I am a Sales Consultant who was fortunate enough to have gone to an Ion Ride and Drive session last week. The Ride and Drive was designed to let us know what we can expect in our showrooms in the near future, and to build enthusiasm for our newest Saturn family member. We also had a few of our competitors there, namely a Corolla, a Civic, a Focus, and a Jetta. Our new Ion performed exceptionally well on a small course which tested acceleration, braking, handling, and ride quality. Our closest competition in those fields was the Corolla, which outperformed even the Jetta, a much more expensive, and traditionally highly regarded vehicle. The Corolla surpasses the Ion only in interior finish, with a well appointed wood trim kit. The rest of the cars didn't come close enough in performance to raise many eyebrows – but as an SC2 owner, I already knew that.

The Ion sedans we drove were the top two trim levels, and offered the most comfortable Saturn seats yet, in both cloth and leather trims. There is plenty of space up front, thanks in part to the center mounted instrument cluster, and smaller steering wheel. The rear theatre style seats offered up the most space of the cars in it's class. Performance was outstanding in this car. The torsion beam rear end took away nothing from the handling, but added valuable trunk space.

The big kicker though, is the new Quad Coupe. It's gorgeous. I am a devout fan of the S-Series coupe, but this thing blew me away. We didn't have a driveable version there, but it redefines the old cliché of looking fast while standing still. And if the stock looks aren't quite what you need, the add on accessories cover a wide range of tastes, and will allow you to get the look that's right for you, in a car that's right for many. The new 16" alloys are killer too.

As a short time sales consultant, I look forward to working with this vehicle, but as a long time Saturn enthusiast, I am absolutely eccstatic about this new ride.

I SAY, I SAY, I SAY... SATURN!!!

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