By Leftlane Staff
Friday, Aug 25th, 2006 @ 1:36 pm

The new Saturn Sky Red Line might not be perfect, but its impressive power and great value ensure a hit for GM, says CanWest columnist David Booth. “There’s nothing like 83 more horsepower and almost 100 more pound-feet of torque to make one forget that the transmission sucks,” writes Booth. “Oh, sure, the Red Line’s turbo’d four is a little fluffy right off idle,” but above 1,500 rpm, “the little four-banger starts to wake up and, by the time the tachometer needle swings past 2,500 rpm, the turbocharger is doing its stuff.” Booth is critical of the car’s manual transmission, which he calls a “piece of crap,” but he says the engine’s wide power band helps make up for this. “It’s also worth noting there’s a fine five-speed automatic available, though why the family-oriented Aura gets steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters and the Red Line’s automatic doesn’t beggars the imagination.” Still, Booth says “it’s impossible to marry this much performance and eye-catching looks and not attract a crowd.” (See also: our full report on the 2007 Saturn Sky Red Line).

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