With the Astra idling, the center console dash display screen provides a startling reminder that a parked car with engine-on wastes gasoline. The instantaneous fuel consumption read-out: 0.3 gallons an hour. This compact car is indeed a smart ride. Saturn Astra, a new entry in the 2008 model year, offers one trim level for the three-door model and two trim options for the five-door model. Astra’s strut-type front suspension has the control arms, stabilizer bar and steering rack mounted to the sub-frame, while the rear suspension uses a semi-independent torsion link axle design with the axle-beam formed in a double U-shaped profile. A 1.8-liter Ecotec engine (producing 138 horsepower at 6300 rpm and 125 pounds-feet of torque at 3800 rpm) is the lone engine choice. The powerplant mates to either a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmission. The front wheel drive car comes with a slew of standard fare appointments, including four-wheel anti-lock brakes, active head restraints, OnStar’s safety and security system, six airbags (front, seat-mounted thorax/pelvic, and head curtain), electro-hydraulic rack-and-pinion steering system, and 16-inch wheels for the 5-door and 17-inch wheels for the 3-door. The car’s 60/40 split-fold rear seat folds flat to provide more than 44 cubic feet of storage space inside the 5-door. Astra, which is assembled in Antwerp, Belgium, collects per gallon fuel economy estimates of 24 city/30 highway when the 5-door is equipped with the automatic transmission. Five-door Astra XR has a MSRP of $16,925.