2001 Oldsmobile Aurora 4.0

We're skeptical when somebody tells us less is more. Less is usually just less. But not here. Redesigned for 2001, the Oldsmobile Aurora rolls into showrooms this month half a foot shorter and significantly lighter than the Aurora it replaces. It's also lost a cubic foot of trunk space and has a smaller standard engine. And yet powertrain choice, appearance, comfort, agility, and load convenience gains are large. Best of all, instrumented track work on a 4.0-liter V-8 Aurora and hard, open-road drives of both the V-8 and the new V-6 models revealed a more entertaining and athletic flagship.

The big news underhood is that Aurora buyers can now select between two all-aluminum engines: a quiet, powerful 4.0-liter/250-horsepower DOHC V-8 or a gutsy, efficient 3.5-liter/215-horsepower DOHC V-6.

The surprisingly spirited V-6 version of the car is 285 pounds lighter than last year's V-8-only car. And much of that mass comes out of the car's nose. The result is a balanced, more agile feel. If power's your thing, however, get the big, smooth Northstar-derived V-8. In that case, the weight savings over the old car is only 165 pounds. But the new V-8 Aurora is quick. And long empty straights are consumed with the delicious thrum of muted eight-cylinder sonics. If anything, the V-8 is almost too muted. If possible, we'd like a bit more intake or exhaust note under wide-open-throttle without any additional cruise noise on highway trips. The V-8 car's also got more heft, body pitch, and roll than does the V-6. Sadly, these great engines come bolted only to nicely calibrated four-speed automatics. The lack of a manual transmission is the single missing piece of credibility for this serious contender.

Elegant but understated looks also lend a sport sedan credibility. And yet that look must also be distinctive. That's a fine line to tread.

"Buyers don't want a spaceship, explains Dennis Burke, chief designer for Aurora. "They want clean, enduring looks." From its aluminum hood to its aluminum trunklid, the new Aurora appears sleek and sporty, but definitely more mainstream. Many of us admired its studied compactness, the crisp bone-line creases in the upper body sides, and the round, razor-edged wheel openings. From the side, it seems almost reminiscent of the muscular Porsche 944. Others, however, felt it looked like a big Saturn rendered by the Lexus design studio. Some of us are tough to please.

One thing, however, we all agreed on was the car's excellent interior comfort, despite the exterior shrink. Engineering kept the 1.6-inch loss in wheelbase and 6.1-inch reduction in length outside. Except for a 0.1-inch loss in front legroom and 0.4 inch less rear legroom, all the Aurora's other dimensions increased.