2007 Saturn Aura
Expert Review

After a couple-year hiatus, Saturn is back in the mainstream, midsize sedan segment. And it's back in a decidedly attractive way.

The new-for-2007, 5-passenger, Saturn Aura looks good with its Saturn Sky-like front grille and headlights, European-styled rear deck, bright, light-emitting diode taillights and standard and sizable 17- and 18-inch wheels and tires.

Inside, the Aura has upscale-looking plastics and other materials and well-arranged buttons, knobs and other controls that are light years away from Saturn's predecessor midsize car, the L-Series that ended production for 2005.

Saturn's newest car, the Aura, also is noteworthy because it's not offered with a 4-cylinder engine. It has only two V6s with strong horsepower of at least 224.

Last, but certainly not least, the Aura received the top, five-out-of-five-stars rating from the federal government for passenger protection in frontal and side crash tests.

Among the Aura's standard safety features are four adjustable and lockable head restraints, frontal airbags, side-mounted airbags and ceiling-mounted curtain airbags as well as traction control. There is, however, no head restraint for the middle person riding in the Aura's back seat.

Something of a deal?
At introduction, the Aura carried a starting manufacturer's suggested retail price of around $20,000 for a base, 2007 XE sedan with 224-horsepower V6 and 4-speed automatic transmission. This is some $3,000 less than the lowest-priced V6 model of Toyota Camry for 2007, and it's even $1,500 less than the starting retail price of a 2007 Hyundai Sonata with V6.

Indeed, the Aura's starting price was close to the starting price of a 2007 Honda Accord that has only a 166-horsepower, 4-cylinder engine and a 5-speed manual transmission.

It's not that the Aura is poorly equipped. A base Aura XE includes air conditioning, power windows and door locks, tilt and telescoping steering wheel, AM/FM stereo with CD/MP3 player and six speakers, remote entry, basic floor mats, cruise control, chrome-colored, exterior, side molding and rear seatbacks that split 60/40 and fold. The base Aura even includes a tachometer—something that Saturn's parent, General Motors Corp., had removed from some vehicles in recent years during cost savings.

The Aura is offered in two trim levels—XE and XR. The XR includes as standard equipment some uplevel amenities including leather seat trim, uplevel sound system, exterior chrome-colored door handles and a larger and higher-powered, 252-horsepower V6 mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission.

What I like about the Aura, though, is a buyer can stick with the lower-priced XE with 224-horse V6 with automatic transmission, then add decent options like a sunroof, upgraded audio with 240-watt amplifier and power driver's seat, and wind up with an MSRP of only around $22,500. Goodness, this is still less than the starting MSRP for a 2007 Camry with V6.

In contrast, the uplevel Aura XR, which, among other things, has 28 more horsepower than the XE's 224, starts at nearly $24,000.

Some perspective
Saturn's Aura uses the same front-wheel-drive platform of the Opel Vectra that's sold in Europe and the Pontiac G6 that's sold in the U.S. Saturn's parent, GM, owns Pontiac and Opel, too.

Nearly 16 feet long from bumper to bumper and 4.8 feet tall, the Aura is about an inch longer than the Camry and Sonata and a fraction of an inch shorter in height. But it's nearly 2 inches narrower, overall.

So the Aura has less shoulder and hip room in the front and rear seats, and three adults sit closely in the back seat.

Despite the Aura's longer length, the car's 15.7-cubic-foot trunk is smaller than the Sonata's 16.3 cubic feet. The Aura's trunk is larger than the Camry's 15-cubic-foot space, though.

Meantime, the V6s in the Camry and Sonata have slightly higher fuel economy ratings when compared with the Aura's 20 miles a gallon in city driving and 28 or 29 mpg on the highway, depending on the engine.

The Camry and Sonata also come with bigger gasoline tanks than the 16.3-gallon unit in the Aura, so drivers of the Camry and Sonata are likely to need fewer stops at the gas station.

Pleasant ride and interior
I didn't notice any of this, though, while behind the wheel of the test Aura XR.

This sedan had comfortable leather-trimmed seats—in a rich, saddle brown color that I recall seeing once in a Mercedes.

The car rode well, sort of rolling over bumps and containing the impacts under the vehicle. The tester had standard 18-inch wheels. Seventeen-inchers are standard on the base Aura XE. In contrast, 16-inch wheels and tires are on the base Camry and Sonata.

All Auras have GM's new family of audio systems in the dashboard, with their large, easy-to-understand buttons and knobs, and it's easy to get pulled in by the good sound quality.

I like that the upscale-looking, textured ceiling material in the Aura extends down the pillars alongside the windshield, and fit and finish in general on the test car was excellent.

Rear-seat passengers enjoy side windows that go down all the way. But they don't get a pull-down armrest, even in the uplevel XR.

Good power and control
The test Aura had the uplevel V6—a 3.6-liter double overhead cam engine with variable valve timing and 251 lb-ft of torque at 3200 rpm. The Aura moved easily in all types of driving situations. The Aura accelerated especially well and smoothly, yet felt nicely controlled.

Traction control, part of standard stability control in the uplevel XR model, ensured I didn't lose grip in aggressive startups.

Shifts from the Aura XR's 6-speed automatic transmission were smooth, yet didn't hamper the feeling of performance.

The V6 in the entry Aura XE is a bit smaller—a 3.5-liter overhead valve design with 224 horses and 220 lb-ft of torque at 4000 rpm—and is matched to an older, 4-speed automatic.

Brakes in the Aura tester worked capably. But the steering wheel seemed to be a bit larger in diameter than expected.

A final note
Earlier Saturns developed a reputation for noisy rides, in part because they used plastic body panels that didn't insulate well against road sounds.

The Aura doesn't use these plastic panels and therefore does much better in ride quality and quietness.