I don't know how long he'd been waiting for our appointment. As I rolled in behind his truck, he leisurely got out of his pickup's cab and sauntered over to my car. As he approached the Astra, his eye caught the metallic flecks of the Black Sapphire paint shining in the afternoon sun. "Is that factory paint?" he queried. "Yep" I replied "You like it?" "I dunno, I could see it on a hot rod" he replied as he moved his hand down the hood of the car to admire the finish. "Wait. Is this a Saturn?" he blurted out suddenly. "My sister had a Saturn, but it wasn't anything like this. This is a nice car!"
I think that's a fair statement about all the vehicles you'll find in Saturn's showrooms today: not your sister's Saturn. Kinda has a ring (pun intended) to it, doesn't it? Time and time again I got similar response from people "This is a Saturn?" followed up by "Saturn sure has come a long way!" The Astra certainly has come a long way, all the way from Belgium! I've hounded Saturn for years about this car and boy was I happy when it was announced that it was headed here. Enough foreplay, let's get down to business. We pay more for Belgian beer, should we pay more for a Belgian-made car?
The Astra GM dropped off for my review was a 3-door XR model with a 5-speed transmission. I had especially requested a manual transmission since I'd driven an automatic previously and found that it had substantially reduced the car's fun quotient. The three door is a pretty loaded model to begin with, but there are a few options available. The only extra on this car was the upgraded stereo/enhanced information display. Missing was the Premium Trim Package with its heated leather seats, door pocket lighting and some other yadda, yadda stuff. Also AWOL were the 18" wheels and that was fine by me. The ride in the 3-Door XR with the stock 17's is just fine with a tight ride and responsive handling. I'm afraid the 18s would make the car a little too brittle. The quick-ratio steering is great, flick the steering wheel from side to side and the Astra responds instantly making the car look like it's warming up its tires before a race. The standard, all-season Hankook tires rarely squealed during aggressive corning.
Driving the Astra around town is a satisfying experience. I had no issues with the transmission or clutch take-up. Visibility in the 3-door is hampered a bit by the rear pillar but adjusting your exterior mirrors in a slightly different way than you might be accustomed to will solve that issue. The Astra's 138-hp mill proved just fine for zipping along El Camino on my way to and from work. There was more vibration from the air conditioning compressor than I am accustomed to. You could definitely feel the vibration through the steering wheel at stoplights. A quick flick of the a/c button and the thrumming would stop.
Out on the freeway, my hand instinctively reached for a nonexistent sixth gear as the engine was revving above 3,000 RPM at 70MPH. I didn't find the engine's noise to be intrusive and with the radio on you're not going to notice the thrumming at all, but the engine certainly makes itself known at freeway speeds. As a side effect, keeping the engine at a slightly higher boil does allow you to react a bit quicker if a fellow motorist does swerve into your lane and force you to speed up to get away from them.
Winding backroads are where the Astra really comes alive. This car can handle! I found myself searching out all my favorite stretches of road with which to zig and zag the Astra. The engine is very tractable and is ready and willing to pull away from lower revs. That's important to me because on a very twisty mountain road I've got enough to focus on without having to rev the daylights out of the engine to get a good shift. I spent most of the time in second and third on a steep, twisty mountain pass where speeds didn't go over 10-25MPH and it felt great. The car responded very well to my inputs and never got sloppy. I was able carve up the curves while the supportive seats made sure I stayed behind the wheel and didn't slide from side to side. I found myself passing by vacant park-n-ride lots, turning around and setting up my own slalom course. Not every car speaks to me in such a way.
In almost every review of the Astra that I've read, there is carping about some of the vague, hieroglyphic markings on some of the controls. Given the Astra's international origins, it's not surprising that some symbols might be unfamiliar to us Yanks. There is no passenger seat eject button or missile launch control hidden somewhere on the dash, so you can freely experiment with little fear of destroying the car or attracting unwanted attention to yourself. Of course, you could always RTFM (Read The Friendly Manual) as well. Saturn includes a "quick start" guide with lots of pictures to help you get on your way. The bottom line is that you can sit yourself down in this car, adjust the seat, tilt-telescope steering wheel and power mirrors without breaking into a cold sweat or doing any reading: all the basic stuff is self-explanatory. Now, if you want to impress your passenger by scrolling through the multifunction display and initiating the car's built in timer all the while setting the cruise control to 65 then you will have to RTFM. Once you've driven the car for awhile all of these controls will be second nature.
You can get any color interior you like in the Astra, just as long as it's either charcoal cloth or charcoal leather. Some reviews have taken issue with the somber nature of the color scheme, but I think you'll find the interior materials to be of such impressive quality that you won't notice the lack of a beige or gray option. For 2009 I have heard that tan inserts will be available on some models. What you might notice, however, is the lack of a sunroof option in the 3-door while the 5-door gets the mother of all sunroofs as an option. Making this even more unfortunate for the 3-door is that the European version gets an amazing panoramic windshield that you simply must see to believe. The interior does lack a center armrest and adequate cup holders. You can solve these issues by visiting AstraArmrest.com where they'll be happy to sell you a center armrest (with retractable cup holder) that you can install without cutting or drilling. Keep in mind that any amrest is going to tangle with the parking brake. Look for the next generation Astra to sport an electronic parking brake to make space for all the flotsam that accompanies today's drivers. A few passengers did carp about the reach for the seat belt and even after adjusting the belt's height they felt it wasn't the most comfortable. I had no such quibbles with belt and my height is 5'10".
In my time with the Astra, I averaged 24.4MPG over 260 miles according to the “board computer.” Those were 260 fun-filled miles with a lot of enthusiastic driving involved. The Astra allows you to keep track of two sets of stats and I left the second stat counter alone. According to the final reading, the Astra averaged 24.9MPG over the last 600 miles. The EPA ratings for the manual transmission Astra are 24 City and 32 Highway. I did observe that when I cruised along on the freeway, I was getting 30+ MPG so I think you can definitely hit the EPA’s numbers with judicious driving.
Recently Business Week had a blog post about the Astra not riding the small car wave. The article went on to state that Saturn dealers are sitting on a 236-day supply of Astras. I checked that number on Automotive News' data center section and it is true that as of May 1 dealers had a 236 day supply but that number was down from 326 on April 1. I'll be very keen to see what June's number looks like. No matter the number, it does emphasize the fact that awareness of the Astra is very low. I was able to show the Astra to about 50 people in my week's experience and only one person had heard about it previously. Most people I interviewed thought that Saturns still had plastic body panels. Once people see and experience the Astra, it garners a favorable opinion.
It won't be long before a Belgian made Astra being sold in the USA is a trivia question, a footnote in history. When the next generation Astra bows, we'll get one assembled on our side of the pond--more than likely Mexico. We'll almost certainly get a sedan version with a hatch being highly questionable for our market. All the strange markings will be scrubbed from the interior and cup holders will abound. The clock won't be in a 24HR format (supposedly 12HR for 2009). The powertrain will probably sport a direct injected mill, offer more spunk and will mate better with an automatic. Yes, the next generation Astra will be many things, but it won't be this car. That makes the 2008 Saturn Astra a unique experience that won't likely be repeated anytime soon. You have to ask yourself: "Do I find a truly European car, minimally retouched for our market appealing?" For me the answer is YES. What idiosyncrasies the car does have, it more than makes up for it with a truly continental flavor that I can't help but love.
I'm not going to hold it against you if you do the math and end up driving something like the Mazda3. I'm a big fan of the Mazda and it's an excellent choice in this segment. However, the Astra is a credible entry and one worthy of your consideration. Now maybe if they stuffed the Astra's glovebox with Belgian chocolates and loaded the hatch with Belgian beer!
Update: here are all the changes for 2009:
New tan cloth seat and door inserts available on all models
Advanced audio package available on five-door XE model
Oil pan heater available on all models
Date on information screen organized by month/day/year vs. day/month/year
Twelve-hour clock replaces 24-hour clock
Saturn badge moves from rear bright bar onto upper painted surface
Revised 16-inch wheel cover design on five-door XE model (interim change)
Polar White replaces Olympic White and Quicksilver replaces Star Silver (interim change)
To find out more about the next generation Astra, you can check out these links:
Auto Express: New Astra VXR Turns Up The Heat
Motor Authority: Astra Interior Revealed
World Car Fans: Astra Spy Video
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