No GM delta platform looks good modded, and neither did this Ion I drove. But you also need to be committed to being a sleeper. You get better fuel economy than all the poseurs in their parent-funded F-250s. You can outrun the meatheads who drive 90s Z28 Camaros. This sounds like a great car to have fun in all the way to school and back. The Ion I drove was making a limited 8 psi in first gear (which still spun the wheels too easily), and a preposterous 16 psi in second gear on up. Stock boost on an Ion Redline is 12.5 lbs from the GM LSJ SC motor. Under load, the Redline didn't want to be controlled because second gear is good for 60 mph and the front of the car danced all the way there. The owner wanted me to stay "in it," so I did. The front of the car got light and had its own prerogative. I grabbed second, and the front wheels spun again. Saturn Ion Redline: The Howard Dean scream of torque steer.įirst gear is useless! All first gear did was spike the boost and skip the tires all over my lane. Plus, when I drove this Redline, I had to firmly hold the steering wheel anytime I got on the power because the torque steer was more spastic than-OMG SQUIRREL! If you want to control a car, you want to prevent all the power from rushing out the classroom door like elementary kids on the last day of school before Christmas Vacation. Here's the funny thing: Although the Neon SRT-4 and Ion Redline made about the same power, the SRT-4's power was controllable because boost lag is a good thing sometimes. In spite of its factory body kit, the Ion Redline still rode on a GM delta platform-a shape that attracted health-food fathers who watched the World Cup but voted for George W.
All the Redline had was a JDM-style aero kit that looked a bit too "manga" for the car's overall shape. The biggest difference between the two cars was that a Neon SRT-4 advertised its speed with a grotesque rear deck wing and a fake hood scoop. The official car of "I want a car that's fun, and my idea of 'fun' is going to Target and making a day of it."
Saturn Ion: The official car of "I want a car that's fun, and my idea of 'fun' is going to Target and making a day of it." To like the Redline, you have to also like the base Saturn Ion, a car for graphic designers who get into bar fights over Prisma markers. Who originally bought Ion Redlines? Sophisticated Dads, that's who. No one was posting sketches of Ion Redlines on Deviantart. Heck, the SRT-4 even had its own fan art. So why didn't the Ion get any real attention? For one thing, it came out in 2003, one year after the Dodge Neon SRT-4, which was fluffed-up by all the big car publications and reviewers. This particular Redline was one of 227 produced in 2007 with the GM "Competition Package" that came with a limited-slip differential, lip-service wheels and springs, and a pat-on-the-back boost gauge on the steering column with dual LED shift-light prompts, which lit up on either side of the gauge like runway landing lights. The Redline that I drove in the accompanying video made approximately 250 hp thanks to some modifications, including 42-lb injectors ported heads, a 3-inch supercharger pulley (stock was 3.6 inches), an intake manifold spacer, and a cold air intake that breathes from the wheel well. Stock, the Ion Redline made 236 horsepower and 218 lb-ft of torque. The Saturn Ion Redline was a coupe with mini suicide rear doors and powered by a factory-supercharged 2.0-liter DOHC LSJ inline four, the engine later used in the Chevy Cobalt SS. Ion Redlines can't hold traction, torque steer out of their lanes, and, worst of all, look like they were styled by artists who thought Akira was a documentary. This thing is ridiculous! It's too fast! The Saturn Ion Redline, a bit more than a decade after its inception, has become a car for teenagers who view detention as a validation for their rotten sense of individuality. That made me feel bad, because in the moment, I knew I was driving one of the best factory sleepers ever made. It's a blast to drive, but the second I got out of it, I remembered I had to pee. The Saturn Ion Redline is already being forgotten.
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