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Until now, General Motors still hasn't quite engineered and launched the "world car" , despite the much-marketed connection between Saturn and the European Opel company . The Saturn Astra is a good and nice looking little car but was designed without thinking about the American consumers, and obviously they've not accepted the car . On the other hand, the Opel Vue, designed for the North American market only has hardly caught fire over there as an Opel.
But the latest Opel Insignia, which will be marketed as Aura in the future , must be the best chance yet. After all, the current Aura has all the chances to prove that this size and package of car are right for the times and the new one - sampled here as the Opel Insignia variant - is a much more better car to drive and even more good looking , too.
Jason Konior
In Saturn guise, it'll come to life with a 2.4L four and a V-6 engine , but in less than 6 months it will receive the amazing 2.0L turbo we tested. It boosts an amazing 230 hp and 270 lb-ft of torque and can come with either manual or auto transmission, both of them six-speed. We tested it as front-drive, but AWD is optional.
The turbo engine starts and puts to work around 2000 rpm and if the noise is just becomes too much noisy at that point, it does rev smoothly out to 4500. Pushing the tach dial in the boost area provides you ready access to more than good performance, while driving off-boost stretches every gallon. The six-speed manual/automatic shifter has a short if notchy throw.