USED & NEW CARS AUTO PARTS INFORMATION 2007 2008 ONLINE - FIND CHEAP AUTO PARTS

The Saturn Relay is styled to look like an SUV, with a long, square nose, exposed C-pillars, and heavy-duty roof rails. It is a minivan, however, with the valuable virtues of sliding side doors and comfortable seating for seven.

The Relay's cabin is clean and contemporary, and some neat features are available. OnStar is standard. A new integrated navigation system is available. A rear-seat DVD entertainment system comes standard, and the available PhatNoise entertainment system can play video games, digital music and movies through the vehicle's existing sound system. It's pretty Phat.

The Relay gets down the highway well, and the driver enjoys a commanding view of the road. It's smooth and quiet and the steering is light and easy. Brakes are powerful and easy to modulate for smooth stops. The standard 201-horsepower, 3.5-liter V6 is relatively smooth and quiet, if not particularly muscular. A new 235-horsepower, 3.9-liter V6 engine is optional on 2006 models.

All-wheel drive is available, and GM's Versatrak provides excellent traction and stability for wintry driving.

The Saturn Relay was launched as a 2005 model. For 2006, it gets more safety features and more entertainment features. Side-impact airbags are now available on selected models for improved crash protection. Relay received a five-star safety rating in the federal government's frontal crash tests and, although it does not offer side curtain airbags, it earned a five-star rating for rear-seat passengers and a four-star rating for front seat passengers in the government's side-impact tests. In the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's 40-mph offset-impact test, Relay rated good.

Saturn dealers are renowned for their attention to customer service, and the Relay is priced aggressively against its competition.

The 2006 Saturn Relay comes in two trim levels, which with Saturn's characteristic no-frills approach are named Relay 2 and Relay 3. (There is no Relay 1.)

All Relays are powered by a 3.5-liter V6 mated to a four-speed automatic transmission. Front-wheel drive (FWD) is standard, but all-wheel drive (AWD) is available on Relay 3. All Relays feature seven-passenger seating, with two rows of bucket seats and a three-across split folding bench in the third row.

Relay 2 ($22,850) comes with manually operated sliding doors on both sides. Standard features include ABS, OnStar with a one-year subscription, air conditioning, tilt wheel, remote keyless entry, cruise control, power locks, power windows, power heated mirrors, a roof rail system, a nice-sounding eight-speaker AM/FM/CD/MP3 audio unit, rear seat audio controls, rear-seat DVD entertainment, and 17-inch wheels and tires.

Relay 3 ($27,345) adds a long list of additional standard equipment, including a six-way power driver's seat, second row captain's chairs (they have armrests, which the standard bucket seats do not), a power passenger-side sliding door, rear air conditioning, power third-row vent windows, headphones and remote control for the DVD system, storage systems overhead and in the rear cargo area, a universal garage door opener, a leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls, traction control, and other features. Seat-mounted side-impact airbags for the driver and front-seat passenger have joined the list for '06. Second-row side impact airbags are optional ($350).

Styling cues may suggest a sport utility vehicle, but the Saturn Relay looks like a minivan with a long nose. The sliding-door slots are a dead giveaway, as are the rear door handles, which are in the wrong place for an SUV. The Relay is also too low to the ground to pull off the masquerade; its 5.5-inch ground clearance and 17.5-inch step-in height are about 3 inches lower than a typical SUV stance.

However, sliding doors and a low step-in height are good things. These are some of the key features that make minivans more practical than SUVs for most on-road duty.

Relay shares its pseudo-SUV facade with the Buick Terraza, Chevrolet Uplander, and Pontiac Montana SV6. All four are nearly the same under the skin, sharing a single powertrain with a choice of front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. Only minor styling and equipment differences distinguish them from each other.

Relay's outer skin is steel, not plastic like other Saturns, although its horizontal-bar grille and big red logo give it some Saturn identity. And the grey cladding that runs all around the lower perimeter of Relay suggests a kinship with the Saturn Vue, a compact sport utility. Another SUV styling cue: Instead of trying to blend the side windows into a single visual element, the designers designed them as three distinct windows on each side.

The Saturn Relay provides plenty of space for family use inside, a commanding view of the road, and plenty of outward vision in all directions. The standard interior layout is four bucket seats and a split/folding rear bench. The available second-row captain's chairs are roomy and comfortable. Relay 3 models have a leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls.

The interior styling is clean and contemporary, with good quality, but not adventurous, materials, and good fit and finish. Much of it, however, looks like standard GM fare. The Relay uses an unconvincing maple wood grain around the center stack and door switch plates. Upholstery is available in only gray or tan, whether cloth or leather.

The Relay's cabin is functional. The gauges in the central cluster are large, with large numerals, easy to read and use. The instrument panel, center console and door panels are well integrated, and follow other GM interior schemes to the letter, as do the operation, adjustment, and stowage of the seats.

The roomy interior features an overhead console and an overhead rail system that integrates rear HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) and audio controls, lights, and rear-seat DVD entertainment system into a single unit. Three storage modules can be ordered that snap into this overhead system; each storage module is 12 inches wide and 10 inches deep, with job-specific shapes.