All-new VUE hits the sweet spot

In less than 24 months, Saturn - the geeky General Motors offshoot - has completely swapped out its product line. Offering, not the warmed over leftovers featuring a new grille or taillight here or there, but – incredibly - 100 percent brand new vehicles.

Something even more amazing?  I’ve moved from those who counted themselves among the lifelong Saturn bashers to those who not only write flattering reviews, but actually strongly recommend Saturn products. 

It started almost two years ago when Saturn invited me to California to drive the all-new Aura, the replacement vehicle for the dreaded L Series lineup of Saturn sedans.  Aura was essentially the GM-owned Opel Vectra reincarnated for North American shores.  I liked it so much, we made it our AAA Car of the Year. 

Next came the bejeweled Saturn SKY two-seat roadster, a product that left me wanting more time behind the wheel. The American-built SKY is so good, GM ships it to Europe where it’s known as the Opel GT. 

Still one more Opel product, the Astra, is coming soon to Saturn showrooms to replace the Ion.

Yet, Saturn promised more and last year they introduced the Outlook. Outlook was part of a trio of new vehicles — including the GMC Acadia and Buick Enclave — that replaced the entire GM lineup of minivans.  Technically a crossover, Outlook is as large as a Chevy Tahoe, yet it is easier to drive and gets better gas mileage.  Were we impressed?  You bet.  Enough to name Outlook our SUV of the Year for 2007.

Now comes Saturn’s compact crossover utility vehicle, the all-new VUE. It’s quite simply a sweetheart.  The new VUE is a bolt-for-bolt clone of the European Opel Antara. It’s stylish, has a classy interior, a sporty driving feel and a quiet interior.

The most obvious change to the VUE is its exterior styling.  Gone is the boxy look of the previous generation, giving way to curvy body panels and jewel-like multi-element headlamps and tail lamps.  And, up-front, it features the wide chrome grille bar that we liked so much on Aura, SKY and Outlook. 

The new VUE also features front fender side vents that are all the rage and can be seen on the Cadillac Escalade, Ford F250 Super Duty, Range Rover and even the new 2008 Ford Focus.

Gone are the pliable plastic body panels that resisted rust and grocery cart collisions in the parking lot.  Those panels didn’t fit and left owners wanting improved build quality.  The new all-steel VUE offers that and then some.

Inside, the leather/suede seats are low luster grained, black with red stitching- comparable to what one would find in a luxury sport sedan.   The dash is soft-touch material, again low-gloss, and trimmed in faux carbon fiber.  The steering wheel is finished with brushed aluminum inserts at the bottom, a look that’s repeated on the interior door handles and shift trim plate. 

I didn’t like the cup holders, which are set too low on the center console.  Other complaints include the lack of a power tailgate, no rear-seat DVD entertainment system and poor gas mileage.  I averaged just 18 mpg during my weeklong test drive.

VUE is available in three trim levels: XE, XR and Red Line.  Front-wheel drive is standard, all-wheel drive optional on all models.  It’s said that a Green Line hybrid will be offered sometime in the first quarter of 2008.

A 2.4-liter four-cylinder 169-horsepower engine and a four-speed automatic transmission power the base front-wheel-drive XE.  The all-wheel-drive XE is powered by a 3.5-liter 222-horsepower V-6 and a six-speed automatic transmission. 

All XR and Red Line models are powered by a 3.6-liter V-6 with 257 horsepower, and a six-speed automatic transmission. 

I drove the front-wheel drive Red Line finished in a beautiful and flawless ruby red paint.  Perhaps my biggest surprise was that the more I drove it, the more I wanted to drive it.  I clearly preferred the new VUE to competitors such as Ford Escape, Toyota RAV4 or Honda CR-V. 

Standard safety gear includes six airbags: front, side and side curtain for both rows of seats; anti-lock brakes; electronic stability control and traction control; collapsible pedals to avoid feet and leg injury in a collision and active front row head restraints.  The VUE has not been crash tested as of this writing.  

The all-new VUE is a winner and has a low starting price of just $21,395 for the base XE.   But it can quickly reach over $31,000 for an all-wheel drive Red Line with most of the option boxes checked. 

The VUE seems to be the kind of vehicle you could be happy living with for a long time, but I recommend choosing the larger engine and six-speed automatic transmission. And, given the poor gas mileage, you might want to wait for the hybrid model coming in the spring. 

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