by J.J. Gertler

Entering a New Orbit

"I have seen the future, and it comes from Tennessee."

That's how we began our road test of the 1992 Saturn SC, then the herald of a revolution in how cars were built, and how General Motors would do business. Our reviews of both the car and the dealer end of the new approach were quite favorable; indeed, the review concluded:

"Overall, this is an excellent car, and shows little evidence of being a first effort. The SC is priced below the competition by a good bit, and gives good value for those dollars. I liked it a lot, and if my current car were a bit longer in the tooth, Saturn would have a new customer. Had the SC erred just a bit more to the Sport side of Sport Coupe, that decision would already be made. If this car doesn't convince you that America can build 'em with anybody, you probably eat lunch with chopsticks. Joe Bob says check it out."

Now, thousands of happy customers and two GM chairmen later, we have the 1995 SC2. Much has changed at Saturn since we drove the '92; where it was then believed that GM would become Saturnized, with process improvements pioneered in Spring Hill becoming the corporate standard, much the opposite has happened, culminating with Saturn's absorption into the GM corporate structure.

The small car market has also changed radically. The competition has become an order of magnitude stronger, with the Nissan Altima, Chrysler Neon, Mazda Protege, and even the quasi-GM Geo Prizm taking variants of the high-content, high-value approach which was Saturn's original hook in the market. Saturn was a design target for several of these cars, and they've scored well. We were originally supposed to have the second generation of SC by now, but part of the new order imposed by GM is a delay in that redo that may force Saturn to get two more years out of the current model, despite the obvious heat in the small-car segment of the marketplace.

But enough of the inside baseball; how's the car? Here's our updated review:

The 1995 Saturn SC2 shows the benefits of evolution. While many aspects of the car remain as tested in 1992, Saturn's folks have been hard at work in specific areas.

Exterior styling is appealing, and still not like anything else on the road. Three years ago, the only part we found unpleasant was the first foot or so of the car; the underbiting nose section and false louvers beneath the headlights seemed somewhat out of sync with the very clean rest of the car. For 1995, that area has been redesigned, the under-nose section giving way to a clean, raked-back chin spoiler with integral (optional) fog lamps. The pop-up headlights are still a curiosity, adding weight, drag, and complexity; a look at the nose of the new Pontiac Sunfire shows what the Saturn would look like had the stylists taken advantage of great creativity in headlight styling allowed by current federal standards.

The tail of the SC2 has also been freshened, with the formerly separate taillights joined by a pleasantly curved center lens. It's not a big-buck retooling, but adding that one piece of trim gives the back of the car a fresh, much more integrated look. Indeed, while the SC2 scored "Mild Curiosity" on the Cranial Rotation Factor, the biggest takes came from drivers of earlier Saturn coupes, looking at that rear. Completing the SC2's exterior redo are new optional alloy wheels, which we found a bit overstyled and busy compared to the rest of the car.

But the focus of Saturn's efforts over the last three years has been the SC2's interior. Both the Splendid Co-Driver and I believe their time has been well spent.

The first improvement you notice on sitting down is the lack of the active mouse-up-the-pillar belts which we found so annoying before. The SC2 now features airbags for driver and front passenger, and the sort of manual belts the Almighty intended for us to use. (And please do use them.)

The SC2's cockpit is a very airy environment, in part due to large, steeply-raked windshield. Exterior visibility is excellent.

The redesigned interior features softer-appearing, curved surfaces. Our test car sported a beige interior, with a black center console for the radio and climate controls. That console projects forward from the instrument panel, enough to accommodate three new switches on its top, for fog lamps, rear defroster, and Saturn's new traction control system.

Interior materials are of decent quality, although a bit shiny. The Splendid Co-Driver commented favorably on the new, attractively patterned interior fabric. Unfortunately, some of the plastic bits seem very plastic; door handles and lock buttons feel cheap and flimsy, a contrast to the generally well-done rest of the interior.

The instrument panel is clean and flowing, with commendably large, well-lit, very readable gauges for speed, revs, fuel, and water temperature. We gave the Saturn's panel high marks three years ago; this one is even better.

Although the lighter is built-in (in part, perhaps, to power whatever devices you might want to put on that deep dash), the Saturn's ashtray is built as an insert, which can be placed in one of the two cupholders in the center console, or removed entirely. (Not that this will necessarily stop anyone from putting their ashes in your cupholder.) Those two cupholders combine with a fair-sized glovebox (relocated to allow for the passenger's airbag), nice map pockets and seatback pouches, and a mini-console in the rear with two cupholders and a flocked CD-size container to score 31/2 out of a possible 4 Golden Cupholders on our Interior Utility Index. Saturn's people obviously looked everywhere for storage; the channel for loose items aft of console is even bulged at one end to hold an extra can.

Air vents are very large, and easily directed. Climate controls are reasonably straightforward, if not as clearly labeled as on other recently tested vehicles (like GM's own Monte Carlo, for example.)

Buttons for the optional cruise control are on the steering wheel, which is not unusual; but they're not lit, and use a non-standard arrangement. This combination renders them very hard to use in the dark, particularly for those new to the car. Addition of the air bag to the Saturn's wheel has also squeezed the horn buttons lower, presumably for activation by alert thumbs. The wheel itself is large and grippy, and leather-wrapped on the SC2. Her Splendidness commented again on what large hands GM designers must have; she has to move hers from the wheel to activate the turn signal.

Behind those cupholders on the console are extremely logical switches for the power windows. Want the windows up? Pull up. Down? Press down. Life should be this simple. The control for the optional power right mirror is also in the center console; after the first time, you don't have to look for it.

Seats are still very comfortable, with velour faces (leather is optional) and lumbar adjustment standard for the driver. The driver's seat also has a knob to raise and lower the trailing edge of the seat cushion, an effective but simple way to allowing drivers of varying heights to find both a comfortable position and one optimal for vision. The Co-Driver, 5'4" of Splenditude, had no problem adjusting the car to suit her; neither, at 5'11", did I. And there was plenty of adjustment left over.

The redesign had less impact in the rear, where deeply-dished rear seats appear comfortable for short to medium journeys, but legroom is tight if the driver is anything over five feet tall. The seats split 60/40 to fold for pass-through access to the ample trunk.

Underhood layout is unchanged, which shows that Saturn's engineers know a good thing when they see it. It's still logical and as clean as any I have ever seen. It looks like they let Felix Ungar loose in the design department, it's so tidy. Fuses, fluids, and battery are all immediately accessible; dipsticks are color-coded, and the spark plugs come straight out the top of the engine. Not that you should need to go in there much; the warranty is 3 years/36,000 miles, with 800-number roadside assistance during the warranty period. What's more, if within 30 days or 1,500 miles you decide that this isn't the car for you -- who knows, maybe your dog has a strange appetite for polymer resins -- Saturn will take it back and swap you for one you want or hand you back your money. Sound good? Well, it works; my brother did just that with a Saturn wagon a while back and the transaction was as hassle-free as the rest of Saturn's retail experience.

ON THE ROAD

The efforts of the Spring Hill crew are obvious. This is a well-built, very solid car. The plastic (I know, I know, polymer) side panels feel quite sturdy, and "thunk" like their steel counterparts; the doors close very solidly.

The 1.9-liter twin-cam fires up right away. The deep engine note connotes vigor, although it is still very noticeable despite major efforts at Saturn to reduce its intrusion. For all its perkiness, the economy is there; in mostly city driving, our test car averaged 25 mpg.

The traction control system, which comes with the optional ABS, comes on automatically (it can be overridden.) Our exclusive Washington, D.C. Bad Roads With Deep Puddles Test proved the traction control effective, severely retarding power when wheelspin was detected. (This test, which involved a fair bit of splashing, also showed the folly of opening a window when a car with steep tumblehome is carrying water on its roof. Suffice it to say that this practice revealed a flaw in a 1960 Test Driver, not the Saturn.)

The SC2 reassures with its balance. Torque is well-matched to the vehicle weight, resulting in solid if not neck-snapping acceleration. The power band is broad and flat.

The optional 4-speed automatic featured normal and performance settings; that performance mode lets you wind the car out so well that it literally wouldn't kick down, even at redline, unless the throttle was lifted.

If you want to show someone how brakes should work in a modern automobile, plunk them down in the Saturn. The front disc/rear drum brakes are incredibly good, pulling the car down smoothly and very quickly. They feel positively over-engineered for this car.

Saturn has obviously spent lots of time on the handling, and it's paid off. Credit again the stiffness of that frame; in turns, this car is rock-solid, plenty predictable, with smooth turn-in, although the back end jacks a bit in high-speed cornering. Transitions are well-damped and off-throttle tuck is mild. Torque steer is essentially nonexistent. The McPherson front/tri-link rear suspension communicates good road feel, but the purpose-designed Firestone Firehawk GTAs (195/60x15s) on our test car -- while they ran very quietly -- displayed disappointing grip in the dry and dropped off further in even slightly wet conditions.

The variable-assist power steering, while overboosted at parking-lot speeds, gets out of the way to provide excellent road feel when moving more quickly.

The SC-D noted the (no relation) SC2's great steadiness over rough surfaces despite its light weight. She also appreciated the well-boosted steering come parking time. However, we both found the turning circle, listed as 37.1 feet, to be unexpectedly large for a car of this class.

Other nitpicks were relatively minor. The wipers miss a lot of the upper windshield, which taller drivers look through. And we noted a surprising amount of wind noise for a car this slick; the culprit seemed to be the windshield header.

In summary, Saturn has taken a basically sound car, which was state of the art in its class when introduced, and improved it thoughtfully. They've done their best to see that the future of the small car really does come from Tennessee, and Spring Hill if you please.

Two serious problems threaten that future. The first is the other folks building cars in Tennessee and their kin; the competition has surged ahead of Saturn in several important technical areas.

But even more threatening is a non-technical issue. Where Saturn was once a value leader, our test car -- admittedly, filled with about every option in the book -- came out the door at $17,540. That's for a car which seats two comfortably and two others in a pinch. The direct competition, to be sure, shows similar numbers, although some are more practical. But when you get into that range, the competition changes. For just $800 more, you could have the full-boat Monte Carlo LS we tested -- with more room, more storage, more refinement -- in short, an entirely different class of car. That's partly because Chevy has decided to become the industry's value leader. But it emphasizes the challenge facing Saturn.

The future has arrived in Spring Hill. Despite building a good product, Saturn has work to do if they're going to keep running rings around their competition.

Base Price: $13,815 Price as tested: $17,540 Includes SC2 Package 1 (power locks, power windows, a/c, power right mirror, cruise control, 15-inch alloy wheels; 1885), rear spoiler (180), ABS/traction control (780), fog lamps (155), AM/FM stereo cassette with equalizer (365), transportation (360).

Copyright 1994, Backyard Aerospace

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