2007 Saturn Ion
Expert Review

The compact, economical 2006 Saturn Ion retains its desirable dent- and rust-resistant body panels and adds horsepower for driving kicks.

The Saturn arrived for 1990 as an import beater with those body panels, a dealer-friendly network and heavily promoted "down-home neighbor" image because it was—and still is—built in Spring Hill, Tenn.

But General Motors kept the Saturn mostly unchanged for more than a decade while it mainly concentrated on profitable trucks, while Asian competitors continued introducing new rival small autos.

Crude Old Models
Those rivals increasingly became more refined, but the Saturn coupe and sedan remained generally crude. While small and light enough to be generally fun to drive, they had noisy engines, cheap controls and cheesy interiors. The sedan looked like a poorly scaled-down Oldsmobile.

Saturn's L300 midsize sedan arrived at the turn of the century, but eventually flopped. However, clever marketing kept Saturn in the game by emphasizing the automaker's friendly dealer network, fairy low prices, good fuel economy and "down-home" image. A minivan and small sport-utility vehicle also have helped.

Major Changes
The first significantly new Saturn autos were the slightly larger, restyled 2003 sedan and a Quad Coupe with two small rear access doors, which showed that Saturn could offer clever innovations if given half a chance. Saturn cars were renamed "Ion" that year.

Also, a supercharged hot rod Red Line Quad Coupe appeared in mid-2004. The 2005 sedan got minimal functional and cosmetic changes, with a revised grille and front fascia, larger steering wheel in a retrimmed cabin, different suspension tuning and new anti-noise measures.

A 4-speed automatic transmission replaced a 5-speed automatic and a continuously variable automatic (CVT) in 2005. That seemed like a step backward, but Saturn said performance and fuel economy were actually better with the 4-speed automatic. (The oppposite usually is true.)

Hanging In There
Saturn sales held up reasonably well in 2005, despite a generally depressed vehicle market, although it mainly affected trucks—not small, fuel-thrifty cars such as the Saturn.

The base Ion 1 has been discontinued for 2006, so the Saturn Ion comes as the $11,925-$13,825 Ion 2 sedan and coupe and better-equipped $14,325-$16,525 Ion 3 coupe and sedan.

Sort of off in left field for most Saturn shoppers is the $19,425 Red Line coupe with its supercharged 205-horsepower 4-cylinder. It has sizzling performance and a racier look than other Saturn trim levels, but comes only with a 5-speed manual gearbox.

Biggest News
The biggest Saturn news for 2006 is availability of a $995 Enhanced Performance package, available for the Ion 3 coupe and sedan. It can be had with either a short-throw 5-speed manual gearbox or the efficient 4-speed automatic—thus widening availability of a higher-performance Saturn coupe and sedan with both a manual or automatic transmission.

The package has a 2.4-liter 170-horsepower 4-cylinder engine with variable valve timing. It replaces the Ion's standard 2.2-liter 140-horsepower 4-cylinder. A Saturn with the performance package isn't as fast as the Red Line. But, compared to the standard Saturn engine, the 2.4 motor provides much quicker acceleration off the line and rapid merging and highway passing,

The package also provides a sport suspension and anti-lock brakes with traction control. However, it contains 16-inch wheels, not the 17-inchers and wider tires found on the harder-edged Red Line.

Best Fuel Economy
The Ion 2 and 3 have decent performance with the 140-horsepower engine, which provides the best estimated fuel economy: 26 mpg in the city and 35 on highways with the manual and 25 and 32 with the automatic.

The 170-horsepower engine delivers 25 city, 34 highway with the manual. No economy figures were available as of this writing with the automatic, but they're said to be close to those of the manual gearbox version. The Red Line provides 23 city, 29 highway, which are respectable economy numbers for this very fast car.

Other Changes
Other 2006 Saturn changes include a standard OnStar assistance system and redesigned center console/stack that allows more knee and leg clearance and interior storage area.

There also are a new radio family with auxiliary input jack for portable audio players, new 5-spoke alloy wheels for the Ion 3, redone 17-inch alloy wheels for the Red Line and combined XM Satellite Radio/OnStar antenna.

Also new (except for the Red Line) is a passenger sensing system that turns off the right front airbag if the passenger seat is occupied by a child or is empty.

All regular Ion 2 and 3 trim levels are enjoyable because they aren't very heavy and have steering with a tight turning radius and a supple suspension that swallows bumps.

The Enhanced Performance Package definitely makes the Ion 3 more fun to drive, with its faster acceleration, quick steering, more athletic handling with no ride comfort sacrifice and good stopping power. The brake pedal is soft, but has a linear action that allows smooth stops.

Center Dashboard Gauges
Ion gauges are in a central dashboard pod, as if it's designed to be widely sold in world markets with right- and left-hand steering wheel locations. But the gauges are large and easily read, once a driver becomes accustomed to their placement.

Front/rear cupholders call for a fairly long reach, even for those with long arms, and the small covered console storage bin is placed too far back to be easily reached. However, climate and audio system controls are easy to use.

A driver has good all-around visibility, but recessed outside door handles are somewhat awkward to use, as are the recessed interior ones. Four tall adults fit, and front occupants sit in seats with moderately good support in curves. The interior is quiet, although all engines are noisy during hard acceleration.

Tight Behind Driver
There's good room up front, but a long-legged passenger behind a driver will want more space if a driver shoves his seat about halfway back.

The trunk is large, with a wide, but moderately high, opening. Rear seatbacks can be flipped forward to enlarge the cargo area, but don't sit entirely flat when folded forward. The trunk lid interior has an unfinished appearance that a simple piece of material would hide. And the lid has no pull-down item to avoid getting hands dirty on the outside of it.

Where's That Latch?
Figure on spending lots of time finding the outside hood latch, even with the "help" of the owner's manual.

Some cars from smaller automakers wouldn't have survived Saturn's long period of neglect. But it's come a long way in the last few years and should be on shopping lists of compact car buyers.

With financially troubled GM's planned plant closings, there are rumors that Saturns no longer will be built at the Spring Hill facility. But, at this stage of the game, it's doubtful that many Saturn buyers would care much if it were built elsewhere.