Autoshow Season - Saturn Sky Red Line

Let's not even attempt to pretend to be objective here...I want one of these so bad I can taste it. I wanted one before they officially announced it and the question of a high-po Sky was one of turbo or supercharger and projections of power were anything from 210 up to 300hp.

Now its official and all I need to do is wait to put in my order.

That said, let's take a look at what Saturn hath wrought in the land of high-performance sports cars (who'd have thunk even 2 years ago that we'd be talking about this type of car from SATURN?).

Basically, the Sky Red Line is packing the same 2.0l direct-injection 4-cylinder that was announced as part of the Solstice GXP earlier this year with power numbers like these:

260hp @ 5300 rpm
260lb*ft @ 2500 - 5300 rpm (tasty!)

Oddly enough, fuel economy for the manual is 1 mpg better in the city and 2 mpg better on the highway than the 2.4l normally aspirated (3 worse in the city, 1 better highway with the automatic). This is sure to not be the case if you even think of dipping your toes into the turbo power, however.

Gearing is identical to the regular Sky.

Spring rates are unique to the RL on all corners, with a 33.3mm (replacing the standard 27.2) stabilizer bar up front and a 25.4mm (instead of 24.2) at the rear. Electronic stability control is standard issue.

Brakes and wheels are identical (with a polished finish replacing the painted finish of the standard car) though tires are upgraded from Goodyear Eagle RS-A all-seasons to Eagle F1 performance rubber.

With 83 extra horsepower carting around a mere 57 extra pounds, the RL's straight-line performance is obviously up. GM projects 0-60 times to drop from the standard car's 7.2 seconds to a blistering 5.5. Quarter mile times and trap speeds improve from 15.7 and 89 mph to 13.9 and an even 100 mph.

Now, if they'll just announce prices so I can figure how many of my pennies I need to save.

More pictures below: