2007 Saturn Vue Green Line

Remember when Saturn offered buyers a different kind car because it was a different kind of car company? While a brilliant advertising campaign, it used to be true. Saturns had their own chassis, polymer body panels, engines, manufacturing plants, dealerships… the works.

If you haven't been paying attention (and millions haven't) Saturn is now just another division of General Motors. This may not be a bad thing. The old L-Series were forgettable, Ions were lamentable, and their Relay minivans don't even warrant a descriptor.

Saturn's soon-to-be current lineup looks much better. The Aura sedan is terrific. The Sky is an oh-so-fine roadster. And the new Outlook crossover is available just as people are awakening to the stupidity of using big SUVs for minivan tasks. The recently announced 2008 Astra completes the picture, adding a dash of European flair to the division that GM neglected like an ugly stepchild for so many years.

But what about the 2007 Saturn Vue? How does it fit in? Actually, it's a holdover from the original Saturn way of doing things. Unlike other vehicles that share its basic architecture (Chevrolet Equinox, Pontiac Torrent, Suzuki XL7), the Vue has rustproof and dent-resistant body panels and its own engine lineup. For years the Vue has been GM's only SUV to offer the corporation's efficient Ecotec four-cylinder. The optional motor, strangely, was a fine Honda-sourced 3.5-liter V-6. For 2007, Saturn added another unique engine, a mild hybrid. This is the topic du jour.

Since plenty has been written about the gasoline-powered Saturn Vue in standard and high-performance Red Line trim, we'll focus attention on what makes the Vue Green Line different. It's all under the hood.

Pop it open and you'll see what looks like a standard 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine with a really big alternator. A skilled backyard mechanic would also recognize that there is no hydraulic power steering pump, and that the engine control module is super-sized. If this is supposed to be a hybrid, it sure doesn't look like what's under the hood of a Ford Escape or Toyota Highlander Hybrid. The Vue Green Line looks downright conventional.

This is absolutely by design, as GM's goal with the Green Line is to offer a 20-percent increase in fuel economy at a very low cost. The Green Line hits both goals, achieving an estimated 27 mpg city and 32 highway (29 mpg combined). This is a considerable improvement over the less-powerful base Vue that racks up figures of 22 mpg city/27 highway (25 mpg combined). The cost premium for the Green Line is less than $2000 over that of the standard four-cylinder Vue.

To keep things in perspective, the Ford Escape Hybrid, a much more sophisticated full gasoline-electric hybrid, is priced a full $5500 over its conventionally powered counterpart. In this trade of green for green, the Escape hybrid provides a whopping 50-percent increase in city fuel economy combined with an 18-percent on the highway (36 city/31 highway).