2008 Saturn Astra Unveiled

[Redline_420]

Saturn today announced the addition of the all-new 2008 Astra to its lineup — a rebadged version of the Opel hatchback by the same name. The Saturn Astra will be offered in three-door and five-door models. Power comes from a 1.8L Ecotec four-cylinder engine, delivering 140 horsepower (104 kW) and good fuel economy.



"In Europe, the Astra's combination of style, performance, safety technology and fuel efficiency have made it a hit with owners and auto critics alike," said Jill Lajdziak, Saturn general manager. "Now, Saturn is bringing the newly restyled Astra to North America and marrying it with our celebrated customer experience."



The Astra will go on sale in the fourth quarter of this year. It is the fifth product in a complete revamp of Saturn's product lineup. In fact, when the Astra hits showrooms, the "oldest" vehicle in Saturn's portfolio will be the Sky roadster, which debuted in March 2006. Other new models include the all-new Aura sedan, the redesigned Vue compact crossover – including the Vue Green Line hybrid – and the Outlook crossover.



"It's not a stretch to say Saturn is all-new," said Lajdziak. "The Astra rounds out our portfolio with a smart-driving, well-equipped small car that shares the European designs evident in all our new vehicles."








Highlights



Saturn offers two trim levels (XE and XR) for five-door models, and a single trim (XR) in the three-door configuration.



The standard powertrain combination in all models is the 1.8L Ecotec DOHC four-cylinder engine, which is paired with a five-speed manual transmission. The Ecotec engine is enhanced with variable valve timing to optimize power output and fuel efficiency. A four-speed automatic transmission is optional on all models.



StabiliTrak electronic stability control system with traction control is standard on all three-door Astras, and available on five-door models. This system works in concert with the standard four-wheel, antilock disc brakes to help the driver maintain control during adverse road conditions or during sudden emergency driving situations.



An electro-hydraulic, rack-and-pinion steering system is standard on all models. It provides the solid, linear feel of a hydraulic power steering system, but improves fuel efficiency by operating the power steering pump only when necessary. The system has two available configurations: the standard 15:1 ratio on five-door models and a 14:1 Sport ratio (standard on the three-door; optional on five-doors).



Five-door Astras come with standard 16-inch wheels, but can be upgraded to 17-inch aluminum wheels. Three-door models come standard with 17-inch aluminum wheels, which can be upgraded to 18-inch aluminum wheels and performance tires.



Interior highlights include:


Illuminated glove box with damped door actuation
A large, two-panel sunroof: the largest in its class (available on five-door only)
Available heated seats in cloth or leather surfaces
Auxiliary 12-volt power outlet
Easy-to-remove rear cargo cover
Power door locks (with central locking feature) and power windows with express down feature
Standard six-speaker AM/FM/CD radio and available seven-speaker sound system; multi-disc and MP3-capable radios available
Steering-wheel mounted audio controls (on XR models) Astra's bold proportions, including a long, 103-inch (2,614 mm) wheelbase and 80-inch (2,033 mm) width, provide exceptional roominess and generous storage capacity. The 60/40-split folding rear seat also folds flat with the touch of a single, high-mounted lever. When the rear seat is folded, the five-door Astra offers 44.8 cubic feet (1,270 L) of storage space. Occupant protection features The 2008 Saturn Astra features a comprehensive list of safety systems to help protect occupants in the event of a crash. Highlights include:
Rigid body structure with safety cage
Six standard air bags, including dual-stage frontal air bags; roof rail head curtain air bags and thorax/pelvic air bags (front-seat passengers)
Active head restraints
Collapsible pedals
Front safety belt pretensioners and load limiters
OnStar with one year of Safe & Sound service



Air bags: All Astra models feature dual-stage frontal air bags, seat-mounted thorax/pelvic air bags to help protect front occupants and head curtain air bags for front- and rear-seat occupants. Also standard is an automatic passenger sensing system for the front passenger seat; it suppresses the activation of the passenger-side frontal air bag if it detects a child or smaller-stature person in that seating position.



Active head restraints and collapsible pedals: Standard active head restraints instantly move forward if a rear-end crash is detected, reducing the risk of neck injuries. Similarly, the collapsible foot pedals move during a crash to reduce the risk of leg or ankle injuries. Safety belt pretensioners and load limiters: When a crash is detected, the safety belt pretensioners immediately reduce the slack in the front safety belts, helping limit the movement of passengers. The load limiters permit a small amount of movement in the front safety belts, thereby reducing peak chest loads in a more severe crash.



OnStar: Astra comes with the latest-generation OnStar system, including available Turn-by-Turn Navigation. The system also includes advanced automatic crash notification (AACN). With AACN, an OnStar advisor is immediately contacted by the vehicle when a crash occurs; the advisor can determine the appropriate emergency help required and assist in sending it to the scene of the crash. Astra buyers will receive one year of Safe & Sound Service provided by Saturn.

[socalsilverRL]

1.8l?!?!?.....

[NoRemorse]

Originally Posted by socalsilverRL

1.8l?!?!?.....

yea, 1.8 at 140hp!!!! they dropped 0.4l and stayed at the same HP! pretty impressive if you ask me! It has variable length intake runners, and all that jazz.

[korax123]

No performance version on release blah

[socalsilverRL]

Originally Posted by NR

yea, 1.8 at 140hp!!!! they dropped 0.4l and stayed at the same HP! pretty impressive if you ask me! It has variable length intake runners, and all that jazz.

thats all good and all...but WTF!...no 2.0, that means our heads are already out of date, and thats weak displacement. I mean sh-t, even the new sh-t boxes are coming with 2.5's....(vw, lancer, wrx, caliber, etc...) Alls i gots to say is, they better have some interesting tricks up their sleeves...

...and what about the deisel model, did they/will they bring that over here?

[NoRemorse]

Originally Posted by socalsilverRL

thats all good and all...but WTF!...no 2.0, that means our heads are already out of date, and thats weak displacement. I mean sh-t, even the new sh-t boxes are coming with 2.5's....(vw, lancer, wrx, caliber, etc...) Alls i gots to say is, they better have some interesting tricks up their sleeves...

...and what about the deisel model, did they/will they bring that over here?

The thing is, I don't know much about the astra because I don't know the product code for it.


For example, I can pull up future cobalt things because I know the product code is '3A'. I can pull up ION things because I know the product code is 'ZA'. The only reason I know those is because I can look up a part number and see it's usage. If I knew 1 part that was ONLY on the ASTRA, I could find it's product code, and with that, pull up pretty much ANY info on it.

[socalsilverRL]

hmmm....highly doubt they have released part #'s for that car as of yet...we'll have to wait and see...

[NoRemorse]

Originally Posted by socalsilverRL

hmmm....highly doubt they have released part #'s for that car as of yet...we'll have to wait and see...

LOL, they had part numbers years ago, trust me. Easily accessible part numbers... that's the hard part. there aren't a lot of books (product codes) so maybe I will just go through the ones I do not know (to be honest, I only know 6 off the top of my head) and see which one pulls up drawings of a 1.6l engine!

[socalsilverRL]

^thats what interested me, was that they might possibly bring over the awesome Ecotec Deisel engines from Europe...im guessing ill have to buy my astra in Canadia to get the deisel...

[Superman]

Boring.....

Guessing they're going with the 1.8L because of the fuel efficiency. Kinda surprised they're not offering the 2.4L 170hp engine in the XR though. Although, since the '08s are being built over in Belgium, they might not have easy access to anything other than the 1.8. Perhaps the 1.8 is the only one they have that can meet the U.S. restrictions? My guess is that there will be more engine options once they start building it over here. It's just going to be too expensive to offer a lot of different options while they're having to ship everything over here.

Good thing that the general population should like the looks better than they liked the ION, because without more options that what they're offering, it might not sell too well otherwise. Personally, I'm still kinda on the fence on the looks. I can't imagine that they won't do something performance wise with it though. The Cobalt's and the Mazdaspeed 3 are selling lot hotcakes, so I would think an Astra RL should follow along nicely.