What's going on at Saturn? Did someone decide that building cars for grandmothers wasn't profitable? At any rate, the sports car version is equipped with a 4-cyl engine. Great for Grandma you say? As they say on every cable TV show, "But wait! There's more!"
They tweaked the 4-cyl engine a tad. Like adding some neat things without adding more gas guzzling cubic inches. Goodies like a some old but super reliable tricks like a turbocharger, intercooler, variable valve timing, etc. They ended up with 260 HP and 260 ft/lbs of torque. Grandma must not be messed with or she'll blow the doors off my Sonoma!
Then they put Recaro seats on the little twirp. I last time I saw those on a "low cost" car available in America was in 1976 on Special Edition VW Scirocco's. If Saturn is successful with this car, it could be a revelation - if it sells for under $25k. I'm skeptical. The sedan looks good too. A little less HP, around 252, but what's 8 horses among friends? Watch for more good stuff from GM. The stylists and engineers are doing their job - now if the big boys join the parade, they might be a fun company again.
They tweaked the 4-cyl engine a tad. Like adding some neat things without adding more gas guzzling cubic inches. Goodies like a some old but super reliable tricks like a turbocharger, intercooler, variable valve timing, etc. They ended up with 260 HP and 260 ft/lbs of torque. Grandma must not be messed with or she'll blow the doors off my Sonoma!
Then they put Recaro seats on the little twirp. I last time I saw those on a "low cost" car available in America was in 1976 on Special Edition VW Scirocco's. If Saturn is successful with this car, it could be a revelation - if it sells for under $25k. I'm skeptical. The sedan looks good too. A little less HP, around 252, but what's 8 horses among friends? Watch for more good stuff from GM. The stylists and engineers are doing their job - now if the big boys join the parade, they might be a fun company again.
2 comments:
Regarding Recarro seats: I am, if nothing else, a gentleman. Therefore, any comments on the comfort of Recaro seats, especially in the area of thigh support, would be totally inappropriate and likely to cost me a friend.
Regarding the trannies - Could BMW be taking the cost vs benefit route on this issue? I sure hope not because the missing element in their analysis is reliability. One thought though; the GM 4-speed auto is reputed to be one of the toughest out there. Unfortunately, I can't say from experience, I.E. not having access to warrany records anymore, and being a life long manual transmission guy. I would be interested in your husband's take on this!
I'm not absolutely certain it was Recaro seats I tried once, in a Porsche. They looked like them. All I remember is that there's really no lumbar support and the wings on the sides of the seats were hard and gave a cramped feeling, although they do help keep you 'in place' if you're cornering quickly in a speedy car.
I'll find out soon about the beemer tranny. It might not be the tranny itself; could be just the torque converter. I'll get back to you on that!
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