ION Red Line Competition Package Details

January 11, 2005

A new competition package available interim 2005 model year takes the supercharged, 205-horsepower Saturn Ion Red Line to the next level for sport compact enthusiasts. A limited slip differential and boost gauge with an illuminated ladder tachometer highlight the optional package and will help the driver wring out every last ounce of performance from this race-inspired offering from Saturn.

The Competition Package includes:

* Limited slip differential

* Column-mounted boost gauge with programmable performance illuminated ladder tachometer

* Projector beam fog lamps

* Custom gray painted wheels with accent polished rim


pics- http://www.saturnfans.com/photos/sho...t/1/perpage/12


note: I would think that many of these types of options (like LSD) will be made available on the 2006 Cobalt.

 

that boost guage looks so out of place.

 

The Cobalt SS will have the that LSD avail. right out of the box in an avail. performance pkg. , also including the Ion's recaro seats .

 

You would think a sporty package would require that all of the guages be placed in front of the driver. When were they going to change to a more conventional dash?

 

How about a competition package that puts a useful gauge right in your line of sight...Say, the tach.

 

at least its not some little kids civic with a huge tach on his beat up ricemobile..

 

THe tach is built into the boost guage. Its those lights on either side.

But, damn, that just looks silly with the guage pod in the middle.

 

Saturn really screwed up with the center cluster deal on some of their cars.. What were they thinking

 

2MCHPSI, only one Saturn car has it - the Ion. And it is not like Saturn is the first, or the only, vehicle to do this.

To name a few others:

Nissan Quest
Toyota Echo
Scion xA
Scion xB
BMW Z8 (only a $100k sports car/roadster, no driver's car there... ).
Mini Cooper (some gauges)...

I more or less agree about the center gauge cluster, but it doesn't bother me much. I wonder how many people who complain about it have ACTUALLY DRIVEN one, and if so, for how long. The center gauge cluster is HIGHER on the dash, but to the right, so that the guages are actually closer to the hoodline. Next time you are driving your car, take note of how far of a shift it is from looking at the road to looking down at the gauges (on a normal cluster). The Saturn setup makes you move less of a distance down, but a little to the right (so the road ahead is still in your peripheral vision). I've driven a few Ions (including a RL) and it didn't bother me too much, other than the fact that the gauges ought to be a little bigger. But if you owned the car, you would quickly get used to it. I think the reason it bothers half the "automotive journalists" is that they don't live with the car. 98% of the cars they drive have gauges behind the wheel, so when they spend a few hours in an Ion, it looks weird to them. I would expect that it is not so weird to owners after the first few days.

Of course, even more interesting is wondering why no article can ever be written about the Ion without disparaging the center cluster, yet you don't seem to hear much about it regarding the "youth oriented" Scion cars...

:blah:

I don't think Winston Cup cars or Trans Am cars have the entire gauge set directly in front of the driver, either, by the way... The tachometer is front and center though.

 

Competition? What kind of competition? Who is the riceiest kid on the block?

Granted, the LSD is a cool feature, but as for the rest of the crap included...

I hope the just allow LSD as a separate option on the Cobalt SS and leave the other crap off as optional.

 

i do believe the lsd is optional on the cobalt ss
i thought i remembered reading that somewhere
somebody correct me if i'm wrong


and yea, why the center gauges?
saturn is weird enough as it is

edit: didn't mean lsd was an option but rather it's an option by itself

 

Good points. I sat in a Redline Ion at a car show recently, and thought the center mount guages made sense. It wasn't awkward at all. Overall, I was much more impressed with the car in person than in pictures. The seats were really nice ... and I kinda dig the exterior design now after walking around it. Those rear swing doors are pretty neat too. I could have done without the optional "big" wing. A more subtle spoiler would be my preference.

 

Anyone else find those seats feel like they're pulling your cheeks apart? Both my wife (112 lbs) and I (185 lbs) felt that way sitting in it.

 

I remember seeing the Scions have the center cluster, and also there must be a Saturn SUV that has it. I remember another Saturn vehicle other than the Ion has it for Saturn unless something changed..

Whatever the reasons, a center cluster is annoying as hell to me..I think they were the first to use it..???

 

No, the Echo was out before the Ion. So was that BMW Z8. And the Saturn SUV (the Vue, cousin to the Equinox and out before the Equinox) has normal gauges. The Ion is the only one that has a center cluster.

The S-Series (original Saturn), the L-Series, the Vue, the new Relay minivan all have normal gauges. The Ion is the only one that has them in the middle.

Scion came AFTER Ion, though, so you'd think Toyota would have seen all the insults hurled at the Ion and not chosen that route. But they did anyway, and surprise of all surprises, they didn't get creamed for it.