Ending mileage May 2012: 46,000
Eight seasons have passed (if you can count the abbreviated winters we have in south Mississippi) and I'm upon the two-year anniversary of my Saturn Ion Red Line. In wrapping up the past twenty-four months, I'll try to omit things I've already covered in earlier emails. Herewith are a couple things I've learned about the Red Line:
*The chiropteran rear wing is more than just a styling exercise. At 70 mph, it generates 23 pounds of downforce. At 120 mph, that rises to 68.7 pounds, and at 155 mph the number is 115 pounds.
*Running the supercharger off the accessory belt means there is virtually no lag as with a turbocharger. However, the drag caused by spinning the blower to 16 PSI is responsible for cannibalizing 50hp.
*Electric power steering saves 0.5 mpg over a conventional belt-driven power steering pump and the system has proved so successful that it is also being used on the 2013 Chevy Malibu Eco.
My wife jokingly refers to it as my "Mid-Life Crisis" car, but in this day and age of Pruises and neutered eco-weenies that only Al Gore can love, there's something alluring and dangerous about a supercharged sports coupe that guzzles the most expensive gasoline and motor oil while ripping down the highway at 165 mph. It flies in the face of convention and is as sinfully hedonistic as Spring Break in Daytona Beach, which coincidentally, is when I picked it up in 2010.
From a purely analytical standpoint, sports cars do not make sense. Typically, the resale is far poorer on a Camaro than a Camry. I know because I speak from experience and when I sold my two year-old Mustang GT, I was floored by the staggering depreciation. Despite bring purchased new, and sold with only 17,000 miles on the odometer, its value was about half the original sticker price.
And so it was with my latest automotive purchase that I had to wrestle with the same quandary. From an economical perspective, it was hard to argue with the efficiency of my 1997 Saturn SC2. Sure, it was old but it was paid-off, returned 35 mpg despite daily trips to the redline, and the insurance and tag were dirt cheap. So the more I ran the numbers on the Red Line, the more worried I became. For starters, it seems any vehicle with a performance suffix automatically equates to more expense. The standard 2.2-liter Ion 3 Quad Coupe has an EPA rating of 23 City and 32 Highway, but the Red Line package slashes that like Obama cutting healthcare benefits to 20 City and 27 Highway (I averaged 26 mpg on my last fill-up). Compared to the fuel economy of my 1997 SC2, that works out to a 110-mile shorter driving distance. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the Red Line doesn't acquiesce to standard 87 octane-- it requires premium unleaded that is 91 or higher. This Evian of octane currently runs forty cents more per gallon so your wallet gets a double-whammy at the pump; not only is fuel economy worse, but the fuel costs more to boot. For me, that works out to an extra eight dollars every week. That might not seem like much until you realize that at the end of the year an extra $416 literally went up in smoke.
But, of course, the cash-littered road doesn't end there. Not only does the supercharged engine demand premium fuel, it also uses synthetic motor oil. That means the $12 jug of generic dino oil on sale at Wal-Mart just won't do the job. Nope, plan on seven quarts (even though the owner's manual incorrectly states six) of full-synthetic 5w-30 Royal Purple at around $10 apiece and toss in $12 for a genuine AC-Delco filter. That's quadruple what it costs to change the oil in my older Saturn and that's doing the dirty work in my driveway. A trip to the dealer for an oil change is easily a $100 affair. For four oil changes a year, that's an extra $200 above and beyond what it costs for the same treatment in my SC2.
When the triple-digit summer temps rolled in, I picked up a bottle of Red Line Water Wetter (which, despite the same name, is not affiliated with my car). Given the $15 price tag for the small 12 ounce bottle, I felt that I may as well be pouring Dom Perignon into the radiator. However, I doubt it would have improved the heat transfer any. In typical GM fashion, the RL's cooling system is on the ragged edge of efficiency and that condition is exacerbated by the South's brutal heat. Even equipped with a Laminova air-to-water intercooler, I tried to stay out of the boost as much as possible since the IAT2 sensor temps get hotter than a Secret Service agent in a Columbian brothel.
It's no lie that the Red Line had to be built on a shoe-string budget before the GM bean counters would approve it. After all, typical focus groups are infinitely more interested in cupholders than superchargers. With that being the case, the Red Line's development budget understandably experienced some cost-trimming. For instance, duplicating the 5.5-sec. zero-to-sixty result found in Car and Driver is discouraged because the RL's clutch has difficulty with even stock power levels, the motor mounts flex like saltwater taffy, and the front axles can snap like toothpicks. Additionally, the designers included some real head-scratching decisions such as sandwiching the intercooler between the a/c condenser and the radiator.
MODIFICATIONS
I remarked about the poor quality of the black vinyl shifter boot and it had continued to deteoriate as my ownership wore on. After the shifter knob cap popped off, I took it as a sign and ordered a $100 boot replacement through Redline Goods (which also has no endorsement with my car). I likewise picked up the e-brake boot and had them both tailored in black Italian leather with medium gray stitching to match the Recaro seats. I was worried they might stick out like a sore thumb, but the end result was fantastic. Unfortunately, the real sore thumb came from prying all the rusty staples out of the stock boot. At the end of the day, I probably should have gotten a tetanus shot after being jabbed so many times.
Another thing I changed is the addition of a $100 trapezoidal Saturn Motorsports aluminum front grille. I have always admired the black intercooler grille on the Dodge SRT-4 and I only added it on my Saturn for protection from bugs and rocks damaging the a/c condenser. However, it does offer the added benefit of really complementing the RL's aggressive front fascia. Interestingly, the stock mounting posts are present in the bumper indicating that at one time, it was under consideration to come so equipped from the factory. I had originally envisioned painting it matte black, but the anodized aluminum finish really harmonizes with the silver paint so I didn't touch it. It also seems well secured, as a recent blast to 130 mph failed to unseat it.
Externally, the fixed passenger-side antenna was a real distraction and also interfered with using a car cover. I removed it and relocated it inside the front fender. This concealed it nicely yet didn't prevent me from listening to my favorite radio stations.
Lastly, it was time to replace the AC Delco wipers I had installed when I bought the RL. The best rated wipers on the market are the Rain-X Latitude blades and it was the first time in my life I've paid $50 for rubber windshield wipers. In fact, the AC Delco set did a fantastic job for $25 so I can't see the Rain-X ones being twice as good, but time will certainly tell.
VROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
With a dyno-proven 265 hp stock, the RL is hardly a tractor motor, but there's still progress to be gained over the factory setup. GM was very conservative when designing the LSJ powertrain and it shows. The braintrusts that led the company to bankruptcy also equipped the Red Line with undersized 34-lb injectors. Due to their inadequate size, they can't possibly meet the flow requirements for the boosted motor, so the engineers (and I use that term lightly) tried to circumvent this problem by having the engine run stupid rich (10.5 AFR) to compensate for the lack of fuel. But despite this, by 5100 rpm the injectors are maxed out at 100% duty cycle. By 5700 rpm, the AFR is leaning out because the injectors are at their limit, so the PCM begins to pull the boost. At the 6500 rpm redline, the AFR has leaned out to 12.4, the injectors are operating at a staggering 147% IDC, and only 70% of the maximum boost is available.
Not coincidentally, GM offers three Stage kits that address these developmental shortcuts, and help make the car as it should have originally come from the factory. For $775, I ordered Stage 2 which comes with a new engine calibration, 42-lb fuel injectors and a 77.9mm supercharger pulley. I also opted to order the GM Stage 3 pulley ($150) which is just 76mm and good for an extra pound of boost over the Stage 2 pulley. However, I wasn't interested in the more aggressive Stage 3 tune as it is for track use only and, in an effort to discourage street use, disables the air-conditioner. But by purchasing just the pulley, I'm in essence getting the best of both worlds-- Stage 3 performance with Stage 2 comfort.
The hardest part of the whole install was removing the stock supercharger pulley. We tried a three-jaw puller to no avail and ended up using a machine press to remove it. For pushing the hub on, we employed a kit that comes with a metal bushing and different size threaded rods, commonly used for power steering pumps. With the supercharger off, I inspected the rotors, and aside from some natural carbon build-up, they were in perfect shape. I was only able to get about 2 ounces of the supercharger oil out, but what I did get out was pretty dirty, so I was glad I changed it. My mechanic marveled at the blue Stage 2 security bolts that secure the pulley to the hub. He admitted that despite working on GM vehicles for twenty years, this was the first time he had ever seen such an unusual hex pattern.
The new injectors are the most expensive piece in the kit but because they're designed by GM, they use the factory harness and don't require a separate one like aftermarket injectors. Driving it to the dealer to get the new tune, the PCM threw a p0172 code which meant the car was running rich due to the larger injectors but other than that, there were no problems. After $150 for the PCM reflash, the car was better than new.
BOOSTER CLUB
Fortunately, it's easy to forget the ancillary expenses when the supercharger's impeller blades are spinning at 13,500 rpm and the tachometer is slicing towards the red zone faster than you can grab the next gear. With the Stage 2 upgrades, maximum boost jumped from 12 PSI to 16 PSI, a healthy increase that estimates total horsepower right at 300 (A dyno visit is scheduled for this fall). While the peak power and extra torque is nice to brag about, the real increase in acceleration comes from the fact that the power gains are present throughout the rev range. Acceleration is all about average torque production, and this is where positive displacement superchargers really shine: 80% of the maximum torque is available from as low as 2500 rpm all the way to the 7000 rpm redline. However, 300 horsepower in a front wheel-drive car means first and second gear is nearly unusable, even with new 215/45-17 Z-rated rubber. Power delivery comes on with a smooth and steady rush, like water through a firehose. Regrettably, the Ion is so fast that you can only legally touch the redline in the first two gears, as second winds out at 65mph. Third finishes up at a license-losing 100mph, and the top of fourth gets you 130mph and cigarettes on visitor's day. At 165mph, fifth gear is either a clean getaway or an early funeral.
SEEING RED
Unfortunately, the last two years haven't been all shifts and giggles. The intercooler pump, which circulates the coolant to keep the supercharger temps down, unexpectedly went out, although I suspect it was more the number of years as opposed to the miles that did it in. The factory Bosch pumps are notorious for the internal brushes getting gummed-up which causes them to fail. Interestingly, the RL uses the same intercooler pump as the Ford Lightning and the Mustang Cobra so it was much easier to pick one of them up for $100 instead of paying Saturn $335 for one. Unfortunately, someone at GM decided it would be smart to glue the clamps to the hose with the same industrial adhesive that is used on the Space Shuttle, so it was a real challenge removing it.
While swapping the factory downpipe in anticipation of installing the aftermarket catless one, I discovered that the rear 02 sensor was firmly entrenched and did not wish to be removed. Finally, after employing the use of a vice, it was discovered that the supercharged exhaust was so hot that it had melted the threads of the 02 sensor and was the reason it was seized in the exhaust pipe. Obviously, this necessitated a new $150 oxygen sensor before the RL would run again and it was quite a feat locating one two days before Christmas.
If that wasn't enough, the front driver-side Dunlop decided to blow-out last fall. Fortunately, I was leaving work when I discovered it due to the feeling of driving on a square tire. I pulled into a local tire shop and noticed that the inner sidewall had completely collapsed. Apparently, this is a common problem with the factory Dunlops so I rotated the rear tire to the front to keep the load off the tiny spare. And naturally, the tire shop did not have a suitable replacement so I was forced to commute home on the donut. A few days later, I sourced a temporary Goodyear replacement while I waited on the new ones to arrive. For $1000, I had four ultra-high performance B.F. Goodrich G-Force tires installed and aligned. They made an amazing difference in both the handling and ride-quality.
CONCLUSION
To the uneducated public, a high-performance Saturn is an oxymoron like "Congressional Ethics" or "Happily Married". In fact, when strangers approach me about my car, invariably the most asked question is about the rear suicide doors. They think it's the coolest thing. Granted, it's a neat feature and perfect for transporting my six year-old daughter, but what catches them off guard is when I mention that it has a supercharger and 300hp. The reaction is similar to a sudden onset of dementia as they struggle to comprehend the notion of a three-hundred horsepower Saturn. Occam's Razor states that Saturns are small, 100hp grocery-getters and that is largely how the car-buying demographic remembers them. Few recall or even knew about the other Saturn offerings such as the Astra subcompact, Aura sedan, Outlook SUV or Sky convertible.
Unfortunately, my Red Line is not inexpensive nor economical, things a Saturn is typically known for. However, it is a blast to drive and the siren-like whine of the supercharger never fails to put a grin on my face. I'll probably never see 100,000 miles in it, but I have enjoyed the smiles per gallon over the past two years. Last summer, I went as far west as Baton Rouge and exited the Louisiana Welcome Center faster than ever before in my life. And earlier this year, made two trips to Pensacola Beach in it. On the highway, it's as comfortable and quiet as a Honda Civic, easily up for a last-minute cross-country trek. And the 300hp is a non sequitur, like dating supermodel Petra Ecclestone and then discovering she's a billionaire heiress.
I don't know what the next two years will bring for the RL, but I'm certainly going along for the ride!
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