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?

"marx404" > wrote in message
...
> 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
>
>

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 ]
---
Visit my Saturn Car Audio and Performance Page at http://www57.pair.com/lane



"marx404" > wrote in message
...
> 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
>
>

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 ]
---
Visit my Saturn Car Audio and Performance Page at http://www57.pair.com/lane



"marx404" > wrote in message
...
> 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
>
>

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.

In article >, -NOSPAM
says...
> 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 ]
> ---
> Visit my Saturn Car Audio and Performance Page at http://www57.pair.com/lane
>
>
>
> "marx404" > wrote in message
> ...
> > 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
> >
> >
>
>
>

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

In article >, says...
> 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...

In article >,
says...
> In article >, says...
> > 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 he http://www.saturnfans.com/Cars/ION/2...neadbuzz.shtml

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



"hjk" > wrote in message
...
> In article >, says...
> > 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...