Took the Sky for a Mountain Drive

"Z (ND + Cancer Fighter)" (roadsterzach)
07/16/2014 at 13:29 • Filed to: Saturn, Sky

It was an absolute blast. Super tight twisty switchbacks and general Initial D style curves. This has got to be one of the best handling cars I have ever driven. Sorry Miata, 944, RX-7; you don't compare to the grace of this silly little GM. I should really get around to writing that 6-month OppoReview for it... (Another picture below!)

DISCUSSION (15)

 V8 Rustler > Z (ND + Cancer Fighter)
07/16/2014 at 13:35

Is yours turbocharged? Redline or something like that.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Z (ND + Cancer Fighter)
07/16/2014 at 13:38

I heard they had reliability issues and suffered from poor quality control... any word on that? I'd love to have one.

Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
07/16/2014 at 14:07

Poor quality control only affect the first job (first 4 months of production) of the first year, from what I've heard. After that, they knew what they were doing and it was mostly fine. Still a GM-built vehicle from the mid-2000s, but no worse than any other car of that time period.

Reliability issues are next to nothing. Most of the parts are from other cars, and were tried-and-true.

The only major issue I can think of is the water pump seal. When GM adapted the LNF (which is 2JZ-reliable), they changed the water pump and the seal. Most Sols/Skys had leaking water pumps around 30-40k miles. There is a new seal that can be installed that fixes this problem.

Some random Skys have bad airbag sensors for the passenger seat, which cause the 'airbag off' light on the center console to be on at all times no matter what's on the seat. GM has yet to issue a fix for this, but it's a very minor issue.

Then there's the differential. It's shared with the 2nd generation CTS, which had a whining noise at times. Most are only affected at speeds below 7 mph, but some it's all the time. GM has a TSB on it, with a new differential oil that causes the whine to go away. Very easy fix.

My Dad owned a 2007 Turbo from '07 to '09 and only had an issue with the water pump. A family friend had a 2008 Standard that had the airbag sensor issue and the differential whine. My personal '09 Turbo has only had the occasional whine at very low speeds. Talking to other owners, they have experienced next to no issues.

It's a wonderful car that I could go on and on about if I had more time, but being at work I shouldn't be on Oppo too much. I'll reply back later. I can't recommend buying (a turbo) one enough!

Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) > V8 Rustler
07/16/2014 at 14:09

Yes it is. 2.0L GM LNF engine. Has the really long name of being a Saturn Sky Turbo Redline Edition!

Mine also has the ($400) factory GM Performance tune with warranty on it. We dyno'd it at 303 whp with 357.8 ft/lbs of torque! Quite a fun little car.

ly2v8-Brian > Z (ND + Cancer Fighter)
07/16/2014 at 14:12

That's a lot of oompf for a small package.

DoYouEvenShift > Z (ND + Cancer Fighter)
07/16/2014 at 14:34

Awesome car man. I always thought of them as mini vettes. Also love the LNF engine. Id love to get a base car and stuff an LS in it Hot Rod LS7 style.

Audi-os, Amigos! > Z (ND + Cancer Fighter)
07/16/2014 at 14:40

Re: the water pump issue, my neighbor has a Chevy Avalanche from this same era and the water pump fails on that, too. Mid-2000's GM is nothing if not consistent.

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > Z (ND + Cancer Fighter)
07/16/2014 at 14:57

Whoa, I didn't know we had a Sky owner here. Awesome!

Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) > Z (ND + Cancer Fighter)
07/16/2014 at 23:41

Alright, I sat down and tried to think of them all. Here are all the known issues besides the stupid ignition switch recall. There's not many. Check out an FR-S forum and see how many issues they are reporting in comparison.

- Early 2006 models had issues with drive axle seals, seal issues with the direct injection wind noise due to bad top seals and convertible top rips due to mis-installed metal supports.

- A/C compressor makes a whining noise in certain Kappas. Related to very specific production batches, probably affecting less than 20%. Changing out a resistor solves this issue.

- Airbag sensor. ^ See above.

- Brake cooling ducts on Redline models can work themselves loose over time. Simply needs to be clicked back into place. They don't fall out or anything, just become disconnected from the front bumper. Minor issue at best.

- Differential whine. ^ See above. New oil and it's fine.

- Door handles pre-2009. These were shared with the Cobalt, which has the same issue of the interior components being made of a weak plastic that can break/snap and cause the door handle to be useless. The door handles installed on the 2009s were made with stronger materials. This problem probably only affects 10% of Skys/Solstices.

- FENDER CRACKS. The fenders are made from fiberglass. They are kind of fragile. They will take every form of abuse expect being used as a jacking point. There are specific spots on the frame behind the fender for this. Most shops do not seem to understand this, jack the car up by the fender, and crack them. GM no longer has replacement passenger side fenders because so many have had to be replaced.

- Intercooler "blowing up". Some intercoolers magically mushroom into large chunks of unusable metal when pushed past 25 psi. Some batches are fine, some mushroom. No one can track down which ones or why. The stock turbo will only hit 13 psi, the GM tune will only push you to 18-20 psi (tops). If you go aftermarket with your tune, it may be an issue.

- Rear cup holder. This pops out of the center console between the two seats. Too much weight will break the plastic. You're more likely to have issues with an E39's cup holder though.

- Water pump seal. These all die. 30-40k. The new seals are much better, cheaper to buy and fairly easy to install.

Mostly though, as long as you aren't going with a super crazy unsafe aftermarket tune, these cars are fine. The stock turbo is efficient up to 25 psi, and the intercooler should be fine up to that point as well. If you want more than that, which would be 400+ hp, then you need to upgrade the components as well.

Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) > ly2v8-Brian
07/16/2014 at 23:44

Aftermarket tunes boost it up to ~350hp and almost 400 ft/lbs of torque with no other mods required.

Air intake, intercooler upgrade and exhaust will help things flow at that point and push you to mid-2000 Corvette power ranges. I've seen some Skys with a minor turbo upgrade pushing 450+ hp.

These cars can be very quick, and no one seems to think of them as actual competitors when they are. The engine isn't even the best part, the chassis and handling are! Just don't mention the cheap GM plastic interior.

Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) > Logansteno: Bought a VW?
07/16/2014 at 23:45

Yep! We're very rare, but we're out there. I think there's one other on here (automatic turbo owner, if I recall), and a Solstice owner (non-turbo) as well. Not sure if they are active anymore or not; I know I'm certainly not.

It's a blast of a car though! I wish GM would have kept it around.

Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) > DoYouEvenShift
07/16/2014 at 23:47

A lot of the 2.4L non-turbos got bought up by older enthusiasts that ended up putting their trusted engines in these after a few years, so there's lots of carbed 383/390 swaps out there.

The LSx doesn't seem as popular since with a tune, bolt-ons and turbo upgrade the LNF can easily push past LSx power. Still a V8 swap would be fun!

ly2v8-Brian > Z (ND + Cancer Fighter)
07/16/2014 at 23:51

Im fine with the interior. Although I don't fit well in it. No I'm not a fat ass but I'm 6'2". It is the only manual car I've driven so there's that.

Z (ND + Cancer Fighter) > ly2v8-Brian
07/17/2014 at 00:00

I'm 6' 2" or 6' 3", something like that, and fit just fine and comfortably.

A lot of Skys have the seat raised up without knowing it, mostly because the majority of owner's don't know there is a switch to adjust it. All Redlines have power driver seat height adjustment. At the lowest setting it's actually too far back for me to be comfortable for long distances, but my 6' 5" friend is fine at that point. It's by the front pouch of the seat, to the left, near the bottom. Adjust it with the back of the seat and you should be fine, hopefully.

Mine is also a manual, although I wish it were a 6-speed manual instead of a 5-speed.

ly2v8-Brian > Z (ND + Cancer Fighter)
07/17/2014 at 00:06

That was probably it.