it's got kick!

Hi all. I just recently bought a 2000 SL1 from a respectable dealership and I must say that for a 1.9L 5-speed, the thing has some real get up and go! It's sort of like from 1K/rpm to about 3K/rpm, its goes just as any normal 5-speed would, but then anything over 3K/rpm in 2nd gear, and the thing really takes off! Are these engines meant to be ran at such high rpm's? I've also heard/read alot of good things about the SL series (except the 95 SL2). I bought this car with just over 62K on it, for about $7000, with a 2 year bumper to bumper warranty. It seems I've made a good investment. If anyone has any good advice or knows any problems I should watch out for, please tell me. Thanks.

the '00-02 SL's put out a wussy 100hp @ 5,000 rpm, but they use all of it efficiently, of course. sure they are meant to run so high, but dont put an SL past 6500 w/o new cams, they tend to crap out there... it'll also top out fifth at an estimated 130-140, if you give it enuf space. great car, just lacks sufficient power after 80.

yeah, power after 80 mph is a slight issue, and 100 hp is wussy compared to maybe a McLauren F1, or even the car I had before the Saturn. Knock it if u want I really don't care but its mine (paid for) and when I get done with the engine and everything else sometime around summer of next year, that "power after 80" issue won't exist.

sweet, what r u doin to it?? (you may want 2 add a 6th gear on the end to flow with the current ratio)

I haven't completely decided yet. I know im starting out with a cold air intake, flowmaster exhaust, a different cam (to get rid of the rpm governor), and MAYBE bore out the block about 25 over. Other than that I haven't decided.

i would definitely recommend a Blitz Power Core Filter for the intake. It has one of the best output and filtering capacities on the market. + its metal instead of foam. what kind of cam? id go with a crower or maybe gude for what u r doin

Those suggestions are fine and great and all, but the only thing standing in my way right now (well, 2 things) are bad weather and $$. Its mostly the bad weather thing. Anyway, what is the difference with metal or foam? One would think foam would catch more dirt? Nevertheless, I'll look into that one.

i kno where you're coming from. metal usually doesn't outperform foam when it comes to filtering & catching dirt, but this filter is quite different. its expensive, about $100, but you will never have to worry about torn filters, or even changing them.

Hmm.. thats sounds a little odd, but I'll check it out anyway. Yeah 100 bux is quite expensive, but if this filter really does do what its supposed to, then its worth it, right?

oh yeah!

My buddy had a 99 SL2. He said the trick is adding a cold air intake, computer chip, and a good set of performance tires.

sickcall, what do you mean by computer chip? Do you mean a performance mod or an altogether different computer? As for tires, man.... I have a 97 Ford Windstar as well, and the tires on my Saturn look like they are doughnut spares for the Windstar.

I have, however, decided against boring out the cylinders. I have the cold air intake (was a pain to install, as it didn't fit quite right), and LOL if you guys could see what I did to the front fascia...hehe.

BTW, whats a decent performance muffler/exhaust other than Flowmaster?

Technically, the intake on my car is a cold air, but I only have the short ram because, as you said, is a pain to install on a saturn. My buddy had a JET performance chip for his car and made it go fast as hell. There are some companies that are better than flowmaster, but I don't know if they have exhaust systems for saturns (Greddy, HKS, Borla, etc.).

well sickcall, do me a favor. Visit www.cardomain.com/id/sunfirestud

This is the car I wish I still had. I will put up another page with my current car soon.... (I need to deck out the body a bit first).

*GGRRRR wish I knew how to post links in vB code.

I also have the '00SL1. What are you using the car for? Mostly drag-racing style stuff, or are you into cornering? Either way, engine upgrades are good. Look into a throttle-body upgrade to go with your CAI and exhaust, just to complete the air system. Some hard motor mounts really help, too. The original mounts are soft rubber and take a lot of your torque away. For cornering, I'd *strongly* suggest a sway bar in the rear and at least a strut-tower brace in the front, plus basically an all-aftermarket suspension. Because we've got plastic body panels (and thus a lighter car), these little babies make great autocrossers and fun around-town drivers. Do you have the stock wheels or the alloy ones? The alloy wheels are both lighter and bigger, so if you want to retain a stock look I'd suggest the factory alloys from a junkyard or something. The performance gained is worth it. The ricers all laugh at the Saturns, until we blow by them. Our motors are simpler to work on, and our cars are lighter. We can be fast when we want to be (and still get thirty-something mpg!). And if you *really* want to upgrade, the guys at Twistec keep begging me to drop an Ecotec motor with a turbo in mine, but that's a little expensive.

Sabre, that's all great and fine and dandy. I am actually going for looks right now instead of performance; mostly just b/c looks are cheaper and easier. I don't know a whole lot about engines, but I understand what you mean when you reccomend a sway bar and strut brace. Also, aftermarket suspension is WAY to expensive for anything I could ever hope to accomplish (although I wouldn't mind trying air shocks).


If any of you guys actually checked out the link I posted above, then yeah that car was my baby. "was" being the operative word. I smashed it into a guardrail @ 75mph.

Good that you survived your introduction to the laws of physics via guardrail. I can't afford the aftermarket suspension either, but the strut tower brace and a swaybar did amazing wonders for the car. I got the swaybar off an old SC2 that was wrecked (better than nothing), and the tower brace was cheaply purchased from another Saturn owner. Junkyard trip for cheap alloy wheels and swaybar are highly reccommended, since money is an issue.

yeah, those are must haves tho. i wonder, do they make aftermarket steering arms??? that would be nice...i wrecked a 00 LW because part of the assy. seperated before i took a turn....yeah, i flipped it too. anyway, rubber would be an important thing to buy as well, since the 00+ tires dont do well in all the aspects of traction.