New 2009 Saturn Astra

Vehicle Overview
The Astra is Saturn's entry-level offering. It's an experiment of sorts — an unapologetic rebadging of the Opel Astra, which is sold overseas. Because of its higher price, the Astra competes with higher-end compact vehicles such as the Volkswagen Rabbit, Mazda3 and Honda Civic.

New for 2009
All Astras are now available in optional tan cloth, XE can have a premium audio system.

Exterior
The four-door hatchback comes in two trim levels, XE and XR. A two-door hatchback will be sold only in the higher XR trim. The two-door holds together visually, but the four-door looks awkward. Both the four-door and two-door hatchbacks measure in at 170 inches long and 69 inches wide — about the same as their competitors. Enjoy revised 16-inch wheel-cover design on the four-door XE, standard 17-inch alloy wheels on the XR (optional on XE), or optional 18-inch wheels on XR.  The Astra features standard color-coded body moldings, mirrors, and front and rear bumpers and the Saturn badge moves from rear chrome bar to painted surface above.
 
Interior
The interior shapes are a little bizarre and not what Saturn designers likely would have done with a clean slate. Apart from the design, the dashboard surface is soft to the touch, and other materials and controls seem high-quality. The Astra's passenger volume measures in at 92.4 cubic feet in the four-door hatch. The two-door has about 3 cubic feet less. Those measurements are similar to the competition.  New tan cloth seat and door inserts and an advance audio package are now available on all models.  A 12-hour clock replaces 24-hour clock and date-information screen reorganized (month/day/year instead of day/month/year).  Heated cloth or leather seats are available. 

Under the Hood
While the European Astra allows customers to choose from a laundry list of powertrain offerings, including diesels, Americans are stuck with one choice. A 138-horsepower, 1.8-liter four-cylinder (125 pounds-feet of torque) is mated to a Five-speed manual or optional four-speed automatic transmission.  A sport-tuned suspension and electro-hydraulic power steering with an available tighter steering ratio are available.  

Safety
Complementing the Astra's relatively high asking price is a list of standard safety features.  They include: side curtain airbags and seat-mounted thorax airbags (front-seat passengers), front-passenger occupancy sensor, active head restraints and break-away pedals, which automatically release during a major frontal impact.  OnStar comes standard, including one free year of Safe and Sound service, which alerts authorities in the event of a collision and provides crash data.