![]() Our test car understeered a bit more than we would prefer, though the steering (revised on all Ions for 2004) provided drivers with more information than before, especially on-center. The Ion Red Line held its own in handling tests, too, thanks to its 17-inch tires and lowered, stiffened suspension. We were impressed with the Ecotec’s beefy torque curve, which made itself known throughout the midrange our 20-to-40-mph (3.0 seconds) and 40-to-60-mph (2.8) second-gear acceleration times were nearly identical. The Ion Red Line’s best quarter-mile time of 15.33 seconds at 94.6 mph also represented solid performance and bettered the Mazda’s run by 0.9 second, the Focus SVT by 0.39 and the Civic Si by 0.6. Even the much more expensive and powerful VW R32 hovered in the six-second range, with a 6.18 best time. Still, it was significantly faster than other fun-to-drive small cars we’ve tested recently, including the Mazda3 (7.97), Ford Focus SVT (7.32) and Honda Civic Si (7.82). With second gear good for 64 mph at the engine’s 6400-rpm rev limit, our test Ion accelerated from 0 to 60 mph in 6.75 seconds quite respectable, even though nearly a half-second slower than Saturn’s claimed 6.3. Thankfully, no matter the launch technique, there was barely a hint of torque steer at the drag strip: Saturn installed equal-length halfshafts and stronger CV joints to tame all 200 lb-ft. We achieved our best drag-strip launches by modulating the clutch between 25 rpm any less revs and the engine tended to bog, and to sidestep the clutch resulted in speed-killing wheel hop. Such output represents a huge gain over the standard Ecotec, and our track-test results reflect the improvement. The Eaton supercharger’s 12 psi of boost, along with revised engine internals-such as lightweight, heat-dissipating sodium-filled exhaust valves and forged crank-and a water-to-air intercooler help the engine produce 205 hp at 5600 rpm and 200 lb-ft at 4400. First and foremost, the Red Line team jettisoned the standard car’s 2.2-liter, 140-hp four-cylinder in favor of a blown version of GM’s 2.0-liter Ecotec four. So when Saturn announced it would build a Red Line performance Ion coupe, our collective pulse increased to somewhere around 60 beats per minute before we asked ourselves if Saturn engineers could transform the little coupe into a real driver’s car. Our feelings did not change after we got behind the wheel: Buzzy engine, horribly vague electric power steering. And yet, we weren’t impressed: What was up with the exterior shape? Why was the steering wheel so small? Did engineers intentionally set panel gaps to the mile rather than the mil? Generated by Wordfence at Fri, 18:20:38 GMT.Nearly two years ago to the day, Saturn delivered to our garage the then-new Ion economy sedan it had touted as a paradigm-shifting example of affordable automotive nirvana. Please read this FAQ entry if this does not work. If the email address you enter belongs to a known site administrator or someone set to receive Wordfence alerts, we will send you an email to help you regain access. If you are a site administrator and have been accidentally locked out, please enter your email in the box below and click "Send". Still benefit from the other security features that Wordfence provides. If you're still having trouble, then simply disable the Wordfence advanced blocking and you will Were accessing your site too quickly, then increase the number of accesses allowed per minute. ![]() If you were blocked because it was detected that you are a fake Google crawler, then disable the rule that blocks fake google crawlers. Will need to regain access to your site, go to the Wordfence "options" page, go to the section for Rate Limiting Rules and disable the rule that caused you to be blocked. ![]() If this is a false positive, meaning that your access to your own site has been limited incorrectly, then you The reason your access was limited is: "Access from your area has been temporarily limited for security reasons.". Important note for site admins: If you are the administrator of this website note that your access has been limited because you broke one of the Wordfence advanced blocking rules. Reason: Access from your area has been temporarily limited for security reasons. Your access to this service has been temporarily limited. Your access to this site has been limited Your access to this site has been limited
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