Hybrid Car Review

Saturn has recently begun putting the Aura next to its biggest competitors on their own lots so that potential buyers can test drive all three cars. It's a confident move by a company who wants you to know that their car is there and they feel good about it.

Edmunds did something similar by comparing the Saturn Aura Hybrid against the Altima Hybrid and Camry Hybrid. After three weeks of testing in which they weighted their tests heavily by both price and by fuel consumption, the Aura Hybrid was left in the dust. Despite costing so much less than the competition, the fuel savings were so much less that the Camry Hybrid and Altima Hybrid ran away to become 1a and 1b respectively.

And although the Cary Hybrid edged out the Altima Hybrid by getting better fuel economy, the Altima hybrid was "the personal choice for every editor who participated in this test." Like me, the editors are impressed by the Altima steering and power. But those improvements mean the Camry Hybrid beats it out on fuel economy even though they are both built on top of Toyotas Hybrid Synergy Drive.

The one other difference is the 2007 Camry comes with more standard features. But since the 2008 Camry Hybrid dropped in price by $1,000 by cutting out some of those standard features, I wonder if it would win using 2008 models?

The results:
Third Place - Saturn Aura Hybrid

• Fuel Economy is nowhere near the Camry Hybrid or Altima Hybrid.
• Low Price is very attractive.
• Slowest and least powerful.
• Most trunk space (smaller battery pack).
• You get what you pay for.

• Better Steering
• Fewer features than the Camry Hybrid
• Available in only eight states
• Built on top of Toyota Hybrid Synergy Drive

• Best fuel economy, edging out the Altima
• Most Features