With our last hybrid experience here in The Garage, we were a bit underwhelmed by the on road experience, so what was life with the 08 Saturn Vue like? It was actually a lot more fun than we expected. Just as the new Vue looks playful and stylish, it plays that part well out in the commuter wars as well.

The Green Line model is equipped with a 2.4L inline 4 cylinder, mated to a 4 speed automatic transmission. Working alongside the conventional stuff is an electric motor/generator that provides additional power on acceleration, and regenerates it’s power on deceleration. Along with this, the engine shuts down when the vehicle is stopped and early fuel cut off on decel further aids fuel economy. All this adds up to give the front wheel drive Vue Green Line decent acceleration for a 4 cylinder cuv of this size.
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It has been a very long time since I’ve driven a new GM product and I’m almost embarrassed to say that I’ve never driven a Saturn. That makes it sort of fitting then that my first dip into the GM media fleet comes at the wheel of the 2008 Saturn Vue Hybrid. As the winner of the 2008 AJAC award for Best New SUV/CUV from $35,000 to $60,000 I expected to be impressed. So far, the Vue has not disappointed. It looks great inside and out and has enough pep on the road that it doesn’t really feel like a hybrid.

I’m going to have to do a bit of research on the pricing side of things. Notice the category that the Vue won in AJAC’s annual tests is 35 to 60 grand. That seems a bit out of whack when you consider the Vue is a much better value than that. In fact, you can put your own Vue on the Canadian roads for as little as $26,990 and even a loaded up AWD Red Line version only tallies in at $38,605. Our Hybrid tester with premium package still rings in at just a tick over $32,345 which seems like a pretty good value considering the amount of tech stuff beneath the skin.