Saturn Sky Redline, is this a good idea?

[QueBert]

I found a beautiful pretty low mileage one in my area. I was dead set on the Scion FR-S and was going to go to the dealer tomorrow to sign the paperwork and pick it up. I came across the Sky Redline for a good price and I'm infatuated by the car. I know Saturn's out of business, but I should be able to get parts for this still for a good while right?

 

[Jimzz]

Yea parts should be around for a while, at least the major areas engine/trans/suspension.

 

[unokitty]

I found a beautiful pretty low mileage one in my area. I was dead set on the Scion FR-S and was going to go to the dealer tomorrow to sign the paperwork and pick it up. I came across the Sky Redline for a good price and I'm infatuation by the car. I know Saturn's out of business, but I should be able to get parts for this still for a good while right?

If you are thinking about a Skyline, make sure that you put the top up and down once or twice before you make your decision. Probably a good idea to have a lengthy test drive as well.

You can be happy with either car. I wouldn't be too concerned with parts. Just make sure that which ever one you buy is the right one for you.

Best of luck,
Uno

 

[QueBert]

If you are thinking about a Skyline, make sure that you put the top up and down once or twice before you make your decision. Probably a good idea to have a lengthy test drive as well.

You can be happy with either car. I wouldn't be too concerned with parts. Just make sure that which ever one you buy is the right one for you.

Best of luck,
Uno

The one bad thing I read about this car, 2 people said getting the top up and down will make you scream. Thanks for bringing that up I'll be sure to try it out maybe 3 or 4 times even.

 

[Topweasel]

Always wanted that car buy then GM killed Saturn right about when I was in position to buy a new car. I was hoping they might move the car over to another brand (with its lines it could have been a fantastic Caddy). But instead they killed the whole platform.

That said it shouldn't be too hard to find parts for it between it and the Solstice tons of them were sold and GM is going to have parts available for a long time.

 

[QueBert]

Always wanted that car buy then GM killed Saturn right about when I was in position to buy a new car. I was hoping they might move the car over to another brand (with its lines it could have been a fantastic Caddy). But instead they killed the whole platform.

That said it shouldn't be too hard to find parts for it between it and the Solstice tons of them were sold and GM is going to have parts available for a long time.

I always liked how it looked, but I wasn't aware there was a Redline verison until last year. The stock looks nice but it's too slow for what it is. This one's sick, I look for them a lot, I almost never see them for sale, and when I do it's a non Redline automatic. It has 67k miles which isn't bad and coming from a 4 cylinder Camry this will be so much fun.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

The dealership where I bought my vue had a beauty white and blue one that they tuned. Dealer claimed it had 700+ horsepower.
I was VERY close to buying one of these. Still really like them.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Great car for the money -

http://www.saturnfans.com//node/2786 $650 for 30hp & 80lb/ft of TQ

You live in SoCal - why not get a Vert? And all that TQ will make for a more satisfying drive than the torquelss wonder known as the FR-S.

 

[rommelrommel]

The dealership where I bought my vue had a beauty white and blue one that they tuned. Dealer claimed it had 700+ horsepower.
I was VERY close to buying one of these. Still really like them.

700hp would be almost undrivable. It's a 2.0L turbo 4 that produced 260hp in stock trim. 700hp would have to be bored/stroked with basically everything replaced and a real race tune probably running race gas. ZZPerformance has a 710hp LNF powered car running 44psi of boost and they don't even get their best times in that spec probably due to massive driveability issues.

 

[Throckmorton]

Very little trunk space in those cars compared to the Miata

 

[phucheneh]

700hp would be almost undrivable. It's a 2.0L turbo 4 that produced 260hp in stock trim. 700hp would have to be bored/stroked with basically everything replaced and a real race tune probably running race gas. ZZPerformance has a 710hp LNF powered car running 44psi of boost and they don't even get their best times in that spec probably due to massive driveability issues.

It would probably be pretty undrivable, but not purely because of power. It would be VERY biased torwards the top end and probably perform more like a car with less than half that much power at low RPM. Big turbos can be nice for letting you drive at lower RPM/throttle levels without risking getting into too much trouble...the flipside is trying to utilize all that power and violently snapping the rear tires of that little car loose in the middle of a gear.

Of course, the 4cyl that would support a turbo that large would probably idle like shit. Also the clutch would probably not be terribly fun to deal with...

 

[QueBert]

I read some reviews almost all seem to list the reliability as a con, I'm not good with cars so I'm kind of anxious about that. But I suppose that is a real good way to learn lol. The car is just so stunning. I'm going in the morning and hopefully I'll leave with it.

The trunk is woah small, and when you have the top down you have NO space? that's wtf. Lucky for me that's not high on my list

 

[96Firebird]

The dealership where I bought my vue had a beauty white and blue one that they tuned. Dealer claimed it had 700+ horsepower.

LS7 swapped? I can't see a dealer tuning a 700+ horsepower 4-cyl, unless they are a tuner shop with a dealer side business...

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

Im not certain if it was a swap. this was back before I knew anything about cars so I didn't know any questions to ask. There are a few sky's out there running big numbers. Check out YouTube. There is a 1000hp one with a few videos.

 

[MagickMan]

I still love mine, had it since new. Haven't had any serious issues with it, the top on mine still works perfectly, it's a unique little roadster that still gets attention for its looks. The power upgrade is a must, really enhances mid-range torque and noticeably improves throttle response.

 

[marvdmartian]

Damn you, QueBert, for reminding me of my interest in these cars! I have wanted one since the first time I saw one, and would love to lay my hands on one, still!!

Doesn't seem as though they're depreciating much in value, either, from the prices I saw just now.

 

[rommelrommel]

Im not certain if it was a swap. this was back before I knew anything about cars so I didn't know any questions to ask. There are a few sky's out there running big numbers. Check out YouTube. There is a 1000hp one with a few videos.

Dealers are always full of shit about tuned cars... They add up theoretical hp from mods just like idiot Honda tuners. 10 hp from spark plugs, 25 hp from wires, 20 hp from coil packs, 35 hp from cai, etc... I've driven enough "600hp" LS2's that had headers, cai, and a tune to have learned that.

The only 1000hp sky I can find on google is a swapped AND turbo'd LS7. 1000 hp out of a ecotec 4 banger is stretching the bounds of possibility. You can only run so much boost.

 

[QueBert]

Well, I got to the dealer this morning only to find out it was an automatic. The ad said manual, I really had my heart set on the manual. But, I never see this car and especially the Redline for sale. So I took it on a test drive and it was pretty bad ass. I poked around on the Net and it was cheaper than even the non Redlines in the area. So I bit the bullet.

Coming from a 4 cylinder Camry

HOLY SHIT!

 

[Throckmorton]

Well, I got to the dealer this morning only to find out it was an automatic. The ad said manual, I really had my heart set on the manual. But, I never see this car and especially the Redline for sale. So I took it on a test drive and it was pretty bad ass. I poked around on the Net and it was cheaper than even the non Redlines in the area. So I bit the bullet.

Coming from a 4 cylinder Camry

HOLY SHIT!

Shame on you for settling for an automatic sports car

A manual non-Redline would be better

 

[QueBert]

Shame on you for settling for an automatic sports car

A manual non-Redline would be better

Better how? the non Redline manual's puny, it might be more fun to drive. But it's lacking in the power department. Also the only non redline up my area was 19k I got this one for 15.5k.

The problem is, I never see manual Redlines for sale, it's not like I could have went somewhere else to get it. Hell even the automatic non redlines hardly seem to pop up.

I took what I could get lol.

 

[Arkaign]

Hahah, nice! Bonus points in that the FR-S/BRZ are absolute slugs compared to that redline. Even more so with the decent tunes for it.

 

[QueBert]

The FRS is still a sick car, I'd still love to have one, it's a totally different kind of sports car. The lack of trunk space is going to kill me because I love car stereos and big sub woofers. But I'll learn to adjust.

And I'm puzzled why I saw so many people bitch about the convertible top. I've never had one, but this one's not difficult at all. I'm sure it could be more intuitive but after 10 tries I can already do it in about half a minute. A few posts elsewhere made it sounds like it was this huge task that took forever. I'm pondering ordering the GMPP Turbo Upgrade kit, not too expensive with decent HP/torque gains. And slightly better gas mileage even.

 

[AdamK47]

Get a Mallett Sky.

 

[SpongeBob]

The FRS is still a sick car, I'd still love to have one, it's a totally different kind of sports car. The lack of trunk space is going to kill me because I love car stereos and big sub woofers. But I'll learn to adjust.

And I'm puzzled why I saw so many people bitch about the convertible top. I've never had one, but this one's not difficult at all. I'm sure it could be more intuitive but after 10 tries I can already do it in about half a minute. A few posts elsewhere made it sounds like it was this huge task that took forever. I'm pondering ordering the GMPP Turbo Upgrade kit, not too expensive with decent HP/torque gains. And slightly better gas mileage even.

GMPP turbo upgrade (otherwise known as GMS1) is nice. I got it for my LNF (cobalt ss) and it was totally worth it. That said, if you don't have warranty left I would probably go with an aftermarket tune instead. There are ones that are better than GMS1. Only I reason I went with GMS1 was for warranty.

 

[nerp]

Always thought the sky was pretty cool looking.