The Ion coupe will feature a supercharged Ecotec engine to achieve its 200 horsepower. Which means 230 hp is just a pulley away .

 

Doh! Skipped over that, Im an idiot!

 

Why isn't a similar package being offered on Cavalier and Sunfire? I guess as over the counter parts, but Chevy and Pontiac could use a boost in the image dept aswell.

Now, how soon before we see this powerplant driving the rear wheels of a Miata-fighting roadster?

 

I can see Saturn being more popular with the tuner crowd than any other GM nameplate. I've seen quite afew modified Saturns...some are pretty nice, some not so nice.

I have to wonder, however, what the design intent was with the Ion coupe....it seems like sort of a strange looking car to me.

But, a blown 200hp Ecotec can smooth out alot of rough spots.

 

I wish Saturn would buy afew Mini Coopers and study every nut and bolt...to see what makes them so darned neat.

I think the Mini is such a cool car...it's too bad GM can't have something like it.

The Mini ..of course...has quite a rich heritage and a HUGE worldwide following, those are things, of course that Saturn does not have.

But you need to start somewhere.........

 

Hey, all GM needs to do is bring back a restyled Metro with this very 200hp S/C Ecotec!

 

Saturn Metro......hmmmmm.....

No worse than Ion.

 

At least it's supercharged, but that's not enough. It needs to be turbocharged. This is why the Neon SRT-4 will always be more powerful when you mod these cars. There is a huge after market for the ol' Dodge 2.4. You'll see allot more fast Neon's then you will Saturns. If it was turbo, you'd see some things. It'll be another GTP type of hype. They can be fast. You can pulley them. How many have you really heard about being fast? Me none, but I'm not looking for it either.

 

Actually, supercharging a car offers far quicker performance than turbocharging does.

The exhaust driven turbocharger needs time to spool up. The turbo doesn't begin to make power till you press your foot and the engine has a chance to pump up enough exhaust to spin the turbo fast enough to give you the power you want (turbo lag). Some cars have ways of minimizing it, but it still exists in every turbocharged car.

Superchargers are driven off the pulley, so they are always creating potential boost. Pushing the peddle simply closes a wastegate and you instantly have boost. Superchargers also have less piping (less weight & ease of service), and typically has a shorter distance between the blower & the intake (turbos are mounted on the exhaust side where superchargers are typically mounted close to the intake).

Superchargers typically use more fuel than turbochargers (though that's normally minimized by using an intake bypass which creates a low drag vaccum inside the supercharger that thkes less power & fuel to spin), and turbos are better for sustained high speed power (turbos typically have higher RPMs) but for sudden acceleration bursts from a standstill, a rolling freeway race, or a 1/4 mile sprint, all other things identical, superchargers can't be beat.

Because of that, I'd be willing to bet that at the very least, off the line & for a good portion of the 1/4 mile, the S/C Saturn will beat the turbo Neon.

 

Umm, I've heard and seen plenty that are fast. They are a mid 14 sec. car out of the box and there are a number that hit 13's. There are even a few in the 12's and one in the 11's whose prototyping a brand new intercooler (which is what they need to run high boost w/o detonation). That's pretty darn quick for a 3700 lb car!

Chris

 

See, I'm glad there are a couple fast ones out there, but no where near the amount of fast turbo 4 bangers.

Superchargers don't have wastegates to close.

If you're talking about blowers vs turbos from idle being quicker(ie turbo lag) then you would win that aurguement hands down. But who leaves the hole at idle. I have a two stage rev limiter(fake stutterbox) that lets me leave at 5Gs. My turbo is way spooled up. Plus I'll leave the line at almost full boost. I'm at full boost at the 60ft. Blowers only see full boost when you have to shift due to being limited by the cranks RPM. My turbo car is at full boost from say 3600 to 8000rpm. While the blower car sees it at maybe 7500(my Z28 6400). Certainly not 3600.

Turbo technology has jumped so far ahead that turbo lag is becoming less and less. With todays hybrid turbos, these things are seeing full boost at 3400 to 3600 with garrett's A/R .60 housings. These are close to my S-trim on my Z28.

 

Newer turbo techonology has almost eliminated lag so thats not really an issue. Another "downside" of the supercharger is that the pulley is pulling a parasitic loss of the motor. Theres a reason that 90% of the fast Imports are turbocharged and not supercharged. Theres just simply more room for flexability and upgrades when working with turbos. A turbo would be a better choice, but GM has more experience with superchargers which is probably why they chose one for this car. Superchargers are also less complex to work with.

IMO, GM needs a 4 banger with variable valve timing to keep up with the import crowd. If they offered a low displacement motor, that made 200hp NA, think of the potential that would be had there. Forced induction on that motor would be a lot more powerful than what GM has out now.

 

I had a chance to drive both the Ion and the Vue at the last full-line press preview this July. Both are very well built cars (as opposed to the Cavalier, which was really in need of some quality control and higher quality interior parts).

The Ion is kind of goofy looking at first (four-spoke wheels=bad mistake), but it's very cool when you get in it. The 2.2L Ecotec will have a non-intercooled Eaton supercharger. Unfortunately, it will not have the snot to go head-to-head with the Neon RT-4 which is intercooled and now rated at 215 hp (in a lighter chassis to boot).

 

No doubt turbo tech has made big jumps since the days of the GNX, but there is a reason why drag racers favor superchargers over turbochargers. For cars that tend to be high revving models or for sustained high speeds, turbos are in their element. But for sudden bursts of immediate right now speed without alot of extras or cost.....blow it.

 

Actually, GMPD has confirmed rumors that they are working on a similar Cavalier project. Now whether it'll be a trim level, or over-the-counter remains to be seen.