I keep looking at the saturn astra and I like it.. a lot. The problem is though I look at what everyone else offers as their base models in compact hatchback class and I can't imagine choosing a saturn for any reason other then you really really like the way it looks. I just can't see a good reason to choose one over a VW Rabbit or a Mazda 3. It's not just that the base models of those cars trump the astra for similar or less money, it's the fact that for the price of a three door astra xr with an automatic your almost at the price for a gti or a mazdaspeed3. I like the astra and I want it to do well but I can't see it doing much of anything unless they make a cheaper three door you could afford to tune or a hotter one that's already good to go from the factory.

Yeah they're going to have to flesh out the line if they expect to make a splash with this thing. So far it's like ho-hum, "nice" is as far as I am willing to go in my praise.

They've announced that there will be a 1.4L turbo, which sounded like will make it into this gen Astra. Hard to tell if it's going to be set up for fuel economy or performance, though. For the most part, this gen is a stopgap product, and won't get too exciting. Next gen is in 2010, so not far away at all, and that's when they should be turning up the number of options and stuff.

Yeah they're going to have to flesh out the line if they expect to make a splash with this thing. So far it's like ho-hum, "nice" is as far as I am willing to go in my praise.

I keep looking at the saturn astra and I like it.. a lot. The problem is though I look at what everyone else offers as their base models in compact hatchback class and I can't imagine choosing a saturn for any reason other then you really really like the way it looks. I just can't see a good reason to choose one over a VW Rabbit or a Mazda 3. It's not just that the base models of those cars trump the astra for similar or less money, it's the fact that for the price of a three door astra xr with an automatic your almost at the price for a gti or a mazdaspeed3. I like the astra and I want it to do well but I can't see it doing much of anything unless they make a cheaper three door you could afford to tune or a hotter one that's already good to go from the factory.

Doubtful. The current Astra is now almost five years old and a new model will debut at the Geneva show in spring 2009. GM have already stated that the VXR/OPC variant will not be sold in the States, and to be honest you're not missing out because it's nowhere near as refined as a Golf GTi despite being more powerful. It also suffers from horrendous torque steer.

As someone mentioned, a new 1.4 litre turbo has already been tipped to be used in the next Astra and this model will also be sold in the States. Expect the next-gen Astra to have a larger range of engines certifiable for use in North America, too. In Europe this is likely to be pitched at the awesome 167bhp 1.4 litre supercharged turbo in the current Golf which will reputendly be the base engine in the Golf VI.

An Astra XR 3-dr in the States runs for some $18.5K with a five-speed manual, whereas a manual Golf GTi starts at almost $23K with less equipment - that's a significant difference. Pay $20.5K for an Astra 3-dr with its basic slushbox and you're between $5K-$6K behind a GTi with its infinitely better DSG 'box and stacked with similar equipment.