TRANSMISSION: 6-speed automatic with manumatic shifting VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedanĮNGINE TYPE: DOHC 24-valve V-6, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection As gems go, it may not be a diamond but it is an opal. If you've been on a steady diet of Camrys and Accords, the XR offers a personality all its own. The XR's interior is Euro-sleek, if a little hard, but you can distract yourself by experimenting with the six-speed automatic, which can be batted about manually via Corvette-derived paddles. Maybe that's why this Saturn is 61 pounds flabbier than the Pontiac. Acceleration to 110 mph is identical to the 240-hp G6 GT's, although the trip there is more relaxing, thanks to double-paned front glass, laminated steel, and enough sound deadening to quell the Trump Casino on New Year's Eve. Unlike the Pontiac G6 GT, however, the Aura XR comes with a six-speed automatic and an alloy DOHC V-6 producing a hefty 252 hp while simultaneously eliminating the chug of pushrods.
#SATURN ION REDLINE TURBO SKIN#
Consider: The Aura is based on a German Opel Vectra built in Kansas City, Kansas, making it a sibling of the Pontiac G6 but with Euro-classy skin and Teutonic-inspired suspension tuning. Remember those halcyon days in Spring Hill, Tennessee, when gentle country folks sipped bourbon while supervising a "different kind of car company"? Well, nowadays, Saturn really is different. VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 3-door hatchbackĮNGINE TYPE: SOHC 24-valve V-6, iron block and aluminum heads, port fuel injection Watch for an upcoming 40,000-mile report. Our long-term fleet includes an Eclipse GT that is the color of a freshly minted penny. Room in back? Yeah, but only if you fold the seats flat, which adds to the 16 cubic feet of cargo space. Push hard, however, and all you'll ever uncover is understeer. The ride is hugely improved, too, even as body motions remain nicely controlled. This latest Eclipse cruises serenely until you zing the V-6 to its 6500-rpm redline, where it aurally resembles something created by Alfa Romeo. For starters, Mitsubishi has banished most of the old torque steer, even though all of the 3.8-liter SOHC V-6's thrust is funneled through the front tires-which are quick to howl in protest, in case you forget what 263 horses can do. On the other hand, this swoopy, organic hatch has also grown more refined. In any event, it's now become more of a grand tourer than a back-roads blaster. Some of that flab derives from its beefy platform, which the Eclipse shares with the Galant sedan and Endeavor SUV. Since then, like the rest of us, it has grown up and grown a paunch, now weighing 3560 pounds. The Mitsubishi Eclipse has come a long way since its turbocharged four-cylinder 4wd heyday in the '90s, when it earned a deserved cult following. VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2+2-door coupeĮNGINE TYPE: supercharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block head, port fuel injection If you'd like your Ionizer in another flavor, check out the eighth-place Chevy Cobalt SS Supercharged, with which it shares an engine, seats, limited-slip diff, and chassis. In this group, the Ion carries the friendliest base price, but it is also a car that too often feels raw and raucous, as if it needs another few months in the NVH intensive-care unit. And brakes capable of shedding 70 mph in just 164 feet-Porsche territory.īut there are also annoyances, including wooden steering, a shifter as vague as a congressman's tax returns, a clutch that tends to build calf muscles, and a cockpit that should be less plasticky. Rear suicide doors that are cleverly hidden to make this sedan look like a coupe. In truth, there's plenty to admire here: 205 supercharged horses, delivered without the on/off quality of most turbocharged engines and with virtually no trace of torque steer. The idea was to diminish the perception that Saturn is merely the car company for persons too timid to haggle with salesmen. The words "Red Line" are to Saturn what the initials "AMG" are to Mercedes-Benz.
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