Time and again over the years, auto journalists and driving enthusiasts have pleaded with GM and Ford to offer their European products in the U.S., to "give us the good stuff." A few times, GM and Ford have granted such wishes, and we received the Merkurs, the Cadillac Catera, the Pontiac GTO, and the like. And each time in recent memory the resulting product has flopped.

Well, I fear history is about to repeat itself with the Saturn Astra, which is essentially a rebadged Opel Astra. Saturn has been staging a series of comparison drives between the Astra and the Mazda3, Honda Civic, and VW Rabbit around the country. While the course provided is too short and barely lets you get the cars out of first gear, it's enough to tell that the Astra doesn't have what it needs to compete with its established competitors.

All Saturn Astras will be hatchbacks, at least initially. I drove four variants: a five-door XE automatic, a five-door XR automatic, a three-door XR automatic, and a three-door XR manual.

Styling

The Saturn Astra's exterior styling approaches striking only when the three-door is shod with its optional 18-inch wheels. The car's arching side window outline is a strong feature. The five-door, with a less dramatic side window outline, still looks handsome. It's at least as attractive as any other compact five-door hatch, and more attractive than most. The bodysides' shoulders lend the car a stronger, more solid appearance than you'll find in many slabsided econoboxes these days. Good enough here.

The Astra is built solidly, as German cars tend to be. The doors on the three-door especially seem very heavy. Those on the Japanese cars feel much lighter.

The Astra's relentlessly gray interior is stark in the classic Germanic idiom. It's solid, but thoroughly boring. I'm not looking for something out of video games or science fiction--that would be the Honda Civic. But the Mazda3 offers a much sportier, more stylish interior--I especially like the tasteful red highlights. And the ambiance within the VW Rabbit is of a much more expensive car--it's the German thing done right.

Ergonomically, the Astra has at least one major flaw: the power lock button is in the center of the instrument panel. I suppose this was someone's way to save the cost of a passenger side power lock button. But it's stupid, especially since the car's doors automatically lock. Many people at the comparison drive couldn't figure out how to get out of the car when their lap was over. People expect the power lock button to be where it almost always is: on the doors.

Accommodations

In terms of driving position, the Saturn Astra falls close to the Mazda3. You might sit a little lower in the Saturn, especially the three-door. In the Honda you sit lower and gaze across an acre of oddly-styled hard plastic. In the VW the base of the windshield is higher, burying you more within the car. So here the Saturn does well enough.

Interior space is similar about even with the competition. So in the rear seat you'll find just enough room for a couple of adults, and a half-decent amount of thigh support.

The driver's seat is fairly firm and reasonably well-shaped for general comfort. Only that in the 3-door XR provides much in the way of lateral support. I might have been told these seats would eventually be an option in the five-door. Why do they think that people who need a second set of doors don't need as much lateral support? (Five-door XRs similarly have a sport suspension as an optional rather than standard and are not available with the 18-inch wheels.)

As others at the comparison event noted, the Astra falls short in terms of interior storage: there's no front center armrest, and similarly no storage compartment in the center console.

Both Astras are hatches, so in that respect they are practical cars. But you can't fold the front passenger seats, as you can in a few hatches (Pontiac Vibe, Dodge Caliber, Chrysler PT Cruiser). And there's no nifty underfloor storage compartments, as in the Mazda3.

On the Road

Now we come to the Saturn Astra's fatal flaw: it's engine. Opel offers the car with a wide range of four-cylinder powerplants. We get one: a 138-horsepower DOHC 1.8-liter. This is the most powerful naturally aspirated gasoline engine offered in the car in Europe. But it's not enough to be competitive in the U.S.

The Honda Civic's four is similar in size and power, but the Civic weighs hundreds of pounds less, and has a five-speed automatic. The VW Rabbit weighs even more than the Astra, but is powered by a much torquier 2.5-liter five, and has a six-speed automatic. The Mazda3 weighs a bit less than the Astra, is powered by a 160-horsepower 2.3-liter engine, and has a five-speed automatic.

Compared to any of these cars, and especially the Mazda, the automatic Astra feels weak. Mash the gas from a dead stop, and it takes seemingly forever for the engine to get into its powerband. And even once in the engine's powerband there's little power to be had--there's no zing whatsoever here.

The manual transmission Astra feels much more energetic, but still cannot compare to competitors when they also have manual transmissions (none were provided at the event, but I've driven them before).

Then there's the feel of the manual: it's the worst-feeling shifter I've experienced since I drove the six-speed Pontiac G6 GTP. And it might even be worse than that one. The feel is much like that of a bargain basement computer joystick, as if there were cheap plastic bits crunching past one another as I snicked into each gear. How this flies in Europe, where most are probably sold with a manual, puzzles me.

Saturn clearly things that handling is one of the Astra's strengths, and it does do fairly well in this area. The Civic felt much mushier and less easy to drive quickly through the cones. The Rabbit also wasn't sprung as firmly as the Astras with the sport suspension. Of course, enthusiasts will want the GTI rather than the regular Rabbit, but then you're talking a price much higher than the Saturn's.

If you want a sharp-handling hatch in the same price range, then the Mazda3 is clearly the Astra's toughest competition. The Mazda has a much lighter, more agile, more tossable feel through the cones. I personally prefer it. But some people like a heftier, more stable feel to a car, and the Astra with the sport suspension might suit them. In hard turns it leans little, and feels planted. The base suspension isn't a great deal softer.

The steering isn't as good as the suspension. It's heavier than the Mazda's, but offers much less feedback and doesn't feel as quick. Not bad steering, and much better than the electric-assist unit in the ION (which the Astra replaces), but also not the best.

I was not able to evaluate ride quality or noise levels because the parking lot was smooth and it wasn't possible to drive the cars at highway speeds.

Saturn Astra Price Comparisons and Pricing

When both five-doors are similarly loaded up, the Saturn Astra lists for abut $300 less than the VW Rabbit. But the VW has a couple hundred dollars worth of extra standard features, and unlike Saturn dealers VW dealers will discount. So the VW should end up costing a few hundred less.

With the Mazda3, the Astra five-door again as a $300 list price advantage. But the Mazda includes about a grand of extra features, and once again Mazda dealers will haggle. So with the Mazda you'll end up paying hundreds less for a quicker, better handling, sportier car. Not a tough call unless you're really into a German feel. In which case you'll likely get the VW.

Prices change frequently, and differences will vary based on feature level. To quickly generate these and other comparisons with the specific features you want, visit my Web site, www.truedelta.com. (It's the only site that provides true "apples-to-apples" price comparisons.)

TrueDelta's page for the Saturn Astra:

http://www.truedelta.com/models/ASTRA.php

Last Words

The new Saturn Astra is a good car. But it is not outstanding in any way, with one exception: as Saturn will certainly point out, it offers a much larger sunroof than the others. Well, in the five-door at least. In the three-door no sunroof is offered here. You also get standard automatic headlamps and rain-sensing wipers.

Enough to compensate for not performing as well as the Mazda3? For most people shopping these cars, probably not.

At the very least, the Astra should have had GM's related 2.4-liter engine as an option at launch. If you're going to enter a highly competitive new segment, you need to be better than that competition in some important way, and at least match them in others. A big sunroof isn't going to be enough. The Astra could have succeeded here, but for that to happen GM needed to go the extra mile in adapting the car for the American market. And it did not.

I'm not sure what Saturn thought could be accomplished by having hundreds of people drive the Astra alongside the Mazda3 and Rabbit. At least one of the people at the event I attended ended up ordering a Mazda3 as a result--and before the event hadn't been considering the Mazda. This might be the most concerning thing of all: that people within GM somehow feel that they can have potential buyers drive both the Astra and the Mazda3, and come away wanting the Astra. I've been hoping that GM is more in touch with reality these days. Appearently not.

A Note on Saturn Astra Reliability

I cannot practically cover reliability within the context of this review. However, many people are interested in such information, so I started collecting my own data in the fall of 2005. Results are posted to my site, www.truedelta.com, with updates every three months.

Unlike other sources, TrueDelta clearly identifies what difference it will make if you buy an Astra rather than another vehicle by providing "times in the shop" stats (with others coming in the future). You will eventually be able to specify the number of years, annual miles, and types of repairs to include in Saturn Astra reliability comparisons.

To report results, I need reliability data on all cars--not just the Astra--from people like you. To encourage participation, those who help provide the data will receive free access to the site's reliability information. Non-participants will have to pay an access fee.

For the details, and to sign up, visit www.truedelta.com.

A link to this website and alphabetized links to my other vehicle reviews can be found on my profile page.

Some of my reviews of related vehicles:
Dodge Caliber review
Honda Civic review
Kia Spectra5 review
Mazda3 review
Nissan Sentra review
Amount Paid (US$): 20.650
Model Year: 2008
Model and Options: XR five-door, automatic, handling package