The Vue's looks should seal the deal.
The Saturn Vue comes in base XE and upper-level XR trims. The XR trim level you see in these images features chrome door handles, chrome-tipped dual exhaust and 17-inch alloy wheels. The XE comes with body-colored door handles and side mirrors and 16-inch alloy wheels, as well as accent-colored lower body panels.
Interior
There's a lot to cover with the new Vue's interior. The rear seats also recline. If you start driving with your parking brake on, the Vue beeps at you. Performance
There are three engine choices for the Vue, including the base 2.4-liter four-cylinder in the front-wheel-drive XE, a 3.5-liter V-6 in the all-wheel-drive XE, and a 3.6-liter V-6 in both front- and all-wheel-drive XRs. I tested the 3.6-liter in a front-wheel-drive XR.
Do the Vue's sporty nature and quiet road manners detract from the ride? Under hard acceleration, our Vue's steering consistently jerked to the side and stayed off-center, inducing a sustained turn. The Vue is relatively heavy for its class, weighing in at 4,076 pounds.
The Vue doesn't have the largest cargo area — 29.2 cubic feet with the rear seats up, versus 29.3, 35.7 and 36.4 cubic feet in the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, respectively. Safety
One factor that may keep some Saturn owners from rushing to the new Vue is its higher price. As of publication, the Vue has not yet been crash tested.
Saturn Vue in the Market
This might sound odd after such a positive review, but the new Saturn Vue does have some obstacles to overcome. The good news is that the 2008 Vue matches or bests the competition on almost every front.
Bear in mind that this impression is based on about 25 minutes of shared time with the car (we buddied up with Jalopnik's Wes Siler). The official full-dog-and-pony-show media launch event is set to take place in December, and we'll be on hand for that as well.
High-mileage hybrids are blooming like lily pads in a pond fertilized by too much farm runoff. The four-cylinder Vue and Aura Green Lines have been on sale for months, offering drivers a practical, low-cost green option. An even greener choice (in terms of MSRP) will be the Vue Green Line 2 Mode. Unlike the previous edition of the Vue Green Line (2007), the 2009 Green Line 2 Mode is built on an excellent foundation. Our miles spent in the Vue/Antara have been singularly pleasing, and based on our experience in GM's full-size SUVs with the two-mode technology, we have high expectation for the more sophisticated Vue 2 Mode.