Well, I have my new car, which is a 2004 Saturn ION 2 QC loaded with the "Special Sport Package" with the 5 speed manual transmission. This is what I have to say...
1st thing I did when i sat in the car, was get a good feel of the seats. They do feel ok, but lack lower back support. Still satisfying. The car has a large interior, considering its a sub-compact car. To be honest, although its a 4 seater, it provides more leg room up front, and about the same room in the rear as the Contour. Actually, it seems a bit more up front.
The center mounted console took me really quick to get used to. It's very easy to take a quick look with a small arc down, and right, than to look directly through the steering wheel (which is a bit smaller than normal in the ION, than most cars). The steering is responsive, and has an automatic speed adjust. When traveling at low speeds, its loose, and easy to spin. When going at higher speeds, the wheel tightens up. It feels un-natural, but it does work wonderfully. The car suffers from some under-steer, but not much to say its bad. I think it actually handles quite well. The throttle response is very good as well. In my opinion, I think this car performs better than my ex-gfs 2002 Focus Sedan.
Overall, I feel this car is a lot better than what magazines have rated it. When compared to the Mazda3, it scored almost perfectly even. The overall value gave it a 5, while the Mazda got a 7. I think that they have something against imports vs domestic cars.. especially something like Saturns.
I think for $16,700, loaded with AC, P-windows, p-doors, p-sunroof, remote trunk, spoiler, 6-disc changer, 4 coaxial speakers, and 16" rims.. it's a pretty darn good deal.
Ren
