I pull in the used lot and see a sign showing all the different kinds of cars that they carry. Pretty much every kind of car (except exotics of course) is on the sign. Well this coudl turn out to be a pretty good spontaneous thing. I drive through the lot looking at all the used Saturns and Chevys and see nothing exciting. Was kinda looking for a GTP because I was always kind of curious about those cars. I see a couple of Grand Prix's but no GTP's so I continue on through the lot.

I happen to see a black car that happens to stand out from the crowd. It is a Saturn but not your average Saturn. I figured it was a Redline because I had heard and done some light reading on them. They have been heavily eclipsed byt the SRT-4 because frankly the SRT-4 whoops its ass. But this 2004 was listed at $14,995 but it had 35k miles. Considerably less than any used 2004 SRT-4 that I have seen. I get out and give a closer look.

Upon closer inspection it looks horribly used and much older than a year. There are scratch marks on the door handles and trunk was scratched to hell too. The interior didn't look too shabby though as I could see through the window. The thing that caught my eye was the Recaro seats. I decided what the hell and went into the dealer and see if I could talk to someone about it.

I get referred to someone and start asking some questions. Little did I know there was another Redline in front of the building with only 7000 miles on it and this one was taken care of when while it was owned. I told the dealer about my situation with the Talon and she told me she had one too.

She gets a key out and shows me the car. Looking at the interior at little closer it is nothing more than a regular Saturn interior even with the Recaro seats. The Recaro's are like any other regular seats seriously. The seats in the SRT-4 were much more inviting and they actually hug you.

Looking at the car from the outside after a few rounds about it I will tell you it is not a looker but then again it is not absolutely ugly either. The car is almost as tall as I am. It is a two door but has the additional mini-doors which allow for easy access into the backseats and the backseats are actually functional in this vehicle compared to the Talon. I think I could even sit back there.

Oh well who really cares about looks and the interior right? The Redline comes with a supercharged 2.0L I believe it is an ECOTEC engine. I asked immediately if there were factory upgrades available and she said no but they are working on it currently. The car comes with a 3 yr./30K mile warranty but oh well it is gone once you put any mod on.

I was really surprised that the lady allowed me to take for a spin by myself. She said not to beat on it and I promised her that I wouldn't. I didn't say I wouldn't use it though. My immediate thought on the car was that it was surprisingly quiet yet with a little distinct growl in the exhaust. It was light but noticable nothing like the tone from a SRT. I took it out and immediately found myself in some residential area and the car seemed fine going from stop sign to stop sign. So I headed for some industrial backroads.

This car like any other american car has some low end torque. There is no lag in the power and it gets up and goes within a hurry. This is not the standard ION. Traction is a problem at slower speeds but what FWD car doesn't have traction problems? The car pulls hard up to 5k RPM's where it sort of plateaus out.

There wasn't enough room in the Industrial park so I decided to head out on the freeway for higher speed blasting. Managing to get to freeway speed is no problem as it shouldn't be with any car deemed performance. Reaching 100 mph took no time at all and it still had some great pull at that speed but that freeway is crawling with cops so I decided to end the high speed test there.

The thing that was awesome about this car was when I got onto the freeway again to return back there was a Cloverleaf thing where the posted limit was 35 mph. Well I have heard and read a little on how the car handles well. Well is an understatement. I took the clover at about 70 mph and the car wasn't even breaking a sweat. This car would hand the SRT it's ass in the twisites. The suspension felt great. I want to say it felt as nice or just as nice as Wes's Miata. GM did their homework and made a great handling with the Redline.

After I used the car a little more I decided to check the ergonomics of the vehicle a little more. I just really don't like the way it felt inside. It was like you were along for the ride and not driving kind of feel to it. I really can't explain but there really is no cockpit feel to it. When I get into a performance car I really want it to feel like I am settling into a jet fighter. I get that feeling when I sit in the Talon. DSM owners should know what I am talking about. Also no boost gauge was a big downer. The Tach and Speedo are set off to the side which is a cool idea but it just really doesn't work. It feels alienating.

The back window is pretty much useless as it is maybe 10 inches high. Hell looking out the back of the SRT was easier. Also the beam between the two doors on the side of the car causes a nasty blind spot. The car is ultra quiet though at highway speeds with absolutely no wind noise whatsoever wereas the SRT had some issues with that. Even with the windows down at highway speed it was still very quiet in fact even more quiet than the Tercel with the windows up.

Overall it is a fun car and would be something that I could see myself drive but not while there are SRT-4's and WRX's easily available. Maybe I am just nitpicky and my needs are not exactly the needs of other people out there. But this is how I felt about the car. Just wanted to take one out and I got to and here is my review of it.

The relevancy of this post is that most people wouldn't even take a step near one or even dare drive one because it is in fact a Saturn. I am not even sure if there is one in the Fargo area. I have yet to see a Redline ION in my area. It is definitely worth checking out.