Aura has V-6 power, handsome looks

By ANN M. JOB

The Associated Press

Who would have guessed that Saturn would have one of the most stylish midsize sedans of the 2007 model year?

The 2007 Saturn Aura looks good riding on its standard and sizable 17- and 18-inch wheels and tires.

Replacing the forgettable Saturn L-Series that ended production for 2005, the new, five-passenger Aura also stands out with eye-catching rear styling with a high, European-styled trunk lid and light-emitting diode taillamps.

Saturn's newest car also is noteworthy because it's not offered with a four-cylinder engine. It has only V-6s with strong horsepower of at least 224.

And while the Aura doesn't provide a head restraint for the middle person riding in the back seat, it nonetheless received the top, five-out-of-five-stars rating from the federal government for passenger protection in frontal and side crash tests. Among its standard safety features are four adjustable and lockable head restraints, frontal air bags, side-mounted air bags and ceiling-mounted curtain air bags as well as traction control.

The Aura carries a starting manufacturer's suggested retail price, including destination charge, of $20,595 for an XE sedan with 224-horsepower V-6 and four-speed automatic transmission.

A key competitor is America's top-selling midsize sedan, the Toyota Camry, which starts at $18,890 for a 2007 four-cylinder model with manual transmission and $23,960 for a 268-horsepower V-6 model with six-speed automatic transmission.

The 2007 Camry and another midsize competitor, the 2007 Hyundai Sonata, also earned five-star safety ratings from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Starting retail price for the Sonata sedan is $17,795 for a base, four-cylinder model with manual transmission and $21,595 for a model with 234-horsepower V-6 and five-speed automatic.

Offered in two trim levels -- XE and XR -- Saturn's Aura uses the same front-wheel drive platform of the Pontiac G6 and the Opel Vectra sold in Europe. Saturn's parent company, General Motors Corp., 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. But the Aura's trunk is larger than the Camry's 15-cubic-foot space.

Meantime, the V-6s 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.

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. It 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.

New audio systems

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 extends down the pillars alongside the windshield, and fit and finish in general on the test car were 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.

The test Aura had the uplevel V-6 -- a 3.6-liter, double overhead cam engine with variable valve timing and 252 horsepower.

This is ample for the Aura, and the 251 foot-pounds of torque at 3,200 rpm propelled the car forward easily in all types of driving situations. The Aura accelerated well, 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 six-speed automatic transmission were smooth, yet didn't hamper the feeling of performance.

The V-6 in the entry Aura XE is a bit smaller -- a 3.5-liter overhead valve design with 224 horses and 220 foot-pounds of torque at 4,000 rpm -- and is matched to an older, four-speed automatic.

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

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.