REPRINT FROM #26 2013
REVIEW OF HANSEUNG SATURN
ANONYMOUS BUT GOOD
Downsizing? Not at Hanseung. The Saturn has a large V6 and weighs almost 1.9 tonnes.
Maybe the glory days of the large luxury sedan are over. A rising popularity of SUVs, along with the tendency to downsize engines, are partly to blame there. But there is some of them left. The Saturn from korean Hanseung for example.
DRIVING CHARACTERISTICS
Front wheel drive have never been seen as an advantage in this class, it also features a relatively conventional strut suspension up front instead of the more advanced types found on some competitors. At least Hanseung have managed to keep torque steer and wheelspin at rather tolerable levels. The car is absolutely not a bad handler at 0.96 Gs, and as usual for front wheel drive cars, it is predictable understeer, secure but not very exciting. Should it still go very wrong, it has electronic stability control - would be a shame nowadays if that wasn’t included.
Driving this almost 5 metre long and 2 metre wide car in city traffic is of course far from optimal. At least the electric PAS setup works well, and offers more road feel than they did some years ago.
Brakes have short stopping distance with 37.3 metres from 100, and the fading is almost nonexistant.
VERDICT: ****
PERFORMANCE
As with many other modern cars, the speed is limited at 250 km/h - more than enough, though. 0-100 is done in a not too shabby time of 7.7 seconds and the quartermile is done in 15.66 seconds. 80-120 takes 4.92 seconds. Far from the fastest car in its class, but still performance that should be more than adequate for most of us.
VERDICT: ****
COMFORT
The engine whispers on low RPMs at highway speeds and is quite muffled by itself, also, there is pretty good insulation from other noises too. Seating comfort is absolutely good enough - not excellent, some other cars in the class are better. Long wheelbase and a suspension set up for comfort means that the ride quality is good. Though, a car in this class needs to be comfortable. The Hanseung is - but not the best. Some competitors are even better, but maybe not with such a far margin.
VERDICT: ****
ROOMINESS AND PRACTICALITY
A sedan is maybe not the first thing you think of as “practical” and sure, as a such it has its limitations. But the luggage space is large at 620 litres, and the interior has impressive amounts of room. Here, you have all the space in the world to stretch out your legs. Even the width is large. If you find the Saturn cramped, you should maybe look at a tourist bus instead.
So, despite the usual drawbacks with a sedan, we give it a good score here.
VERDICT: ****
EQUIPMENT
It is not exactly loaded with gizmos, but you get the most important things, like climate control, leather upholstery (that feels a bit cheap, but still), electrically adjustable seats with memory, a high end infotainment system with bluetooth connectivity, a limited slip differential, alloy wheels and much more. There is more loaded vehicles in this class but the Saturn still offers most that you will expect. The equipment you need is there while they have saved on some bells and whistles.
VERDICT: ****
ENGINE AND DRIVETRAIN
By todays standards, 260 hp out of a 3.5 litre V6 may sound a bit conservative. But it runs smooth, reasonably quiet and has a good low end grunt. Still, it likes to rev and shouldn’t the limiter cut off at 7000 RPM, it would probably still have some more to give.
Behind it is a 7 speed auto, of the conventional type, but of course with modern electronic management, and it seems to work well together with the engine.
By no means a fantastic drivetrain, but harmonic and well suited to the car.
VERDICT: ****
QUALITY AND RELIABILITY
Some cars in this class feels like rolling bank vaults. Not the Hanseung. Sure, it feels decently bolted together, but that’s about it. There is a more “hollow”, “plastic” feeling than some of its competitors have. That does not necessarily mean bad reliability- predicted reliability for the Hanseung is about average, though, and not much more. But extensive use of aluminium means that it keeps the rust away quite well.
VERDICT: ***
ECONOMY
For what you get, the sticker price is not too bad ($47700). But sure, still lots of money and second hand value is questionable. 8.2 litres per 100 km is not bad for a huge V6 in a huge car, but when it comes to servicing it’s still kind of expensive at $1143.20 AMU. A fairly economical choice for its class, but that’s about it too.
VERDICT: **
Probably as safe as a nuclear shelter.
SAFETY
If there is one single modern day passive safety device you can think of - the Saturn has it. It even has active safety systems like AEB etc.
And inside the large amounts of metal you are well protected, and the fact that extensive amounts of AHS steel is used in the body structure of course makes it even better.
It gets a 5 star Euro-NCAP rating with flying colours, and we think that there would be hard to find a much safer car on the market today.
VERDICT: *****
FINAL VERDICT: 34/45
It is a bit hard to judge the Saturn. It is probably not best at anything in its class. Still, a very good allrounder with no major weak points. But anonymous design, front wheel drive, lack of that feeling of top notch build quality you can get in some other cars, lack of the latest comfort equipment, lack of anything that makes it stand out in this crowd…
We understand that the Saturn may not speak to the heart and soul of luxury sedan buyers, even if the brain says yes. That may be the reason for the somewhat slow sales figures that it has.
But the buyer that still opts for a Saturn will be rewarded in many ways, also with a car for a price that is sane for what it is.
Thanks to @BannedByAndroid for the car!