The impressive sales of Saturn Aura allowed for this mid-sized car to get in the top of the best cars produced by General Motors. The popularity of the concept became apparent in 2006 when it was made public at the New York Auto Show, and though it was meant as a replacement for the Saturn L-series, Saturn Aura brings a breath of fresh air to the entire Saturn collection. The result of this new direction is market preference for American autos instead of European imports particularly since recently the focus has fallen on the latter in the United States. Saturn Aura thus competes with its distant cousin: the European Opel Vectra.

The standard Saturn Aura has folding mirrors and side marker lights, and these design features are clearly an imitation of European car design. The other appearance details make Saturn Aura a really pleasant car with 17 or 18 inch wheels and tires for all seasons in both the XR or XE models. The improvements in car appearance are relevant for the structure of the cabin too; now Saturn Aura allows the buyer a choice for saddle leather seats and back seat radio control. Yet, despite the real advantages in the standard model, Saturn Aura has been criticized for the quality of the materials used in the interior.

The technical features include an ABS system for all the four wheels, heated seats and both lateral and frontal airbags, with all these elements present on the standard models. Saturn Aura also spoils its users with 224 horsepower for a 3.5 liter V6 engine. The distinction between Saturn Aura XR and XE is obvious with the properties of the suspension system: thus Saturn Aura XE has soft suspensions while Aura XR has more rigid sportier ones. Moreover, this concept gap is further reflected in the price of the car with the soft variant coming cheaper.

Just like the Saturn Vue Hybrid the Saturn Aura is also available in the hybrid eco form following the green line specificity. It uses a belt alternation system and it has the same suspension system as the gas-fueled XE models. This hybrid design offers 164 horsepower and a significant fuel consume reduction. In the effort to make more people open to buy hybrid cars, government policy has changed in regard to tax payment; thus you’ll taxes will be reduced by up to $1,300 if you choose a car in the green line. Consequently after you buy the Saturn Aura hybrid you’ll save the above mentioned sum that you’d otherwise pay for taxes.

So whether you doing car rental comparisons or you are in the market for a new car purchase, you cant go wrong with the Saturn Aura.