2005 Saturn Relay Review

A brand-new member of the Saturn family has hit the streets. Saturn calls its new Relay a "family utility vehicle," and it plays this role well.

The new 2005 Saturn Relay is designed to look like a sport utility vehicle. To this end it uses SUV styling cues such as its long nose, exposed C-pillars, and big roof rails. Indeed, the Relay looks like an SUV. But it drives and operates like a minivan. It has sliding doors, seven seats, and other practical features that are hallmarks of the minivan. The Honda Odyssey, Nissan Quest and Toyota Sienna are listed as its direct competition.

As a minivan, the Relay does a fine job. It gets on down the road with no muss or fuss. The driver gets a commanding view of the road and the interior styling is clean and contemporary, with good fit and finish. The V6 engine is relatively smooth and quiet and the Relay rides smoothly and quietly. The steering is light and easy, the brakes are powerful and easy to modulate for smooth stops. All-wheel drive is available as an option, with the Versatrak system providing excellent traction and stability for wintry driving. Saturn dealers are renowned for their attention to customer service and the Saturn Relay has been priced aggressively.

The exterior designers have made the Relay look like an International Harvester minivan, about as bland and neutral a look as you can get, with its horizontal-bar grille, and a big red logo stuck in it so it sort of looks like a Saturn product. (Rumors has it that this was to be the Oldsmobile version, but was switched over to Saturn late in the program.)

Our heart did not skip a beat, nor did we mistake it for an SUV. The sliding-door slots are a dead giveaway, as are the rear door handles, which are in the wrong place for an SUV. It's also too low to the ground to pull off the masquerade, with a 5.5-inch ground clearance and a 17.5-inch step-in height, about 3 inches lower than a typical SUV stance. These are not bad things, they're just not SUV things.

The long-wheelbase Relay's flanks have a uniform gray lower panel, like the one used on the Vue, all the way around the vehicle, and only a single strip of body-color trim down the side, with six discrete side windows. Both models ride on 17-inch tires and wheels; Relay 2 comes with steel wheels, Relay 3 gets painted alloy wheels.

The Relay has a steel body, not a plastic one like the Saturn coupes and sedans.

GM's new minivans, the Saturn Relay, Buick Terraza, Chevrolet Uplander and Pontiac Montana SV6, feature some styling and equipment differences, but are very much alike under the skin, sharing a single powertrain with a choice of front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive.