2007 Saturn SKY Road Test

Six straight questions

I thought Saturn was the company for people who didn't like buying cars. But gawking at this sleek looking Saturn roadster, what's not to like?
Oh, you noticed, a Saturn to lust for, isn't that different? You may already

(Photo: General Motors)

know the Sky is Saturn's version of Pontiac's two-seat Solstice roadster that came out last year. In Saturn's world, it's their halo car to turn around their existing image of merely selling appliances to something more desirable. The excellent dealer experience that has kept Saturn's doors open all these years won't go away, but those nice Saturn sales folks will now have upscale, European Opel-based product to sell, like the new, Opel Vectra-based Aura sedan.

From the outside the Sky looks decidedly different from the Pontiac. But what about the oily bits?

(Photo: General Motors)

Honestly, it's the mechanical twin to the Pontiac, sharing its rear-wheel-drive General Motors' corporate Kappa platform, 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine and standard five-speed manual transmission. The suspension is pretty much the same too, except Saturn says they've shortened the bump stops for more suspension travel to deliver a smoother ride than in the Pontiac and have re-valved the shocks accordingly. Er, that's it.

The Sky's cockpit looks way nicer than the plain-Jane Solstice. How come?
See? That's Saturn's premium plan to offer a wee bit more than Pontiac and Chevrolet. (Sounds like Oldsmobile's former mission, statement, doesn't it? But that's another story...) It's also why the base price for the

(Photo: General Motors)

Saturn at $31,665 is $5,040 more than the Pontiac. On the Saturn, that five grand extra buys you all kinds of standard stuff like keyless entry, cruise control, driver information centre, OnStar, insulated liner for the convertible top, anti-lock brakes, and a limited slip differential. All of these goodies are available as options on the Solstice, but exclusive to the Sky is a much more upscale interior. Where the Pontiac is primarily plastic, the Saturn offers a variety of surfaces like soft-touch door inserts, piano black trim and chrome accents. My silver Sky totaled out to $36,325 that included a $1,250 five-speed automatic, a $1,520 Premium Trim Group (that added those lipstick red leather seats and steering wheel with audio controls, and metallic sill plates), a $755 in-dash six-CD changer and a $185 Monsoon seven-speaker audio system upgrade as well.