must agree with blue adidas, the current generation Camry is a nothing special car. The exterior is ugly, the interior cheap feeling and the ride/handling combination ho hum. My wife and I recently test drove one and both agreed that we like our 2003 Accord much better than the 2007 Camry.

VW also in many ways made the current generation Passat a less desireable car than the one which went before.

If the competition keeps lowering their game and Saturn continue to up theirs then things are going to get really interesting.

By: blue adidas

blue adidas — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 05:21:37 +0000

I drove an XE from NY to DC, and I have to say… I’d rather have an Aura any day over a comparable Camry. Honestly, Camrys haven’t been very impressive lately in terms of interior quality, exterior design or competent dealers. The Aura is much more athletic looking and a cohesive design. The snarkey comments in this review are cute. But the reality is that the Aura is a compelling option for people who are tired of the blandness that has existed for so long in the family sedan category.

By: moto

moto — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 22:57:59 +0000

Paul N – yes, the 3.5 V6 engine still works after all these years. Much like the horizontally opposed 6-cylinder Porsches, the inline-6 BMW’s, Honda’s venerable K series fours, VW’s VR6, small-block Chevys, the terrific Buick 3800 series V6 engines, etc. No company changes engine block configuration unless there is a compelling reason to do so.

The only real advances to internal combustion engine technology in the last 30 years have been in lighter/stronger materials and better control of air, fuel, and spark. Thus, engine layout is probably the last thing worth critcizing. If anything, the fact that the layout has been used for over 25 years is a testament to how well it works.

That said, cheers to VAG/Audi for implementing direct injection to their engines – a huge leap forward. GM also needs to implement direct injection, but there’s nothing fundamentally wrong with the basic 3.5 engine architecture.

By: moto

moto — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 22:45:25 +0000

ash78:

carlisimo is right. DO NOT remove the front anti-roll bar of a FWD vehicle. Almost all FWD sedans are tuned for understeer (stable handling, not high performance limits). By removing the front anti-roll bar, you increase body roll, which worsens tire contact and further reduces lateral handling.

To achieve more neutral handling, add a stiffer rear anti-roll bar.

Safety Note: if you increase the stiffness of the front anti-roll bar without increasing the rear anti-roll stiffness, then you may induce oversteer, which can be dangerous for the inexperienced driver.

Read Carroll Smith’s “Tune to Win” before messing with the suspension of your car.

By: David Holzman

David Holzman — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 21:37:26 +0000

More on what is American from the 2007 Consumer Reports Annual Auto issue: parts made by suppliers account for about 70% of the cost of a car; 80% of the US-built camry comes from the US, compared w/ 30% of the Fusion.

Nonetheless, CR’s source says that “across their lineups, American companies build a lot more of their cars and parts domestically.”

I’m still not going to buy them unless they improve.

By: Maxb49

Maxb49 — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 18:59:18 +0000

Also… much of the OHV engine’s smaller size can be readily noticed because OHC engines are considerably taller (those camshafts up top). So, if packaging is a concern – such as with the Corvette – OHVs can offer an advantage.

Pushrod engines should be in every car. Low end torque aside, their packaging is perfect for better fuel economy. Even the greatest (possibly fastest) sports car in the world, the Saleen S7, uses a pushrod engine.

By: Maxb49

Maxb49 — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 18:52:42 +0000

What’s not to believe?

Everything. Automakers hype up mysterious future products in hopes bringing you into the dealership to buy something now! That’s right, they are selling you today’s Accord on tomorrow’s supposed diesel. I have a friend who bought a Toyota Sequoia because “Toyota’s gone green”. Yeah right, unless green means dollar bills.

Honda sells a 2.2L diesel 4 in Europe that is considered to be quite excellent.

That’s nice. Ford, Mercedes Benz, Chrysler, Toyta, et. al. have really nice diesels too over in Europe. Problem is, Europe isn’t America.

The US-spec will have some additional emissions controls but will be quite similar otherwise, and will show up this fall on the new Accord.

Oh it will, will it? How do you know this? Do you work for Honda? Recall back to the redesign of the Ford Expedition this past year. Ford went so far as to list a 4.4 litre diesel as an option on their truck. Where is the diesel engine?

I don’t care if you are Ford, Honda, Chevy, or Packard. Auto corporations have been hyping up inferior products and gouging consumers for years. I’ve had it with their BS. No consumer should fall for the halo car trick (or dream of a halo car in this case).

By: David Holzman

David Holzman — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 18:15:12 +0000

Sajeev Mehta: I’m sure the XE’s engine is still smoother than the 4cyl Camcords, even with the 4-speed’s less than ideal gearing.

By: David Holzman

David Holzman — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 18:11:21 +0000

Gottleib:
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.

I think what matters to people who worry about national origins is where does the money go. Are we supporting US workers and the US economy more than others when we buy the car? My guess is that at this point this is probably somewhat ambiguous, what with so many cars domestically manufactured by foreign companies ,but maybe someone else can give us a clearer picture.

By: omnivore

omnivore — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 18:00:17 +0000

shaker–the upcoming Saturn Astra?