If I am a betting man, I would bet every cents on all the best vehicles made from General are usually from the divisions which will be dropping soon. We have witnessed the excellent Intrigue, Aurora and Alero before GM dropped Oldsmoble a couple of years ago. When GM announced they are closing both Saturn and Pontiac divisions, its time for us to pay the last respect for the best cars ever come out.
Vehicle: 2009 Saturn Astra XR 5-doors
Price as tested: CDN$25900
The Saturn Astra, which has been our favourite in our annual car of the year. It also has beaten both Toyota Corolla and Matrix, in our small car above $20k segment. Its basically an European Opel Astra rebadged as a Saturn without any changes. Its fun-to-drive, practical, stylish and got electronic stability control standard across the board. That’s something unheard of in its segment. Most of all, its attractively priced and has to be the best small car has ever produced by GM.
Vehicle: Saturn Aura XR-6 with Sun and Sound Pkg
Price as tested: CDN$35150
Another Saturn, which is Aura, is loosely based on Opel’s mid-size Vectra, in Europe. Except for the rather cheesy interior materials, the Aura is a blast-to-drive right from the base 4-cylinder to the Greenline hybrid version. It handles as good as any fine European sports sedan with refinement and sportiness that have never associate with any GM mid-size sedans of the past. Unfortunately, when Chevrolet introduced the awesome Malibu a year later, it makes the Aura all but redundant because both are riding on the same platform. With Chevrolet receives more marketing budget and interior packaging than the Saturn, it makes the Aura one of the most underrated sedan on the market. What a pity. The Aura was so good, it has beaten out Camry and Altima as our 2006 family car of the year.
Vehicle: Pontiac G8 GT
Price as tested: CDN$42335
Over the years, Pontiac has been known for ugly body claddings with interior materials that made from cardboard. Since the introduction of the Solstice roadster, Pontiac has started to transform itself into more of a performance division that it used to be. But it wasn’t until the Holden Commodore derived G8 arrived last year.
With its 50/50 perfect weight distribution on RWD chassis, G8 handles as good as any European sports sedan costing twice as much. While the base 256 hp V6 has done its job relatively well, its the flagship 6.0 liter V8 on the GT that truly make the G8 flies. With 361hp and 385 lb/ft of torque, a wonderful steering feel and a well-planted chassis, G8 could well be the best performance bargain. It also looks understated elegance with a touch of sportiness. Unfortunately, GM decided to launch G8 at a time when gas prices were at an all-time high. Even with the demise of the Pontiac division, General has promised to save the G8 for the Chevrolet division. As Commodore has been selling in Middle East as a Chevrolet Lumina for years.