Redline ION test drive

Finally, I got a few minutes to drive the new ION Redline. Picked out a nice
empty winding service road and got it up into 4th gear. The shirt throw
shifter just snapped into each gear almost effortlessly. Man, I cannot
remember having such a thrill behind the wheel of a sport compact in a long
time. As it was new, I didnt want to dog on it, but what fun!! It hugged
every curve even when dropping from 3rd to 2nd gear. True toe-and heel
shifting and much enhanced steering than the regular ION and the Recaros
hugged with every curve. Just for fun I hit the brakes at 30 and she stopped
smoothly on a dime. Virtually no torque steer when accelerating. I really
felt that I had great confidence and control over this car at any speed. The
exhaust let out a sweet tone, yet it didn't resonate through the floor like
my Dynomax does in my 94 SL2. The suspension was so much smoother than what
I expected, yet firm enough to prevent body roll throughout the steep turns.
Well done Saturn! I do hope that this car is a symbol of things to come.

marx404

 

Should also be nice if it crosses over to the Cobalt (Cobalt SS?) in a
2-door version which should be lighter than the ION. Is the ION Red Line 4
wheel disc or conventional disc and drum combo?

 

oh yea, 4 wheel disc and it stops on a dime. The Cobalt SS will be a good
looking model when it comes out. I wonder if it will have the same
suspension tuning as the RL and if it will go thru the same testing by the
GM Performance team.

marx404

 

The thing I appreciated most in my test drives was the whine of the
supercharger being audible when you're at WOT. It's not really loud or
anything, but it's there.

Lane [ l a n e @ p a i r . c o m ]

 

The thing I appreciated most in my test drives was the whine of the
supercharger being audible when you're at WOT. It's not really loud or
anything, but it's there.

Lane [ l a n e @ p a i r . c o m ]

 

Does that supercharger do anything to make that 4 banger sound any
better? Its the only production 4 banger I can think of with a
supercharger. All 4 bangers so far sound "farty" to me. Best way I can
discribe it.

 

Honestly, I had the A/C on and could only hear the exhaust note, which was a
sweet tone and not too loud. The Supercharger and ecotec are both pretty
quiet altogether. This car is definately a sleeper.

marx404

 

Interesting. I have yet to see one in person or hear one myself. Saturn
needs to try "advertising". I cant recall any saturn comercials in a
long while. Personaly I wish they put that supercharged motor in the
sedan. The supercharged coup looks to much like a ricers wet dream to
me...

 

Oops. Forgot to enter my correct handle. Just done a clean install of
windows...

 

I hate the rice look myself, but the RL is nicely done without being
overdone. They left the big rear wing as an option and didn't make it
standard, so that's good.

Saturn has been advertising this car. See the commercial on TV where both
the RL VUE and coupe are driving down the road next to each other and the
guys crawl out the window of one and into the other? There has also been
some nice garage-themed ads for the coupe in a variety of car magazines.
It's here: http://www.saturnfans.com/Cars/ION/2004/ionredlineadbuzz.shtml

Lane [ l a n e @ p a i r . c o m ]

 

I think the sound on whatever car(s) you're referring to is a function of
the exhaust system that's on the car. Most in stock form that I've heard
are nearly silent. They do sound bad in my opinion, when people start
putting on the big coffee-can mufflers.

Lane [ l a n e @ p a i r . c o m ]
---
Visit my Saturn Car Audio and Performance Page at http://www57.pair.com/lane

 

This makes me think of something I keep meaning to ask the group (and
usually forget)... is running the engine at high RPM's (even redline) hard
on sub systems like the ac compressor, alternator and water pump? I assume
they're designed for all rpm ranges, however if you're doing 1/8 mile drags
at the local, sanctioned race event and bouncing off the limiter every
Friday night are you shortening the life of the accessories? (yeah, I
already figured the engine is taking a toll too)

 

In theory, I would think it would shorten the life. But, I've driven my '94
in at least 15 - 20 road course lapping events over a 5 year period without
any ill effects when it comes to accessories. Each event is usually about
3 - 4 hours of hard driving on the track with the vehicle on and off of
redline constantly. I've even still got the original alternator in it at
around 130k which is kind of amazing by itself.

I'd guess that unless it's a dedicated race car and you hit the track every
weekend (or even more often), you'll probably never have a problem with the
accessories.


On the other hand, however - if the car EVER sees the track, do yourself a
favor and treat it to synthetic oil. It will certainly help the longevity
of the motor which is operating a bit outside of what the factory intended
as normal use.

Lane [ l a n e @ p a i r . c o m ]
(been thru more than one motor)

 

I tried synth when I first started having oil consumption issues (prior to
the rebuild). Then I went back to dino and change every 2000 miles (which
works out to about every 3 months). In all these years I never made it to a
track or autocross event.

Was it your street or track Saturn that had the spun main bearing audio
track on your site? Did you rebuild on just get another long block (just
curious)?

 

It happened to my '94, which is my daily driver. Since the car was 4 states
away from home at the time, I had the car towed to a Saturn dealer and had
them put in a different motor to get it back on the road as soon as
possible. The cost on that was the incentive I needed to buy a second car
that was just for the track. You do drive a car differently when you know
it doesn't have to get you home from the track, and you don't have to drive
it to work the next day. I just wish I'd done it a bit sooner.

That spun bearing happened at around 90k. When I pulled the motor apart, it
was unreal how much gunk and residue was inside the motor - and I was
religious about changing the oil every 2000 - 3000 miles. I've been running
synth in the replacement motor since 500 miles. I recently had to swap the
valve cover gasket on it at around 50k or so miles. Taking a look a the top
end, it doesn't even look like oil has touched the inside of the motor it is
so clean.

Lane [ l a n e @ p a i r . c o m ]
---
Visit my Saturn Car Audio and Performance Page at http://www57.pair.com/lane

 

....hmmm, I may 're-think' my position on synth. I wonder if the gunk is the
aftermath of metallurgical interaction (reaction?) between the internal
parts and the dino oil and or themselves, or dino's lubricant ability is
less than that of synth? I think Vettes and 911's come factory with Mobil
1.

 

My connection has sucked all this month...
Thought I posted the following

Dino oil sludges up mostly because it contains more "ash".

 

Yeah when my first engine gave up the ghost @ 42K hard miles it was
surprisingly clean. I used Mobile 1 from the start and it showed in my
opinion! I'll never use anything else...

 

I swsear by Mobil 1 and wont use anything else. I have has my iol pan
removed once in my 94 already at 88K miles and it looked almost clean enough
to eat from. I used to street race classic Mustangs ('65 '66) in the '80's
and after having oil related problems, I switched to Mobil 1 and have never
had any oil problems in any car no matter how I drive or what kind of car I
drove. Now I use it in my '94 SL2 and stand firm in my belief in this oil.

Just a note: I have had many a customer ask me if they use synthetic that
means that they can go longer than 3 months changing thier oil. The answer
is NO. No matter what oil you use you must always stick to a strict regimen
of changing your oil on time. All oil wears or chemically breaks down after
3 months of use, synthetic or not.

I am glad that Saturn (albeit thier previous stance against using synth oil
in the past) decided to go with Mobil 1. The oil filler cap is even
imprinted with Mobil1 5-30 on it. Cool, I want that cap.

btw- If you dont believe about this car, goto your local dealer and drive
one, nuff said.

marx404