What kinda crack are you smoking? Honda transaxles are the best I've ever worked with.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by "worked with" (worked on?), but GM's slushboxes are on the whole acknowledged to be about the best in the business. Yes, they're a bit late coming to the 5-speed game, but their 4-speeds are generally without peer.

Engine swapping is nothing new. GM's engines have found their way into many competing brands such as AMC, Isuzu, and Ford. GM's transmissions have been used in Jaguars, Rolls-Royces, BMW, Fords and more. For the majority of the car-buying population, they don't care who designed the stuff they can't see as long as it works.

 

Yes, worked on. Every week we'd get a low-miles FWD GM car in that something was wrong with the tranny. I kid you not, every week. When I say low miles, I'm talking like 35-50k.

Whereas I saw one Honda AFWD the entire time I was at this shop (7 mos). And yes, we did advertise we worked with Hondas.

I'm not sure who is acknowledging that GMs transaxles are the best, but I'd sure like to smack them. Not from where I stand.

 

Does anybody else see the irony in Saturn sourcing engines from the company it would most like to emulate? I think this just underlines how screwed up Saturn has been in design and engineering. They went to the trouble of setting up a production line for the 3.0 liter MV6, and now it appears that this dated engine has run out of development life.

Of course, a Saturn might be a better vehicle if they just "outsourced" the entire car from Honda. A rebadged Honda would at least have good quality paint, smooth running engines and decent fit and finish. The only problem with that idea is that Honda is pretty much running at full capacity.

It just goes to show how Saturn has failed as an "import fighter" brand.

 

Saturn may have done well for a few years but as a whole, I think Saturn has failed as a brand all together.

While they would make a good import fighter brand if done right, I dont think GM needed Saturn in the first place. They do everything all the other brands already did and have been doing. Good dealership experience, who cares? I bought my Camaro at a Chevy dealer. I didnt give a rats a$$ about the service, I just wanted the keys and be on my way!

Also while ive heard this honda rumor thing before, if GM just designed the all new Ecotec from the ground up to be their universal 4 cyl engine and from what ive heard on this board and other places GM is working on a whole new family of newer better v6's, where does this leave room for them to be shoving these high revving honda motors in? Sorry if im misinformed but i just dont see the point if these things are true (of course i didnt see the point of Saturn being made either so go figure)

 

Saturn may be finally getting it right since March sales were up 37% check out http://www.saturnfans.com/Company/20...h03sales.shtml

 

Let's see where their April numbers come in - betcha they aren't too pretty (GM pass-car sales were down 18.5% vs a year ago).

GM autos are still decent, but they're no longer the standard of the world as could have been claimed only a few years ago. Once again, GM takes a leadership position, stops moving, and finds itself eating dust. The new 6sp slushbox should helps things immensely.

 

I always get annoyed when American companies use Japanese engines in their cars (i.e. Chrysler and Mitsubishi). I say leave the Japanese engineers to do their thing their own cars and leave the American cars alone to our engineers.

 

I think Saturn's big up-tick in sales is mostly based on the huge popularity of the Vue SUV while the cars are having a tougher time.

Here's a quite from Autoweek.com:

"GM's car-dependent divisions had a tough April. Saturn car sales dropped 29.8 percent, Pontiac car sales crashed 32.3 percent, and Buick car sales sank 35.8 percent. "

 

This just in: The Automotive Industry is a GLOBAL INDUSTRY. There are in fact Japanese engineers and designers working at the Big Three. Collaborations are nothing new and generally mean a better product for the consumer (that's you). It's rediculous to say, "you go play in your corner and we'll play in ours!" Those days are long gone.

 

Hmm, but what happens when those "Japanese" cars/engines/components are designed in the US by US engineers and built with US labor? Then the lines get blurred a bit, eh?

 

That is a great point. The Nissan Titan is designed in the US by US engineers and built with US labor, it is just owned by a japanese company. That is how most *** SUV/trucks are now.

Does that now make Saab, Jaguar, Land Rover, and Aston Martin American cars???

 

We bought a '02 L300 , and the engine is one of the best features of the car !

Granted, it could do with more top end ( only rated at 182 HP ) , but it has great bottom end grunt, has speed sensitive power steering, and handles quite well. Dare I say that I actually like driving it when I am not in the SS ?


At any rate, when we were looking I liked the Olds Alero & Intrigue, but the old lady was not interested. The trunk in the Saturn is big for a mid size car, and the fold down rear seats are a handy feature.

Admittedly, I am biased towards domestics, but about the only import I saw that looked as nice ( and that I would have been interested in ) was the Nissan Altima.

___
Random Saturn thought:
It does seem like Saturn has abandoned their small cars - the Ion appears to be bigger than the old SC series - ?


Later !


Britt

 

When Saturn designed the 2000 L-series, they had the 1992 Toyota Camry in their sights. Judging by the huge panel gaps and unspeakable interior, they missed the mark. Heck, even the '92 Camry V6 put out 185hp.

You should also know that the Opel MV6 enjoyed an excruciating development process in which the final design missed all of the original power and fuel economy goals. The original 3.0 liter V6 put out 210hp, down from the design target of 230hp. Saturn's further downgrading of power speaks volumes about the lack of investment that typifies the division.

 

My wife had the 4cyl Saturn LS before we traded it in the the 2003 v6 awd Saturn Vue and I can spreak that for one the Saturn LS was an excellent and underated car by all accounts. I found the interior to be made of good qaulity materials and the panel gaps have to do with the polymer body panels that are the same as the 4th gen Camaros.

I also find the Opel based V6 in the Vue to have plenty of power and its powerband isreally smooth and couldnt be happier. On the other hand Im glad that engine is not in my Camaro