Test Drive: Saturn Astra

[Pommes-T]

My Golf gets 5,1-5,8l/100km driven in the city by ME!!! 

Now that even Americans consider fuel consumption as a factor when buying a car VDub should better offer its more advanced engines there...

[ifcar]

Oh no: you set the 'bad' bar at 30 mpg highway. They both get better than that according to NRCan.

30 mpg highway by the EPA tests. Every tester gets different results across the board, so obviously the standard should be different for each.

[93JC]

"New EPA" in the Astra is 32 hwy, so it's still better than your arbitrary level of adequacy.

[93JC]

My Golf gets 5,1-5,8l/100km driven in the city by ME!!! 

5.1 L/100km?!?!

No waaaaay... I don't believe it.

[nickdrinkwater]

That's 60 MPG in our gallons... you must drive very carefully!

Funny how when we're talking about fuel consumption, the difference between average and worst isn't considered relevant, but when we're talking about acceleration from 0-60mph, it is...

[SVT666]

5.1 L/100km?!?!

No waaaaay... I don't believe it.

That's 46 mpg in the city?!?!?!  I have a hard time believing that one myself.

[Laconian]

I have no frame of reference for what a teensy turbosupercharged engine is capable of, but yeah, that's pretty sweet. That's better than the Polo GTI, no?

[ifcar]

Funny how when we're talking about fuel consumption, the difference between average and worst isn't considered relevant, but when we're talking about acceleration from 0-60mph, it is...

A frame of reference is necessary for both cases, but it isn't necessarily the average, which can be skewed by outliers.

[omicron]

5.1 L/100km?!?!

No waaaaay... I don't believe it.

Given Pommes' car weighs about five kilograms and assuming he coasts downhill to work.....

[The Pirate]

5.1 L/100km?!?!

No waaaaay... I don't believe it.

Doesn't his have a 1.4L diesel engine?  I suppose it's possible.  My buddy had a MKIII Jetta with the 1.9 they brought over to the states - he could 39 to 40 mpg city when he tried.

[Cookie Monster]

In a sense, no matter what engine Saturn offers, they will always be demanding the market accept their car, as an entry-level brand moving up-market.


Why is there always a push to do this? Saturn, VW, Hyundai, etc... What's so bad about making money as an entry-level marque? Consumers need those types of cars, and they're the people who get screwed when Saturn starts to sell us models for over 20 grand.

I'd like to see a bargain brand which, year after year, improves its product while it decreases prices.

I have a feeling that reliable, cheap, safe transportation is an economically-feasible, present-day reality that will never be realized because the big bucks are at the higher end.


The automobile has been around for a century now, and it seems like it's only gotten more and more expensive. Where are the Model Ts and VW Beetles of the twenty-first century?

I just don't get it.

Safety regulations and people's need for luxury amenities will always drive the price up, unless you want to buy a Chinese car, and if those ever catch on, those will also shoot up in price.

[93JC]

Doesn't his have a 1.4L diesel engine?  I suppose it's possible.  My buddy had a MKIII Jetta with the 1.9 they brought over to the states - he could 39 to 40 mpg city when he tried.

Pretty sure he's got a 1.4 superturbo gasser.

[omicron]

Pretty sure he's got a 1.4 superturbo gasser.

Oh, of course! I forgot he had that new-fangled Golf. The Twincharger DSG is rated at 7.7l/100km combined in Oz, so a 5.1l/100km result in town would be very, very impressive.

[The Pirate]

Pretty sure he's got a 1.4 superturbo gasser.

Ah, I thought it was diesel for some reason.  Well then, if you are correct on the engine, Pommes must only drive downhill with a strong tailwind. 

[2o6]

Ah, I thought it was diesel for some reason.  Well then, if you are correct on the engine, Pommes must only drive downhill with a strong tailwind. 

........stark naked, with the engine shut off.

[Vinsanity]

nah, I bet he was just running one of these bad boys under the hood

[Raza]

For fuck's sake, I'm not saying it's too slow for the earth.  I'm saying the competition is ahead of it or at the same level. 

And when you're Honda selling a car with a reputation, that's not a problem.  When you're fucking Saturn trying to break into a saturated segment, it's a fucking problem when your car isn't outstanding in some way.

[Raza]

What if it was the other way around?

Oh, then I'd take the Rabbit, because it's a Volkswagen.



Is that what you wanted me to say?

[CJ]

It's outstanding in interior design, interior quality, build quality, exterior design, etc... Basically everything EXCEPT the engine.

[Raza]

Oh no: you set the 'bad' bar at 30 mpg highway. They both get better than that according to NRCan.

UK gallons?

The Rabbit is rated at 29mpg in US gallons, as I recall.  Not great, but not awful.

[Raza]

It's outstanding in interior design, interior quality, build quality, exterior design, etc... Basically everything EXCEPT the engine.

Well, I'll have to sit in an Astra and really take a look at the interior quality, but the interior design doesn't seem anything special. 







I don't see how it's outstanding compared to either of those.

[CJ]

Personally, it seems more modern and stylish compared to the others.

[the Teuton]

The Astra's plastics are the same brittle pieces that any economy car has (with the exception of maybe VW).  They're just put together really well and finished with really good quality, with the exception of the lousy cupholders (read:  flimsy and will break easily) and some cheaper plastics that I didn't find that impressive at the auto show.

[Raza]

Oh, well, since Teut brought up the cupholder issue, that's another thing that hurts the Astra as a commuter.

[Tave]

For fuck's sake, I'm not saying it's too slow for the earth.

No, you just said:

Traffic moves over here.  If you can't keep up, then merging on to the highway isn't going to be easy. 

I've driven cars slightly quicker than the Astra, and felt like they couldn't keep up with traffic...Hell, at times it seems that my Passat has to work to move through traffic

I don't know how highway traffic is in your area, but round here, the proper way to merge into traffic is to put your foot down.  If you can't accelerate down a ramp to get to a proper speed because of other drivers who don't know how to merge, then merging becomes a juggling act. 

[the Teuton]

I didn't want to say this, but unless a VXR/Redline comes out soon, I think Saturn dropped the ball on this one.

When I was at the auto show with my dad, he would not look at it because it was a hatch only.  I like hatches, but I think the car is missing a massive amount of potential audience right now because its price is so high and its feature packages are so limited in scope.

[Raza]

No, you just said:

Yeah, I said it was slow.  But I never said you couldn't cope with it.

My point is that you shouldn't have to cope when the competitors offer more.

[Tave]

Yeah, I said it was slow.  But I never said you couldn't cope with it.

My point is that you shouldn't have to cope when the competitors offer more.

No you shouldn't. And like I said, for my money I would get the Mazda.


But there is no "coping" with anything. You just get in the damn thing and drive. Merging onto freeways in my car is as easy as merging onto freeways in my parent's Accord, or my roomate's S40, or my friend's Teg, or my uncle's X5, etc...

[Pommes-T]

Oh, of course! I forgot he had that new-fangled Golf. The Twincharger DSG is rated at 7.7l/100km combined in Oz, so a 5.1l/100km result in town would be very, very impressive.

...and I don't even have the DSG! I didn't take this picture in the city so it doesn't really prove anything, but only shows that my car CAN get such mpg. I might add that traffic flows pretty well on the route I drive to my university, which is downtown. There are only few stop and go parts (my commute is 18km) and one longer inner city road where the speed limit is 60 with only few traffic lights. I set the cruise control on 85km/h and drive in 6th gear.

I also have a picture with 5,1 l/100km, but it's a bit blurry.

[nickdrinkwater]

Oh, then I'd take the Rabbit, because it's a Volkswagen.



Is that what you wanted me to say?

No mate.  I meant, what if car X was superior to car Y in those other areas you listed, and only really lagged behind in acceleration?  Would you buy it?