Contemporary review originally published in CarBuzzard September 9, 2007; republished by the author
Do you know what it’s like to sit down to a warm wedge of homemade apple pie like grandma used to make, if grandma was the kind of grandma that frozen pies picture on the outside of box without matching grandma’s best inside? You know what it’s like to slide your fork through the flakey crust, into the fully baked yet firm slices of homegrown apples, releasing that faint whiff of cinnamon, and…WHAT? Grandma, there are raisins in my apple pie!
That, exactly, was the feeling of sliding into the driver’s seat of a 2007 Saturn Sky Red Line and seeing the handle of an automatic transmission poking through the center console. Argh! Whose idea what that?
We like the Saturn Sky. We really do. Read our review of the base 2007 standard model Sky we published about a year ago. Since then we had the experience of driving a manual transmission-equipped Sky Red Line, the main difference from the original being a turbocharger that raised engine output from 177 to 260 horsepower. That’s a hefty increase resulting in a commensurate amount of fun.
So we awaited a weeklong sojourn with finished-my-carrots anticipation.
Raisins? Then dam-, I mean darn: Raisins.
Still, apple pie with raisins is better than no apple pie at all, and we are professional tasters after all, so…
The most significant changes in taking Sky to Red Line—in addition to the engine—are a limited-slip differential, StabiliTrak electronic stability control and “performance-tuned” suspension.
The cockpit is still tight. Storage is still afterthought and the top still gives apoplexy to anyone who can’t remember what sports car tops once were. The shiny bits in the interior are still shiny and the sharp edges of the exterior are still crisply folded. New on the rear bumper are the rectangular “redline” badge and lettering spelling out “turbo.”
Firing up the Saturn Red Line isn’t especially inspiring, the exhaust note perhaps chuffled up by the turbocharger. Forgiven perhaps, for there are mechanical noises, including the turbo, during acceleration, although we had trouble discerning their origin. But please, the exhaust should be audible to the driver over the buffeting of the airflow. You have two exhaust outlets, Sky. Use ‘em both!
Classic and genuine Handling? The Sky is faster than it seems. But performance tuning means “stiffer” when spoken in Saturnese, and over rough stuff that mean rattles, groans and squeaks. One segment of our favorite test loop has ragged and patched pavement, and the Sky Red Line’s tires hopped from one high point to the next. On the other hand, the Sky was balanced front to rear and the unyielding suspension tattooed its feedback to the steering wheel. Whatever was happening underneath, the driver was well aware and more importantly, able to do something about it. The Saturn Sky is a classic roadster and a genuine sports car.
What was missing, however, was the left pedal. We might have noticed the raisins less if the Sky had good paddle shifting with a crisply responding transmission. But the Sky Redline automatic has the same goofy PRND4IL selector as the Chevrolet HHR Panel LT we recently tested. While it was tolerable in that non-sporting conveyance, in the Sky it was the ruination of our apple pie.
The “I” doesn’t have it The five-speed automatic might be justifiable for anyone who must regularly drive in heavy stop-and-go traffic. Even if. But this transmission confounds manual control. Try it: Shift into L for first gear and accelerate. Fine. Shift into second—well, into I, actually—and back off to part throttle. The transmission immediately shifts to third. Wha….?
Thank you very much, but in a sports car, I expect to chose my own gear ratios. Admittedly, driven in a sporting manner (i.e., in a way that sends skittish property owners scurrying for their cell phones to call in complaints to the local constabulary), the Saturn Sky’s transmission approximates what the driver might wish at any given moment.
At full throttle acceleration, second, third and fourth gears run from 5000 rpm to 6000 rpm before shifting to the next ratio, a respectably close ratio gearbox, and not wholly unworthy of track day. But still, would it be so hard to allow even the shiftless Saturn owner a little transmission management.
The Saturn Sky Red Line is gratifyingly quick, as one would expect from 260 horsepower in a 2990 pound chassis. The automatic, however, sops up some of the horsepower and even more of the feel of performance, like raisins interfere with the sweet taste of apples in apple pie.
Now, we understand, of course, that some people like raisins in their apple pie. And that’s fine, if that’s what grandma taught them to like. But we don’t. So revise control of this automatic, please. Better, we’ll drive a true manual transmission. But make it a six-speed. We like our apple pie a la mode.
Philbert J Thrombockle* comments: For all you raisin lovers, here’s the cost of your preferences. The base price of our test 2007 Saturn Sky Red Line was $28,425. Adding the automatic transmission added $850 to the window sticker.
Our test Sky also was equipped with AM.FM.CD/MP3 Monsoon audio ($590), XM radio ($199, and leather seat inserts ($475). Saturn charges $600 for delivery, bringing the total price of our test vehicle to $31,190.
EPA rates the automatic transmission-equipped 2007 Saturn Sky Red Line’s fuel economy at 21/29 mpg, which was our general experience.
For those reviewers (and others) have a seeming obsession with the difficulty of raising and lowering the top on the Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice: get over it. We cannot understand the fuss. True, raising and lowering the top requires getting out of the car and a modicum of physical labor and manual dexterity, but anyone worrying about breaking a nail doesn’t deserve a roadster in the first place.
On the other hand, we still want a trunk big enough for a picnic basket, small cooler, a blanket, Frisbee and a small bottle of sunscreen.
Addendum: Philbert J Thrombockle was my alter ego I used for post scripts to add comments that didn’t quite fit in the flow of the rest of the review, or just provide what I might think to be a countervailing outlook to an assertion I may have made.
What Do You Think?