12/8/2023 0 Comments Saturn sky redline tuningOkay, maybe we would give just a little more feeling through the fast-acting steering wheel and the hydraulic power rack-and-pinion, too, but that’s a tradeoff for the comfort. Other than that, it is a pleasure to pilot. The only real handling criticism for the Sky Red Line is a slight bounciness after it hits a bump, something we would tie down with a little more rebound control in the coil-over Bilstein monotube shocks, if we knew what we were doing. “I think it’s a lot more than a consumer would expect for this kind of car.” “At first we were looking at electronic stability control and the limited-slip differential as options, then we said, ‘Wait, let’s just do it right from the start,’” said program manager Darren Post, who rides sport bikes when he is not tuning Saturns. A limited-slip differential is also standard, a must-have for a serious sports car. The standard vehicle stability control system has three settings depending on your mood. A unique torque beam connects the transmission, driveshaft and differential to eliminate two mounting points to the frame that were causing too much NVH in early prototypes. The ride isolation is surprisingly pleasant without being numb. The Sky Red Line just floated over them, as it floated over everything else on smooth sections of Highway 101. Most have miles of filled-in potholes that any challenger could cite in the next municipal election. None are what you would call billiard-table smooth. All these roads are finely twisted around hilly contours their whole length. We drove a few Sky Red Lines through the canyon roads outside Santa Barbara, California, specifically Foxen Canyon Road, Ballard Canyon Road and Old Coast Highway, where it separates from Highway 101 just uphill from the ocean. In fact, had Saturn added some more storage pockets in the cockpit, you could unreservedly recommend the Sky Red Line to most moderate performance-minded buyers in the segment, all but the hard-core stopwatch clickers. After your 24 hours of whatever, your competitors would be perhaps beaten and sleepy while you could spring from the cockpit, if not the podium, ready to disco (if you’re really serious about racing this Red Line, do it at Mid-Ohio, where a lot of the suspension tuning took place). The tradeoff with the Sky Red Line is that it would still be within a few ticks of the competition’s lap times while being several ticks ahead in ride comfort (not to mention style). The Honda S2000, Mazda MX-5 (Miata) and BMW Z4 could probably all get around your garden-variety handling course just a bit quicker. For the price, there is no better deal.There are competitors to the Saturn Sky Red Line that could probably lap your favorite racetrack faster. This tune gives you the confidence knowing you could beat most cars from a stop light, and really push you back in your seat. It is exhilarating in 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gears. I drive with the tune off the majority of time to conserve fuel, but switch it on when going for a pass, or accelerating onto the freeway. After I got my car back, I flashed it with the tune again and have been enjoying it, although I do watch the revs now. My car is out of warranty, but before I brought it in to the dealership for repair, I reflashed it back to stock (one of the options included with the software). I don't blame the tune, just the fact that I was running higher revs than normal. I drove my car hard after installing it, and my water pump let go. I selected the tune on/off with the cruise control, and it works good to have a quick switch on the steering wheel (as well as not having an annoying light on the dash if you select the Competition Mode method). I did not have the GMPP upgraded sensors, and they are not needed. Both came quickly(about a week), with good feedback from the seller. I bought the Trifecta Tune for my Saturn Sky Redline, along with the EZ-Flash cable.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |