Saturn Once Made An Sc Turbo, But Not For You

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The long-defunct General Motors marque Saturn is often reduced to a punchline successful 2026, but existent heads cognize that Saturn was among nan astir innovative and absorbing car brands connected nan roadworthy successful nan 1990s. We should each beryllium putting much respect connected nan Saturn name. For example, did you cognize that nan institution built a one-off turbocharged 1.9-liter SC2 title car for nan 2001 moving of the Car and Driver One Lap of America? You didn't? Well, I'm going to show you each astir it.

Saturn was erstwhile going gangbusters and building immoderate of nan champion import-fighters that American engineers could dream up. With lightweight integrative assemblage panels and a near-bulletproof 1.9-liter four-cylinder engine, this was a high-mileage leader pinch highly bully substance economy. The twin-cam type of that motor was a small revver, too, rated astatine 124 horsepower from nan factory. It didn't return overmuch to make nan S-series cars grip beautiful well, either, arsenic they carried four-wheel independent suspension and beforehand and rear anti-roll bars, stock.

To thief beforehand nan car, while gaining immoderate valuable real-world engineering experience, Saturn allowed a group of engineers to participate a caller SC2 coupe successful nan One Lap of America backmost successful 2000. The car performed well, but it was perfectly trounced connected large roadworthy courses by Corvettes, 911s, and Vipers. So nan engineers came backmost for One-Lap successful 2001 pinch a heavy revised car. They slapped a turbocharger connected that motor and went afloat hell-for-leather, astir doubling nan horsepower and aiming for an OLOA Economy Car people win. Only 1 photograph of nan car seems to still exist from nan original numbers trial Car and Driver did backmost successful 2001.

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Held annually since 1984, nan Brock Yates' One Lap of America is simply a speed-limit respecting type of nan original Cannonball. In bid to get velocity demons to work together to travel postulation laws, nan arena stops astatine title tracks each astir nan state to group thigh times. It's fundamentally a bid of clip onslaught races pinch a roadworthy travel successful between. All cars must beryllium thoroughfare legal, and tin only deterioration a azygous group of tires for nan afloat event. Back successful nan 1990s, nan arena could beryllium won by thing for illustration a BMW M5, but things person gotten importantly much serious, and nan victor these days is usually successful thing pinch gobs of horsepower, large fat tires, and all-wheel drive. Think Nissan GT-R aliases Porsche 911 Turbo, but heavy modified. 

For nan 2000 loop of nan One Lap, Saturn showed up pinch a factory-backed car for nan Economy Car class, moving a fundamentally banal SC2 pinch mild way modifications. It did thousands of miles and tons of laps astatine tons of tracks, but nan mighty multi-billion-dollar General Motors-backed conveyance was obscurity adjacent accelerated capable for nan win. A brace of enthusiasts pinch a 1988 Dodge Daytona turbo moving 18 pounds of boost proved that nan low-power Saturn was nary lucifer for a hairsbreadth dryer connected an aged 2.2-liter. 

Heading backmost location pinch their tails betwixt their corporate legs, nan Saturn squad decided past and location that it would travel backmost harder and faster successful 2001. The rules stated that each car had to transportation its ain spare parts, tools, and supplies, truthful Saturn entered a 2nd car, an L-series wagon, to haul capable worldly for some cars. That's really acold they were consenting to spell for this mostly forgotten title. In what could beryllium seen arsenic a precursor to American sport-compact heroes for illustration nan Dodge Neon SRT-4, Chevrolet Cobalt SS (or Saturn's Ion Redline version), and Ford Fiesta ST, Saturn decided to popular a elephantine Garrett T6 turbocharger connected their SC2. 

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According to a play C/D article, nan car utilized an off-the-shelf Turbonetics kit to push astir 6.5 psi of boost into nan engine. That original 1.9-liter was bumped to 2.1 liters, and nan compression ratio was reduced from 9.5:1 to 8.5:1 successful bid to debar imaginable detonation connected nan event-mandated pump gas. Now carrying 224 horsepower, nan motor had capable courage to put successful immoderate large thigh times. The squad besides reduced nan weight of nan car by astir 110 pounds pinch a lexan rear model and immoderate ditched interior trim. 

Car and Driver called nan car a "considerably sassier Saturn" and put it connected nan C/D trial chair for immoderate acceleration numbers. Without nan turbo, an SC2 could tally an 8.2-second zero-to-60 and 26-second 0-to-100, but pinch nan snail installed, it did those aforesaid runs successful 5.2 seconds and 11.4 seconds, respectively. It besides ran nan opinionated 4th mile astatine 13.5 seconds astatine 107 miles per hour. That whitethorn look beautiful staid and boring by today's standards, but thing successful nan 13s successful 2001 was considered beautiful darn quick. 

In nan end, nan boosted SC2 "dominated nan 2001 Economy Car people from commencement to finish" with a "well-developed handling package." It managed to spot 22nd wide from 89 entries. The mostly-unmodified and questionably ineligible L-series wagon support conveyance vanished eighth successful nan Mid-Price Sedan category, 57th overall. 

It sounds for illustration Saturn had a existent victor connected its hands here, and a capacity exemplary of nan SC2 could person gone a agelong measurement toward raising nan brand's status. What could person been, right? And it's genuinely a shame a turbocharged type ne'er sewage made for nan nationalist — I would perfectly emotion an SC2 Turbo successful 2026. I conjecture I'll conscionable person to home-brew my ain like a batch of intrepid Saturn enthusiasts do.