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2007 Saturn Sky Turbo Convertible Sports Car

What was tested? 2007 Saturn Sky Turbo ($28,425).

Options: Automatic transmission ($850), stereo upgrade ($590), leather seat inserts ($475), decklid spoiler ($275), XM Satellite Radio ($199).

Price as tested (including $600 destination charge): $31,414.

Pros: It looks beautiful and drives like a sports car should, with precise handling and plenty of power - assuming you pick the turbocharged engine.

Cons: It's more expensive than its Pontiac twin, and it's not nearly as good without the turbo.

RATINGS: (1-10)
Style: 10
Performance:10
Price: 8
Handling: 9
Ride: 7
Comfort: 5
Quality: 7
Overall: 9

To people who adore the Pontiac Solstice, I am Satan.

That's because I didn't like the Solstice when I first drove it last year. When I wrote how bad I thought their beloved convertible was, It was the equivalent of telling a new mother that her baby is stupid, stinky and ugly. So the Solstice lovers across America blasted me with hate mail.

Part of my dislike for the Solstice came because I was driving a lemon, or so I suspect. The air conditioner didn't work well, and the car overheated during a drive through the mountains of northeast Oklahoma. It also had some design deficiencies, like an engine that felt like it belonged in a cement mixer and a top that was unnecessarily complex to put up and down. I was thoroughly disappointed.

So, when General Motors loaned me the Saturn Sky - the Solstice's twin - I was fully prepared to blast it once again in this column.

But I won't. Somehow, the Saturn version of this car left me with such a different impression that I can't bring out my poison pen. The biggest difference is the engine. The Pontiac I drove came with a 2.4-liter engine that made 177 horsepower and felt like it would be better for a blender than a car.

The Saturn test car, though, came with a 2.0-liter turbo job. It's a significantly smaller powerplant that makes significantly more horsepower - 260, to be precise - and I can't think of a better match for this car. It sings like a Julliard-trained soprano. It pulls like the hand of God. I can't recommend anyone buy this car without this engine.

And, as gorgeous as the Solstice looks, the Sky looks even better. It's truly a stunning car from any angle, one that seems like it was styled in Italy and costs as much as a house. It has the kind of sex appeal you'd never expect to find in a Saturn.

There are a couple of downsides, though. One, the Saturn version is more expensive than the Pontiac even though the Sky and Solstice are, for all practical purposes, identical cars.

And two, it has the same stupid cloth top as the Solstice. Compared to the ease and simplicity of most small convertible tops - especially the Mazda MX-5 - the Sky is a royal pain. Instead of just tossing it back onto a shelf from the comfort of the driver's seat, you have to unlatch the top, step out of the car, open the trunk, fold the top down, walk around the car to make sure it's pushed down low enough, and then close the trunk. And putting it up is even more complicated.

Granted, raising and lowering the top isn't all that difficult once you get used to it, and it certainly looks spectacular with the top hidden underneath the curvaceous trunk lid.

The Sky starts at $23,115, but you'll want the turbo model called the Red Line for $28,425. Yes, that's a lot of money for an utterly impractical Saturn, but it's also a fast, fun, beautiful, two-seat sports car that's better therapy than any high-priced New York psychologist.

And that makes it a bargain.