I never talked to a Saturn dealer as I have never been a fan of the plastic body panels, and to me the cars seemed cheap, and the styles didn't realy attract me. I will say that the Redline has a bit better style over the standard Ion. That being said I test drove the Cobalt back in early 05 just before I boutght my Focus. I wasn't truely impressed with the car and they only had auto's available at the time so I couldn't test drive the manual. My sister ended up leasing a Cobalt though with the manual tranny, I was very displeased with the long throw. I felt like I had to adjust my body to shift to the lower gears.

In the end if your buddy chooses the Redline over the MINI thats his choice, give him your support. But if anything if he buys a Redline, please ensure he does not spray paint the A/C vents and dash to some extremely bad color match. That just makes me cringe.

 

Uhmm, they don't make those no more. Aussie stuff long gone.

I wouldn't say that. Unreliable, yes. If you want to call that quirkiness, OK, I'll buy that. All cheap ... no. I am sure there are some Jaguars with nice interiors but then again doesn't Ford own Jaguar? And Rolls ... hmm, now who owns Rolls?

BTW, it also works with regular muffins too. She gets the tops, I get the bottoms

Absolutely. Not everyone wants to drive everyday in a little itty bitty deathtrap just waiting to get stomped on by those big mean SUVs.

 

Aren't both sides of the English muffin the same?
Ooooh...

Anyhow, Saturn Ion Redline. It does sound fast. I'd be impressed if I didn't know what it was. Never drove one though. Really, I'll be a fan of any car that does what it is supposed to do, and does it well. Viper Venom 1000? Sure. Kia Rio? Sure. Chrysler Town and Country? Sure. They each do different stuff, and do it well.

Tell him to buy the Redline. If the decision is between the two, he must have certain things he likes about each; he might just not be able to decide what he wants out of his next car. Or, tell him to buy the MINI. Who cares?

dan

 

Keep in mind that you're asking this on a MINI forum - our answers are going to be biased. Go to www.saturnfans.com and you'll get completely different answers.

I've owned Saturns, they were great cars - reliable & economical. The Ion Redline was an attempt to add performance to that mix. I think it came off pretty well, but the Ion was not a great car to begin with. (I'm using past tense because the Ion is discontinued now - production is over, although there are some left on the dealer lots)

The advantage of the Ion Redline would be initial price. Compared with similar options, it will be cheaper than a Cooper S. But when you look at resale value that price difference fades away.

If your friend wants the GM option, he would do better to get the Cobalt SS. Nearly the same car, but there will be better aftermarket support. I drove one recently - not bad overall. It might out accellerate an MCS, but it can't corner like a MINI.

OR, wait another year or 2. Saturn is bringing the Opel Astra here to be sold as the Saturn Astra. Initially only the econo version, but a redline version in another year or 2 is a certainty. It would basically be the Open Astra GTC, which the europeans seem to love...

 

For some reason, whenever somebody mentions Saturn Astra, it brings back memories of when I owned a Pontiac Astre. I had a 1974. Fine car if you had time to tweak the engine every weekend and do a total rebuild of the motor every 3 to 5 years. Also, constantly do body work to remove rust.

Other than that the car was completely reliable. When I sold it in 1985, it still had the original battery in it.

 

The car is made like crap. the crash worthiness is lacking. It cannot handle anything even remotely like a MCS. It's gearbox cannot take half the pressue a MCS 6 speed can. It's resale value % is much lower, not even on the charts near a mini. I could put a 305 mustang engine in a geo metro and it would be faster than a corvette.

it would suck though still.

the redline is a fast car but looks wise, well, that's an obvious issue

 

I just drove a base Saturn Ion today. Monday I drove the Malibu.
Both rentals.

Both were standard domestics, about the same, nothing to write home about, much less fun to drive than my Civic sedan. Comfortable ride but very numb handling.

Then I got to drive my MCS home from the airport-
Night and day better handling and power.
I recently got my insurance bill, $292 per 6 months. Not too bad considering.

At least when I drive the base Cooper it's fun.

 

I just gotta chime in here & say yes. Now if all you got was the bottoms of the blueberry muffins that would suck because that's a whole different ballgame but on english muffins... flip it up, flip it down, flip it all around cause top or bottom, it's all the same

 

You don't buy a MINI for straight line performance, you don't buy it for the gas mileage, you don't buy it because of it's low maintainance expense, you don't buy it because there's a dealer on every corner. You buy it 'cause it's a fun, ecletic, off center, states your individuality, and given the right situation, it will beat the pants of just about any thing on the road, but all the time you are driving it, there's this great big grin plastered to your face

 

So not true. The good stuff always floats to the top

 

Actually, I prefer the bottoms; they're thinner....

 

the redline is like 11k more dollars It does have good features and a real suspension. I was bashing the SS Cobalt. I would take a redline over a cobalt if I had to choose.

2nd to the mini for coolness for dollar without having it handle like a bimbo-box cobalt, would be the Civic Si. thats a hot car in the right colour. very different interior and exterior to any other civic. cheap too for what you get.