There have been several forum posters who dirt track race their saturns. They already knew to weld the diff pin, so they were into the details.

Looking forward to seeing this turn into a build thread.........

 

Sorry won't be a build thread. The car is already built and racing. We were looking at options for a replacement engine. We found a miniscule amount of metal on the drain plug (any amount ain't good) the last 2 oil changes. We change the oil and filter after each race. I think we'll keep an eye out for an engine from a cavalier or sunbird.

 

dangitall

I was looking forward to learning about a new swap (new to me anyway). That's what I meant by build thread -- should have said swap thread. My bad.

You're quite welcome to hang out here and meet the regulars, harass the regulars, and, hell, become a regular. Pretty much anything goes here, and we talk about all types of non saturn stuff....

I thought the cavalier engines were known to be terribly unreliable. Was that only in the 90's or was that corrected later on?

Oh, and what class do you race?

 

We've only had the car for about 5 months before that I didn't know jack about fwd or the engine. What I know about them I learned in that timeframe. The pre 2000 engine was junk. In 2000 Gm made a few upgrades and the lil ecotec engine is near bulletproof now. I know some turning 6700 to 7200 rpm consistently. They either raise or by pass the rev limiter. The power steering and water pumps are gear driven and we run without an alternator. We just charge the battery between races. We run in what is called a stinger class. 4 cylinder fwd cars. Car must be all stock (right). No aftermarket parts. Even with only 135 hp that lil ecotec will haul some *ss with a car only weighting only 2000 lbs. The car must be gutted for fire safety. Have a 4 point roll cage and 5 point harness. The class is designed for beginners and those without deep pockets but love racing. We are both. The first picture is my 12 year old that 2nd picture is him on a track I cut out in the back pasture. The only other time he had driven the car was in the driveway to and from the barn quite a few times. He took to it instantly. Scary. Drivers must be 14 before they start racing.

 

Now I'm curious.
Either you're racing at the track 10 min away from me, or you're in Mississippi if you were going to get that motor.

 

BR Raceway.

 

ahhh, alright

 

That's what we like to see. Taz thanks for the pictures, post more all the time. Top right click the drop down and make a signature for yourself. First name, location, and the dirt track racer.

 

I have been kinda looking into the 2.4 in the Saturns. I had no idea they made upwards of 170 hp. My 2.2 ecotec tops out at 134 hp. I can see now why some dirt track racers drive them. I also read that the Saturn Ion, I think, couldn't take too much of a beating as for holding up on a dirt track. Would the stock suspension hold up? Any stock looking upgrades? Any body have experience or first hand information on that? I really like the extra hp. Thanks

 

On the engine dyno 140-145 for the 2.2., and 175-179 for the 2.4 with out and helpers. Either one of the two can crank out a load of hp with mods. Both are tough as hell, and like to have superchargers or turbo's added.

With street tires I've run 15.6 with my 2007 2.4 manual Coupe with nothing added but a Fujita cold air intake. With Rj's slicks I ran 15.22 and think I could have squeeeeezed out another couple hundreds and made it to 15.19 or so. Pretty damn good for a non performance, non turbo, non supercharged, family compact, economy car.

Rj ran a 14.6 in his automatic 2007 2.4L ION3 sporting a 30 shot of nitrous on the same slicks, and nothing more than a Fujita CAI. Not to mention that old man had the best reaction time at the track that night.