Kevin

Thanks. When you know folks who do marketing, you take pictures you know they'll be interested in. After going to the show for years, it gets to the point where a car is a car, unless it is uber-cool (like the ZR1) Is it that obvious?

Here are the pics I took at the 2008 Chicago Autoshow The Saturn Performance Club does an annual trip - this year we also went Karting and to see U2 in 3D. http://www.flickr.com/photos/9663416@N08/s...57603885220726/

Yeah, I thought about blue, but my '97 SC2 is blue, and my wife always wanted a Silver Saturn. And silver doesn't show dirt nearly as bad as darker colors. An it's a 5-speed. I won't own an automatic. Why should I pay $1300 to make driving the car less fun???????

Yes, they can be ordered - it just takes a while to get it The only Astra the dealer I'm using (we have 7 Saturn dealers in the metro area) has delivered was one that had been ordered. With Saturn's "no haggle pricing," there is no reason not to order one, unless you are in a time crunch.

So the 2008 Astras were delivered today to my local dealer, and with the snow coming, Kat & I headed down there to take a test drive. The 3 door was in the showroom, but the 5 door XE was outside and available for test drives. 1st impression - The car still looks good in person - much better than in pictures. Evidently this is subjective, because Kat doesn't really like it in person either. There is plenty of room inside - the sport seats in the 3 door are very comfortable and supportive. Even the base seats in the 5 door are a nice step up from the S-Series & Ion. The radio looks a bit complicated, but the controls are easy to reach, and the display is up high in the dash & easy to see. It looks like one of the new fancy LCD screens, but it is only a text screen - no cool graphics or nav The interior is surprisingly roomy. I sat in the back of the 3 door and slid the front seat all the way back. My knees barely touched the seat back, but I was still comfortable for a ride across town. With some cooperation from the front seat passenger, there is plenty of room to be comfortable for a long drive (for those that don't know me, I'm 6' 240lbs) Leg room up front is impressive. with the steering wheel set at a comfortable location, I had plenty of room around my knees, and even though the car was an automatic, I don't see there being any problem with my knee having clearance when shifting. Fit & finish was quite nice. the materials look good, and don't feel at all cheap. Now, if they hold up as well as the interiors in the s-series, life will be good. the drive - Again, the car was a slushbox, so I couldn't get a feel for the shifter, but as I remember from the pre-production car I sat in at the Brand Advocacy meeting, the pedals are placed well for heel-toe, and the shifter felt like it had positive engagement. I'll be able to give a better review of the shifter & pedals in a few months. (please note the foreshadowing) The 3 door has a firmer suspension and lower ride hight, but the 5 door is surprisingly agile. Granted, the car had 35 miles (40 when we got back), but there was very limited body roll, which felt well controlled. The brakes are very good. did an 80-0 panic stop, and the car felt very controllable, with hardly any nose dive. The ABS is not very aggressive, as it allowed just a hair of tire squeal. The XE does not have stabilitrac, so I can't comment on how it reacts, but even without it, the car is very easy to control. The acceleration is quite acceptable. I didn't time it, but even with the slushbox, it felt to be on par with a stock S-series, maybe a touch faster. One interesting feature of the automatic - it shifts into neutral at a stop. The salesman didn't know that - it's always fun to know more about the car than the salesman. If you don't know it is doing it, you'd never notice. The turning radius - oh, the turning radius! I'm almost sure if you parked an Astra to the left of an S-series, and cranked them both to full lock to the left, The Astra would stay inside the S-series! Wind noise was quite minimal. even at 80, the salesman and I were able to speak in normal quiet indoor voices. The headlights are nice and bright, and they have that definite edge, similar to HID lights. So, after the drive, and finding that I fit quite well in the car, I plunked down my deposit, and ordered an XR 3 Door in Star Silver, with Advanced Audio and Heated seats. Should be here in about 2 months.

Jon, welcome to the club. We all have that sickness. (accidentally typed "sickmess," which my wife would probably agree with...) I'll own 3 Saturns soon, but only for a short time. I ordered an Astra this week, and will sell the '97 SC2 privately instead of trading it in, so until it sells, I'll have 3 - and that doesn't include my wife's. Add hers to the mix, and we'll have 4...

Just spent some time on Saturn's website specing out my next car and saw that the sunroof isn't an option on the 3-door :hissyfit: Anyone know anything more about this? Let's take the "sporty" version of the car, and not give it a sunroof. Seems smart to me...

Since OnStar sent letters to all their subscribers, if someone doesn't know the cutoff is happening, it's their own fault. And since once the shutoff happens, they will no longer be billed by OnStar, I'd hope they'd notice. What ever happened to personal responsibility in this country????

They counted us about 3 times before we left. Because several of us were considering just that. Brian - great write ups on the event.