Why do I want one of these?

"Jim Spanfeller" (awesomeaustinv) 04/06/2020 at 15:02 • Filed to: None

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After several people made me aware of the existence of the Saturn Ion’s half-doors and general horribleness, I had to know more about it. T hen I saw the Red Line version:

According to Autoblog, it “ features a 205-horsepower supercharged engine. Saturn says it’s good for 0-60 mph in 6.3 seconds. We found it fun to drive, with strong throttle response and a sporty exhaust note. It comes with Recaro seats for comfortable support in corners.” And it has a mandatory five-speed manual transmission, too! With the same shift knob as the Saab 9-3, no less. Ain’t nothin’ sportier than the Saab 9-3's shift knob.

Car and Driver says the interior is rubbish, but that “It is, though, the first Ion that begs to be driven quickly. Throw it into your favorite corner, and you’ll find improved steering with more weight and feel than is present in the base car. It doesn’t have the tactile feedback that’s present in Ford’s Focus, but the improvement is a step in the right direction. Chassis alterations that stiffen the strut-front and torsion-beam-rear suspensions keep the increased horsepower in check without sacrificing ride quality. The Red Line soaks up potholes and expansion joints with gusto, yet the setup isn’t too soft for a few laps on a racetrack.” Their main criticism of the handling seems to be that it understeers a little, but otherwise it’s an easy car to drive fast.

I don’t understand. I thought the Ion was supposed to be a miserable, soulless econobox, b ut the Red Line version sounds like it’s only a slightly crappy enthusiast’s car! I like the styling of it, too. Car and Driver recommends forgoing the optional wing, bu t screw it, I say it needs the wing. T he funky half-doors are a very interesting quirk, and I like cars with interesting quirks. Sporty compacts from the 2000s aren’t typically my thing, but I like this one. Maybe this is my brain’s way of telling me that I’ve been quarantined for so long that even driving a Saturn Ion would be preferable to what I’m doing now. But whatever the case, I have a new favorite 2000s car.

Tripper > Jim Spanfeller 04/06/2020 at 15:06

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Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 04/06/2020 at 15:10

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Out of all the vast years of the 2000?

The half doors are kinda cool and quirky if you don’t have to transport people too often, but the base “coupe” was pretty miserable as you mentioned. Someone replied to me when I posted this non-redline manual “coupe” to say that the Getrag gearbox was hot garbage, so maybe the sporty trim got a fancy gearbox? At any rate a redine coupe is half decent condition has got to be pretty rare 15 years later.

https://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/cto/d/atlanta-2006-saturn-ion-coupe/7101731540.html

This is the manual one which I featured a few days ago in a car buying post. 

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Jim Spanfeller 04/06/2020 at 15:13

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The cool thing about the early Redline ION is the availability of FACTORY AUTHORIZED Stage 1, 2 and 3 kits for more power. There are guys making 300 reliable HP out of that Ecotec boosted engine.

I wouldn’t care, but we keep toying with putting an LSJ in that old X1/9.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Jim Spanfeller 04/06/2020 at 15:15

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These are kinda cool. I’ve thought about them as well. Unfortunately, I feel like most of them have met an awful fate

MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) > Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available 04/06/2020 at 15:18

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I think that was me, it’s been my least favourite manual trans so far.

As for everything else about the redline I could see it being true. From my understanding it’s mostly a Cobalt SS under the skin. They’re also surprisingly light which adds to the fun.

For example the two Ions I had were FE1 and FE2, the FE2 ‘handling package’ made the steering noticeably firmer, not night and day but it does suggest there is space for improvement. I would not recommend a base Ion to anyone, but after driving them I can see how they could be made into decent (although not amazingly) fun cars.

They’re right the interior is BAD too. I don’t usually care in economy cars outside of glaring issues, but the Ion has a few. The centre gauge cluster you can get used to but I don’t like it (compared to the cobalt’s). The plastic is the typical hard GM black plastic and it’s everywhere, the pre 2006 seats were the comfy but gross soft mouse fur stuff, after that it seems you get slippery black synthetic stuff. The vent control dial CONSTANTLY skips the track so you have to pull the radio to get at it to be able to control it again. It got to the point I left it on defrost and it was a NO TOUCHING dial. If you pull on the seat reclining handles to move the seat they break.

Those cars were GM reliable (run poorly longer than most cars will run) but they SUCKED. They took abuse well though. I launched mine at stop lights a lot and hit the rev limiter constantly, they didn’t mind. 

Nom De Plume > Jim Spanfeller 04/06/2020 at 15:19

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Good to see someone else has caught the “normally this would be an inadvisably bad idea, but...” bug.

E90M3 > Jim Spanfeller 04/06/2020 at 15:21

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404 - User No Longer Available > Jim Spanfeller 04/06/2020 at 15:23

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It’s the cousin of the Cobalt SS Supercharged, which was replaced by the SS Turbocharged. Power went from 205 to 260, which can be further increased to 290 with a factory tune.

But Saturn died before the transition from the SC to the TC, so it never got that variant. .

Jim Spanfeller > 404 - User No Longer Available 04/06/2020 at 15:28

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Engine swap ideas forming...

Jim Spanfeller > E90M3 04/06/2020 at 15:31

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Oof. I still want it, though.

Jim Spanfeller > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 04/06/2020 at 15:35

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It seems there’s actually a forum for them...

Sovande > Jim Spanfeller 04/06/2020 at 15:38

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It's a plastic heap of shit. Drive one and you will lose all interest. 

Jim Spanfeller > Sovande 04/06/2020 at 15:43

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I understand the non-sport version is a piece of utter crap, but the Red Line is a fun piece of crap. Besides, I tend to think that most car interiors made after the 90's are ugly anyways.

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > Jim Spanfeller 04/06/2020 at 15:44

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It’s the typical GM playbook. Good powertrain, solid chassis, fun handling characteristics, and a dumpster fire of an interior and build quality.

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > Jim Spanfeller 04/06/2020 at 15:45

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I don’t want to know......

WasGTIthenGTOthenNOVAnowbacktoGTI > E90M3 04/06/2020 at 15:45

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And no rust! Impressive!!!!!!!!

cluelessk > Jim Spanfeller 04/06/2020 at 16:00

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I’ve got an ‘08 Cobalt SS with the turbo. Friend had a older supercharged one. There not terrible cars. Finding parts sucks though.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Jim Spanfeller 04/06/2020 at 16:16

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I drove a Cobalt SS/SC once, the Chevy version of this car. My recollection was that it was soooo boosty that it took a lot of effort not to spin tires when leaving from a stop.

Honestly, if you want something in the same vein I’d look for a Cobalt SS/TC. As someone else mentioned the Ion never had the TC option, Saturn was killed before the engine switch. But unless you need the half doors, the Cobalt SS/TC is a more competent car.

Jim Spanfeller > Snuze: Needs another Swede 04/06/2020 at 16:28

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“ I drove a Cobalt SS/SC once, the Chevy version of this car. My recollection was that it was soooo boosty that it took a lot of effort not to spin tires when leaving from a stop.”

The thing is, t he Chevy Cobalt SS/TC may be great, but...

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Jim Spanfeller 04/06/2020 at 16:46

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I completely get it . If I’m being honest I actually like the look of the Ion Redline and it’s quirky half doors. I think the TC engine was the better one though, but the SC is still a hoot. Especially with a boost pulley, exhaust, and tune. Magnify wheelspin, but when it hooks, hold on tight!

It could be a stupid fun car for the buy-in price (I’m seeing them for ~$4k).

TrickJos > Jim Spanfeller 04/06/2020 at 16:48

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Saturns are awesome and this was one of the best. You should get one!

notsomethingstructural > Jim Spanfeller 04/06/2020 at 17:04

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don’t listen to the people crapping all over this car. the redline was a legit sleeper. yeah it had some mid-aughts domestic build quality issues but it could absolutely walk any factory GTI, jetta, civic/accord, focus, integra, is300, and other popular junior varsity tuner platforms of the time. you needed like an srt-4 to really run with these, even the manual VQ35 altimas could just only keep up.