What can I expect from a 2002 SL1?

I just bought a 2002 SL1, 49785 miles on it, from my local Saturn dealer.
It seems to be running well (I'm not a mechanic at all). It's a
4-cylinder, so it doesn't have that "punch" you like when merging onto a
freeway, but I can deal with that. It's reliability I'm after. Anyway,
what can I expect for this car? Any known problems that might be cropping
up in the future? I plan to have regular maintenance done, along with some
of the extras like flushing the engine. Also, any suggestions on making
the car a little more peppy? I don't do car work myself, so it would be
things I would ask the dealership to do for me. (Well, I could put in
additives myself of course!)

It doesn't have cruise control. I had CC installed by a dealer in a Nissan
years ago, and it never did work quite right. Any word on installing CC in
an SL1? Again, it would be the dealer doing the work.

--
kettir at softhome dot net
@>---->---
"Save your tears for the day when our pain is far behind;
On your feet, come with me, we are soldiers stand or die.
Save your fears, take your place, save them for the judgment day.
Fast and free follow me, time to make the sacrifice; we rise or fall"

 

I owned (until today actually) a 1997 SL1 it just surpassed 131,000 miles
today when I purchased my new saturn. As for a little more punch, I have
heard that the tornado thing you put in your cars intake tubing has helped
some people in their quest for a mild improvement. Plus I think most people
can put that in themselves. I would check out autos.msn.com and under the
used car relabilty ratings it should give you some insite on what to expect
for maintances problems. I found that most things listed can be spotted or
solved during a regular programed oil and fluids change.

 

IMHO: putting anything in that could further restrict air flow isn't a
great idea.


Just saying.....

later,


tom @ www.ChopURL.com

 

The tornado's a shame. If anyone that buys into that...hey I got some
elephant repellent for sale.

If its the SOHC you wont get much punch out of it. Start building up
speed early, you can brake much faster than you can accelerate if need
be when merging.

 

Haha Balh blah, you are absolutely right, the tornado is a joke. I wonder
how they are able to sell such a snakeoil product and get away with it.

Janus, we just added the 7th Saurn into our family, a 2002 SL1 for my 18 yr
old nephew in college. I also drove a 2002 SL1 for a month and found it
quite peppy with my lead foot. Actually, most would say that the SOHC .19
engine has better low-end torque then the Twin Cam 1.9 engine, giving it
somewhat more power at lower speeds. Great on gas, comfortable seats and a
nice ride for a basic car. Good looking too, IMHO.

Adding on a CC is difficult, as the original is in the steering wheel, so
they would have to use an aftermarket. Not rocket science, but best to let
Saturn or someone who knows Saturns install it.

I suggest if you want a great way to add some more powerinexpensively,
simply replace your stock air filter with a K&N flat panel filter. It costs
only about $50. and fits right in where your old paper air filter goes. The
only caveat is that it is permanent (no need to throw it away) and needs to
be washed and re-oiled with the K&N treatment once every blue moon. You will
get a tad more power , better response and it is environmentally friendly
too. You can get one at any Auto parts store and it takes 2 minutes to put
in btw - they come ready to go and pre-oiled. I highly recommend them.

If you still need more power, then you can put on a giant fart-can muffler
instead of the restricting original muffler (just kidding) ;-)

marx404

 

Well they did get sued for saying it added power. Now they only claim
increased fuel mileage. If you look at their so called MPG "findings"
you can see just how bogus that even is.

2002 3.4L Impalla
21mpg before 28mpg after

Lol yeah right. I get 28mpg with my 3.8L doing 75mph on the highway and
my car has about 400 pounds more weight to it. A 3.4 can and does get a
28mpg anytime you want it to, its well within its EPA rating.

The reasons people think this might add power and mileage is they
usually get other things that have been way over due done at the same
time such as Plugs, wires, air filter, fuel filter etc etc. Of course
they see an improvment at those times. Thats what a lot of products do,
like spark plugs with multiple electrods. They dont improve anything
unless you're replacing worn out plugs.

A person shouldnt be afraid of reving out a healthy Twincam to get
going. My sister had a 94, stick shift, it seemed to handled 7 grand
fine. Not sure if it helps the SOHC move to rev that high.

 

I have to agree with you on the peppy (at least for a 4 cyl sedan). Mine is
a 98 SL1 and when a friend drove it he was quite shocked by the kick in the
back he got when he let the clutch out. He has a 96 Civic with the fart-can
muffler (in his defence he bought it that way) and said there was no way it
would beat the Saturn on a sprint.
I've never had trouble merging with mine and I can't imagine they would have
changed the engine or made the car that much heavier in 4 years. The only
trouble I have had merging is when some incapable driver is in front of me
and imagines a yeild sign instead of the merge sign.

 

This is good news for me, as that's exactly what I just bought.

I was thinking I'd get more bang for my buck from some "spinners", a great
big Hello Kitty decal for the hood, and some blue-and-pink racing flames
painted down the sides. I mean, if the thing's not going to be fast, it
might as well be unique-looking, heh heh. Actually I was just kidding
about the spinners. Does Earl Scheib do racing flames?<G>

--
kettir at softhome dot net
@>---->---
"Save your tears for the day when our pain is far behind;
On your feet, come with me, we are soldiers stand or die.
Save your fears, take your place, save them for the judgment day.
Fast and free follow me, time to make the sacrifice; we rise or fall"