whats the fastest you got your saturn up too ?

hey, just wondering what's the fastest you got your Saturn up too ?

we own an 2002 sl2 4 dr and I think 155 kph was the max (en route to
Montréal); hot summer day, when the car was still very new ( less than
4000kms)

 

Down the front straight at Gateway International Raceway, top of 4th gear,
right at 110 MPH ( too busy making sure I didn't miss the turn in for turn
1 to check exactly)

 

110+ in my 94 SL2 on an empty stretch of I95 (dont try this at home kids,
professional idiot driver). have radar will travel ;-)

marx404

 

85 MPH in my 91 SL2. About 145 in my 95 Mitsu GST. 160 in my 91 3K/VR4. I
felt safer at 160 in the 3K than at 85 in the Saturn.

 

Todd,

The 3000GT just has a nice feel. My '91 isn't a VR4 (twin turbo) and I've
never had it up anywhere near that speed, but it is a heavy vehicle for it's
size, has a wide wheel base, and low aerodynamic drag so just plain feels
stable .

Bob

 

It is a TT and at speed the turbos are really out of steam. I believe the
actual speed was more like 155. I did it once and it felt pretty good. The
first time I like my GF drive it, she had it up to 100 in third before I
reminded her we were on a public road and she should be in a higher gear.
The GST felt like it was floating at anything over 130 and I had to remove
the govenor just to do it.

 

55 mph. Honest, officer!

 

I believe I've got up to as fast as 80, maybe 85(MPH that is in my
2000 SL2. Of course I do have the factory rear spoiler so it was cool...

 

I remember being at a race track in TX. This little kid in a Honda had a big
wing on his car and the guy I was with bet him he could shave a tenth off
his time. The kid was only too happy to listen. It involved removing the
giant aluminum wing and saved him 0.2 seconds. Of course he put the thing
back on, but I did run his buddy in my GSX (2nd Mitsu after GST was hit by
an old man).

http://home.woh.rr.com/roberthonea/dsm_vs_rice.avi

 

Well, my '03 Ion has seen 145 kph, but with the bit of a cross wind, I
wasn't going to push it...the car is too light for stepping it out with
a side wind.

However, I had a '99 Saab 9-3 that I greatly enjoyed showing a '03
Celica GTS how quick a turbo 5 door could be vs a little sporty coupe
when I handed him his doors from a standing start. We went pretty hard
until he found where his governor was (180 kph) and that mine was a lot
higher (at least 215 kph).

Cheers,

Michael

 

I love seeing civic hatchbacks with the big wing, 'slammed supension',
coffe can muffler, etc etc etc. They think they've turned a shitbox
econocar into a race car. The wing does nothing, the suspesion mods
tend to make the handling even WORSE, the muffler and 'cold air
induction' does shit for the motor, etc.

You know, Honda spent lots of money desiging the suspension on that car.
Nonethless, some punk kid thinks he can outengineer Honda. hehehe.

I love the muffler (useless) and the 'cold air induction' these cars
always get. I've yet to see anyone put up an instrumented test between
a stock and cold air intake, and I suspect the answer why is most people
hawking these systems wouldn't know a thermocouple if it bit them on the
ass, and don't want to face the harsh truth anyway.

At least saturns suck the air in the fender well where it's pretty much
outside temp anyway, and measure it right by the airbox, all the way up
front. I suspect there's litte/no heating of the air, and that the
transit time between the intake and the throttle body at running speed
is virtually nil anyway.

I bet if you dumped a thermocouple outside your window and another right
at the TB opening, they'd read within a degree or two...

 

I've never understood the coffee can.They put a stupid fat muffler on a 1.5
inch pipe and think they can hang with the big boys. I like to use the
example of taking a skinny straw, blow in it...then flare out the end as
much as you can and blow again. It doesn't do shit...but it does make
somebody else some money saying "you can get 4 more HP out of this exhaust".
4 HP for 100 bucks?. The weather has more of an effect than that. Cut out
cheese cake for a week and you can make that up in weight for free.

It's funny...I did find out these guys actually think they are fast. I drive
the Saturn as a beater and race far more than I ever do in the GT. I think
it's because I wouldn't even know they were trying. Not that I'm saying
anything bad about the Saturn, but I know what it is...a simple,
comfortable, little car with good mileage. A track car, it isn't

 

The wing - correct - doesn't do anything but make you slower.

Proprer suspension mods can improve handling, but your typical cut
springs on stock dampers that "ricers" often do does make a car handle
worse. Putting a big muffler on a stock exhaust does nothing, but a
proper cat-back system does add HP, as does an intake. The SPC has dyno
tested several intakes, and found a 4-8 HP gain on a Saturn motor.

The manufacturer designed the suspension for one set of parameters. On
economy cars, that is usually comfort when getting groceries. Aftermarket
companies design suspensions for a very different set of parameters. I
have chosen to sacrifice some comfort to make the car corner better.

Several SPC members have indeed done this. the gains are not as much
from the air being cooler, but from the opening up of the intake and
allowing more air into the engine. Again, 4-8 HP gain on a Saturn.


While I don't think I've turned my econobox into a race car (the guys in
the Thunderbird yesterday seemed to think they had done that when they
tried to get me to race them...), I know that I've turned it into a well
mannered track car.

 

Proper mods might. But, let's face it, it's beyond the ability of the
average Joe to outengineer Honda, etc on it. Sure a stock suspension is
a compromise, but IIRC, those little Civics already outhandle most
drivers anyway. Most cars today pretty much do.

Not that much though.

4 - 8 HP at the wheels on a Saturn motor is just barely enough to make
it out of the uncertainty of the average dyno. Chassis dynos aren't
spectacularly accurate, assuming they're even calibrated right. Now, a
calibrated engine dyno - that's different. But 4 - 8 HP at the flywheel
is barely worth the effort - it hardly is at the wheels either.

I wouldn't be surprised if normal variation from temperature, air
pressure, etc is that much...

But, the fact remains, on a skidpad, even a cheap economy car like a Kia
pulls quite well. IIRC, they can outhandle some sports cars of 20-30
years ago...

In any case, the chances of the average ricer boy being able to make a
car handle better than a group of engineers at Detroit/Tokyo/Stugartt,
is pretty slim. At least on a newer car.

4-8 hp is barely worth the hassle at the smogger station or even the
money on such a system. In any case, if a system's being advertised as
'cold air' induction, is it REALLY bringing in cooler air than a stock
system? That's my big question, and I'm guessing the answer is 'no'.
So, what you're seeing is airflow improvements...

This reminds me of a test in some mag of headers for some Honda
(toyota?) motor. The best aftermarket one was 2HP better than the
stock. I'm guessing that those little buzzbomb motors are so optimized
from the factory that there's really not much room for improvement
without making MAJOR changes...

 

That's why I let the very smart people at Eibach and KYB do it for me.

We have used TMW Chassis Dyno in Joliet, IL for over 5 years. Their dyno
is properly calibrated, and we have done back to back tests - stock
intake, then aftermarket. The results have been repeatable across cars.

I have an intake, factory header, and a Thermal R&D cat-back. Stock,
DOHC Saturns tend to dyno around 104-108. Mine has dynoed at 119.
Beleive me, that's a noticable difference.

 

As fast as the speed limiter in a '96 SL2 would allow.

 

Lead foot! (grin)

 

Those mods are significant, especially when combined with other
modifications. Port work, new cams, valve work, increased compression,
forced induction, etc. just don't work out as well without opening of both
ends of what is really just a combustion driven air pump. It equates to
trying to drink a milkshake through a cocktail straw if you leave things as
is. Even if it's only minor gains in the beginning; it leads to bigger and
better results. You need a starting point, and opening up the constricted
intake and output just makes common sense.

 

I've taken both of my Saturns to their governed limits (anyone know how to
get past that without setting off check engine lights, etc.)

Oh, fastest top end in any other cars...
Somewhere between 170-175 in parents Thunderbird SC(some modifications,
computer, intake, eshaust, intercooler.)

Somewhere over 175 in my General Managers new Vette (not the brightest thing
to do when your boss asks you if you want take for a spin.)

160 in a previous employers 300Z Turbo (again, not a smart thing to do.)

Little under 160 in managers new Mustang Cobra at a different previous
employer (starting to see a pattern here?)

In a car that actually belonged to me....fastest would have been 141 in a 65
on what used to be known as the Green River Parkway in Kentucky on the way
back from Bowling Green in my built up 84 Monte SS. I'm quite sure about
the speed, because Kentucky State Troopers are a very truthful and
forthright group of gentlemen. My dad, having been bailed out of jail a few
times in the past himself, was quite understanding.

 

100mph in a 2001 LW300. Car was very willing to run faster but I have a
clean license and lost my nerve. Not having any moving violations in over 10
years and getting a low insurance rate is a big anchor.