I was stationed in West Germany from December 85 till December 87. One of the first things I did was get my drivers license. I bought a used beat up BMW 316 for $400.00 and drove the wheels off of it. It had a 4 speed manual transmission and sure the Autobahn was fun but the 2 lane rural roads were the best. Up and down and zigging and zagging while working the gears was very enjoyable.

 

do a downpipe and hi flow cat, maybe a tune. its basically a tuned down srt4 neon with some extra weight.

Friend has a 1.6 automatic civic. he has a header to 3" exhaust all the way to the fart can. thinks its amazing lmao. Complains of low backpressure and no power in lower revs (obviously). I keep rustling his jimmies telling him the 7.3 has 3" downpipe and that the 2.5" ln the 5.8 after the short tubes is too much haha.

tl:dr ricers dont learn

 

I dated a girl once who had a little SC. It was a pretty fun little car to drive, peppy, handled well. I put it through its paces since she never would. She wasn't always excited about me driving her car, but after all it was a Sports Coup! So I wanted to see if it would live up to its name, other then being an auto trans it did.

 

A Saturn SC is a good demonstration of how a slow car driven fast is more entertaining than a fast car driven slow.

 

Define slow, Dave. For the 90's, yes it could have used more than 115/124 hp, a turbo, S/C......but an SC2's power to weight ratio is so pleasant that they could get away with a few less HP by adding a low geared 5 speed to make it pull 1st through third, then 4th was the acceleration gear and 5th was ....5th for cruising. Can't count the number of times I've tried to shift into sixth gear with the rpms up in 5th....going faster than I should.....Nicely balanced front n rear ant-sway bars, Firehawk FTA's that were all season/performance---stuck like glue to the road.

Oh and with all of that came 35 on the highway, a tiny bit less w/AC as long as you kept your speed up. I don't think ANYONE was close to that. Their competitors were constrained by METAL.

0-60: 13+ sec

The SC2 wasn't fast with a stopwatch, but it FELT fast off the line, and I can still blow away all of today's crap Hyundai's, crap scions, in fourth gear off the line.
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No, I do NOT street race. But when the car next to me has a teen or early 20's driving a new crapmobile sees the Saturn badge and how shiny my car is, either they think it's modded or a piece of crap they want to tell their friends they blew off the road.

I will take off like a bat out of hell in 1st gear (no, no clutch dumping) and short shift to second. Once they realize what's going on they come after me, they catch me in 3rd, then I shift to 4th, the tach lands at about 2800, hits the power band, and I surge ahead. Usually I just keep accelerating in 4th, slowly pulling past them, until they give up and back off (psychological warfare), or they shift and blow me off the road, which is fine too. We're maybe going 45mph in a 40 or 45 zone. I don't do it in slow speed limit ares -- that would be moronic.

No wining and losing. Just a lesson. Don't assume anything in life.

Unique. Pulled hard off the line. The plastic parts don't rust. Power to weight ratio. Handling. 35mpg highway on a DOHC motor.

Cheap interior for debut, oil control ring issues.

Saturn could have addressed these and sales would have increased
Freshening up the design more than once every 5 years

But no, GM couldn't recognize the potential if someone threw a flaming bag of poo at them that was labeled "potential". They had to insert themselves and take over the design decisions and everything else.

It was their worst nightmare come true: We've created another GM brand that is taking away sales from the established ones!!

But I don't think Saturn ever turned a profit. Probably b/c they actually honored their warranties.

Maintained, compounded, waxed, a little scraped up, the thrill is gone for most, but mine sits in my garage awaiting it's next ride.

 

As long as something is driven on the street, warp 10 is a figment of imagination. Right now I have way to much time and money invested in a fleet of AMC vehicle restorations that do indeed give me great pleasure. The problem with the Saturn SC2 is that it is not restored, but maintained. It has long since out lived it's usefulness and as a collectors item it really isn't. It has one simple basic problem. It has been way to much pleasure to own and drive and has never developed a need to make it go away. With about 110,000 miles and parked outide it has developed a few negative aspects of it's character however pointed in what ever direction one wanted to go in and the A/C on, radio in FM with some tapes to go with it and cruise control mashed it has maintained it somewhat rapid comfortable to travel and fun on the open road traveling manners. I find now that my 2015 Dodge Caravan has some features that the Saturn has that makes the Dodge almost as much fun to travel in and the Dodge is orders of magnitude faster but some how it is not any particular faster going from point A to point B over a given time window.
I dunno, looking back over time I think GM had a winning combination with the original Saturn and did not have the insite to develop and refine it as a function of time.
I'm not sure when the Hyundai came out but I test drove one of the first and it had all the road manners of a John Deere Tractor. And look at what is marketed today! Where as the Saturn was already half way down the developmental application chart when it came out and typical of what GM had done at times like that. But atypical of the situation, Hyundai continued development where as GM repackaged the Saturn along with a number of other GM marques over time and with the advantages of Badge Engineering was able to repackage a number of GM marques so one could not tell the difference between them with out reading the badges and if ridden in them with eyes closed was reminiscent of a John Deere Road tractor. So regression was king or Queen maybe and Hyundai having learned the lesson applied it well. Where as GM? Dunno! But I am looking forward to finishing painting the 1994 SC2 so it will appeal to eye with the same verve it appeals to the butt when driven.