Orlando Sentinel's view

For a while, it seemed Saturn could do nothing right. Now, it seems they can’t do anything wrong. Leading the General Motors product renaissance, Saturn is suddenly building vehicles that exceed expectations instead of never quite meeting them.

This did not come without a substantial investment from GM. When the 2008 Astra hits the market later this year as the replacement for the Ion, the oldest model in the entire Saturn lineup will be the Sky sports car — and it was new for the 2007 model year. Even newer than the Sky, then, is the Aura, the Outlook — and the 2008 Vue.

The Vue, a compact SUV, went on sale in the fall of 2001 as a 2002 model, and it helped keep Saturn on the map during some lean years. Always acceptable but seldom notable — the best Vue was the V-6 model that had a 3.5-liter engine built by Honda — sales were strong from the introduction.

Now we get a brand-new Vue. Gone is that excellent Honda engine. But you know what? Nobody misses it. And that alone is a bit of a revelation.

The all-new Vue is slightly shorter than the model it replaces, but it’s wider, and the extra elbow room helps. Styling is certainly different — more oval, less angular, but nothing that says “Saturn.” It’s blessed with the latest craze — little “gills” on the front fender, behind the wheels, which we’re seeing on everything from a Cadillac Escalade to the 2008 Ford Focus.

The 2008 Vue is based on a European Opel platform. GM owns Opel, and this isn’t the first time the U.S. side has looked to Opel, and won’t be the last — that Saturn Astra coming later this year is pretty much the Opel Astra already in showrooms overseas. Handling certainly benefits from that European connection — this Vue is as nimble as anything in this category, and the ride, though firm, is very comfortable.

The Vue has three engine choices — a 2.4-liter four-cylinder, a basic 3.5-liter V-6, and a more sophisticated 257-horsepower, 3.6-liter V-6. That’s the engine in the Vue tested here, which was coupled to a six-speed automatic transmission. Later this year, we’ll see the first of two hybrid Green Line models, and a higher-performance Red Line model.

We first saw this 3.6-liter engine in a Cadillac, and it’s a good one. It is nicely matched to the six-speed automatic; acceleration is very good. It’s the standard engine in the top-of-the-line XR model.

The XE front-wheel-drive Vue is the base model, with that 169-horsepower four-cylinder, and a four-speed automatic transmission. Get the all-wheel-drive Vue, and the engine becomes the 3.5-liter, 222-horsepower V-6, with the six-speed automatic transmission. No manual transmission is offered on any model.

The XR, with the 3.6-liter V-6, is offered in front- and all-wheel-drive. The test model was AWD. As with the previous Vue, don’t confuse this with a beefy four-wheel-drive truck-based SUV — it’s capable of very light-duty off-roading, but the Vue lacks the gearing, the ground clearance, the tires and the underbody protection for true backwoods duty.

The base-model Vue starts at $21,395, which may frighten current Vue owners — after all, the 2007 Vue starts at $18,100. But that Vue has a smaller four-cylinder engine and a manual transmission, and considerably fewer features: The 2008 model has standard stability control, OnStar, six airbags and keyless entry. Saturn points out that if you add in the features that are now standard on the Vue, the price is actually slightly less than before.

That said, you can sure load one up quickly. The test Vue XR AWD started at $26,895, but had a list price of over $31,000, thanks to a navigation system and several other options. Check every single option box, and you’re at $32,120.

Of course, you don’t have to pay that much, and a lot of what I like about the Vue comes standard. If you’re in the market for a compact SUV, and the old Vue wasn’t on your list, it’s time to write it down.