LW300 feeling its oats

May 14, 2004 5 Replies
O

Since I bought the '01 LW300 back in January, I was curious about how well it would do flat out. Being usually a sane person, I generally observe the speed limits (or as they seem to be speed recommendations in this area). Yesterday though on a straight section of highway, I saw a Chrysler Talon coming up fast from the rear. Figuring wtf, I stomped the pedal and went from 60 to 100 in what seemed like less than 5 seconds. There was still an impressive acceleration at that speed but sanity kicked back in again. Eased up on the gas and waved as the Talon passed. Think that I will look into the suspension though. Something didn't feel entirely right at high speed in the steering. Felt like a bit of sway in the rear. Then again, I have a bunch of tools in the spare tire well packed around the donut tire. Throws off the weight distribution a bit.



Oppie


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B

Depends ont he engine... 2.2 / 3.0? Either one probably 101-120... Where ever they governed it to stop at. The Ion Redline is the fastest saturn makes with a speed of 155mph. They ran a Redline at the bonneville flats which did 212.6mph

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Notice how much of a gap they made between the Ion and the Honda.

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E

My 2000 L-Series wagon routinely sees 100+ and just feels better as it goes faster!

:-)

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D

You may want to make sure the rear end alignment kit has been added to the vehicle. TSB 00-T-72A. Tire pressures up to spec?

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O

Thanks for reminding me on that TSB. I thought that the alignment issue was in the steering (front). Didn't realize that it applied to the rear. Tire pressures are all good.

Oppie Not ready for the cannonball run yet

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D

Yes, there is a separate issue with the rear end. As delivered, the rear end does not have the necessary alignment latitude to keep the rear tires from wearing unevenly. The fix is to add some shims, replace the worn tires (make sure they replace all 4 if you have been rotating them), and re-align. Unfortunately, the fix leaves the rear end about an inch higher than original height, which I felt detracted slightly from its excellent handling. If you can get Saturn to replace the tires, (they must show uneven wear) try to get anything other than the Affinities, but don't hold your breath....

Dana

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