Finally getting an SL1
 

Well, after having this '96 SL2 (the 2 designates DOHC) and boosting it's highway mileage to a number I never thought possible, I've come to grips with the reality that it needs a re-ringing.

I'm picking up an '01 SL1 auto this coming weekend from its original owner. Car has 98K on it and reports no mechanical issues and no oil useage.

The original window sticker shows a highway mileage rating of 37mpg... fueleconomy.gov says 34mpg. I'm hoping with a HAI and some 55-60mph cruising, I'll bust the 50mpg mark I've always wanted to hit in my old SL2 that is rated at 31.

One thing I noticed during the test drive is that at 70mph (I don't travel at this speed, just wanted to flog the car a little) the SL1 is spinning at 2,500 RPM while my SL2 turns at 3,000 RPM at that speed. Lots of potential here!

I'm just guessing on this math but (guessing on theory actually), at 500 RPM less, that's 2,000 less squirts of the injectors (4 injectors firing at 500rpm = 2000 squirts). So at 55-60mph, if it's still 500rpm less, it should translate into really good mileage!

Pics coming next weekend! Wish me luck!

I don't get it, why didn't you get a M/T Saturn? You'd sure as hell get a much larger boost in fuel economy AND you'd be able to safely do all those hypermiling techniques that one really shouldn't do in an automatic unless you hate your transmission.

I'm cheap. I like waiting until I find great deals. Sure I could buy a M/T SOHC S-series if I don't mind paying average value, but I've been holding out for a good deal and I found it. Also, I only drive 8k miles per year, so mileage isn't THAT important to me, just a hobby really.

Plus, s-series are very easy to work on, and parts are plentifull in junkyards.

I don't do any hypermiling techniques other than mild drafting and no cruise control useage. I don't shift into neutral, no EOC, nothing like that... I know better. 2mpg increase isn't worth a $1,500 transmission swap.

I got this car because I'm getting a great deal on it and I needed to replace my SL2 anyway.

It's a 2001, silver, $1,200 w/ a clean title, 98k miles, 5k miles on new tires, 10k on new shocks, and from the original female owner. It's kept up well, drove 10x smoother than my '96 SL2 w/ 155k, she says it uses no oil, and never been wrecked.

Oil change sticker in the windshield said it needs oil change in 1100 miles, I checked the dipstick and the oil is crystal clean... my SL2's oil is jet black within 500 miles of a change.

Best wishes, hope the car turns out to be all you wish for. Keep us posted on your experiences. Ironic how GM discontinued the Saturn line, the best thing it had going for it in a long, long time.

My thoughts exactly.

When GM started the L-series and the Ion and began using the cavalier engine in all it's Saturn products, the writing was on the wall. Same thing they did with the Firebird in the 80's; replacing its Pontiac engine with a Chevy counterpart, and years later giving the lineup the axe.

I'm a fan of Saturn's though... Entry-level speaking, I'd take a Saturn over a cavalier, neon, altima/sentra anyday. The only reason I prefer Saturn to Honda/Toyota is the pricing is much better and we also have timing chains instead of belts.

wlecome to the sl1 club. i love mine and im just in the early phases of tweeking it. ive taken it from 33mpg to 38mpg just by doing some simple stuff. im gonna really start digging into it once the weather gets nice.
the high highway rpms are mostly atributted to the mp2 and mp3 tranny. the sl1 has a much lower 5th gear so it chugs at a lower rpm. my 94 sl1 has a 5th gear inbetween the 2. im looking into swapping in a late model 5th gear so i can really drop some revs. should be about an 8% reduction in final gearing so i think ill see a few mpg's out of it.

Well, thank you.

Mine's an auto, so no gear swapping in my future. Good luck with yours!

forgot the auto thing, sorry. what options does yours have? i know mines rocken the a/c and ps and thats it. manual everything else.

I almost wish we still had grandma's old AMC Spirit. Options: Heated rear window (She lived in Connecticut) Tiny little hatchback with a 20+ gallon tank. If it had a/c or 4wd (yes, AMC put 4wd on compact hatchbacks) I might still have it.

Sounds like a good catch, John. I don't think 50 mpg with an AT is possible. Surprise me! ;)

That's a higher gear. Lower gears result in higher RPM.

my bad. i can never remember the formula.

Just remember that "First gear" and "Low gear" are synonymous (imagine the old PRNDL vs. the more modern PRND21), and you shift into "High gear" when you're cruising on the highway.

Or, my old Pontiac... Park Reverse Neutral Drive Super Low. I have no idea why 2nd was "super", but it was great for driving in snow & ice.

Always doubting me!!! ;)

It's already been done time and time again. Lots of Saturns in the 50's over at cleanmpg.

My average yearly commute is 95% all city, so even if I get 50mpg once or twice on these trips to Cleveland, I won't be modding the car to sustain that kind of mileage. I hope to have an average mileage of about 33-35mpg in city.

I did stumble upon a big sheet of coroplast a while back that I still haven't used, so maybe I'll take a page from the record book (lovemysan) and make a full belly pan, or at least an engine pan.

I'm not sure of all the options the car has. I do remember reading on the original window sticker which I found in the glovebox that the Saturn CD player was a $510.00 option!!!! YIKES! I think A/C was on there at $1,200. I don't even know if it has cruise control... wish I would've looked, but I never use it anyway, it's just nice for resale.

I generally won't even look at a car without cruise, but then again when I'm not driving in city traffic I'm on the highway for at least an hour. Cruise is definitely needed for my 14 hour drives down to Florida to visit family down there. Every vehicle I own has made the trip several times. I'm just waiting for the day that my uncle finally decides that its time to let go of Grandpa's car sitting in the garage (he doesn't drive) and I get to put it on a trailer and drive it home.

thats funny i just gave my air conditioner away

i think 50mpg is possible with an automatic why?

i think you can get better gains out of a Warm air intake with an automatic than a manual because you can crank up the air temp alot more, why?
well manual transmissions rely on your clutch pedal releasing at a certain point meeting the engine at a certain horsepower, I believe there is a change in the gas pedal height needed under hai conditions so it makes it easier to drive an automatic with hai thats why I have a wai, plus in the city, there is less air movement, so during the height of summer I notice that city and highway numbers get closer to each other. you're already at 38mpg to begin with

i did 45 mpg at 60mph in an auto sl2 with hai, so consider that 99+ saturns have reworked pistons and cams for better low end torque/fe, and I say it's oh so possible, providing you do some major handling upgrades to keep all the kinetic energy u can, .32 drag coefficient, you could work on that too so at highway speeds you save even more

As for the drag coefficient, I was thinking before I left for my trip this past weekend, of putting some painter's tape on the headlight gaps and hood/fenders. Maybe that's something I'll try w/ the SL1.

My best MPG to date with the SL2 and HAI was 47.x mpg I had upon exiting the interstate back when I first put the HAI on. This is documented in the gaslog. I did not fill up at this time, I added some city mileage to it which brought the entry down to 43mpg. I think a 100% highway drive in the dead of summer in the SL1 will net 50+mpg.

New highway EPA numbers only put the SL1 at 3mpg more than the SL2... but even at that, 47.x + 3 = 50.x

I'll be going to Cleveland again for the 4th of July, maybe then.

other examples of cars where good handling=good mpg

jetta turbo deisel 50mpg
mini cooper 40mpg

try seal and peal caulking around your headlights its removable caulk $4.50 a tube, its hard to work with though thats why I prefer the real deal, also when you remove the seal and peal it make take paint with it maybe.. just a good clear caulk is good you can remove it with a 5 in 1 later if you want or just leave it, shape it with your finger so its a smooth(aero) edge


also get gorilla tape at home depot, only because this stuff is the best duct tape you can find and will last and is reusable, and tape off behind your headlights as good and tight as you can, will work as a good grille block and your car will warm up quick or better yet use this tape to hold on a grill block

on my 94 ive seriously been considering some L brackets and lexan to make flush headlight covers. kinda like the old ferrari's were the light was way recessed into the fender and then covered with plexi to smooth it out. my saturn would be perfect for that. i could even through on some tint too.

i think 50mpg may be doable in the auto but its gonna take some decent work. definately aint gonna be done with driving style.

I'll go ahead and run my mouth... why not.


I think I'll hit 50mpg this summer in the car, assuming it has no mechanical issues.

How I'll do it is simple.

55-60mph speed
50psi in tires
no A/C useage
no cruise control
mild drafting
HAI at 150*F+
Ambient temp of 80*F+
driven during daylight so no exterior lighting needed

This was the exact formula for the success of my 47mpg record in my SL2, no reason why it shouldn't work the same on this SL1.

Engine will be on, and in gear, the entire time. Tires are not LRR models.

The only other thing I might add would be the tape on the headlights and/or a grill block (worried of overheating though).

spot- I don't like the idea of caulking the headlight seams, I'm not that worried about it. If the tape proves to work, I might go as far as using some type of foam single-sided tape (door and window seal type) but that would be it.

You guys can hold me to this. I'll even post up before I take the trip and take requests on how I can go about doing this to prove the mileage is true. Like taking time/dated pics of the trip odometer at zero after fillup, then a time/dated pic of the trip odometer at the next fillup. and a pic of the receipt or the gas pump itself to prove how much gas was added.

gotta love how old technology blows away the new stuff

if your not gonna use a/c have you considered deleting it? on my 94 its as simple as an $11 belt. i know in previous cars bypassing the a/c system was wortha good 2-3mpg. the only reason i havent done it to this car is i think the a/c may actually work. ill probably bypass it for a short time just to see the results anyway along with the ps pump. the nice thing about my car is that those accessories are options and easily gotten rid of, not sure of the newer ones.

I hadn't thought of that. If I can delete it by using a different belt and I don't have to remove the compressor, I'll probably do that. The compressor is the last thing bolted to the accessory side of the engine, so I assume I could just do like you said and put the non-A/C belt on there and gain some mileage.

If you don't turn the a/c on the clutch should be deactivated, and the belt should just spin easily on the pulley. I think the drag should be minimal. Loosen your belt, and just spin the a/c pulley. It should spin very easily when the system is not engaged. It certainly doesn't hurt to try, but I don't see any measurable gains from disconnecting it, unless you have bearing or clutch issues in your compressor.

thats why i gave my old system away ive done this on my saturn, it didnt work, i couldnt really tell much of a difference and ive also heard its only a 1mpg gain, also a pain but not too hard to do jack up wheel ect

i was more looking to loose weight i look off the ac hoses too(hard)

keep your condensor on though it protects your radiator and keeps it warmer

i cut about 100 lbs outta this caa

shifts so much better

I got the car yesterday, detailed the engine, clay barred the exterior, and detailed the interior. Aside from carpet stains, the car now looks showroom condition.

I couldn't be happier. She sold it at such a value thinking the paint was doomed. She had parked it for several years, under a bilboard that apparently leaked glue residue during rainstorms, down onto the car. The hood and driver's side of the car were stained this awful brown color. Looked like the driver's side was pewter in color, not silver.

Turtle Wax Polishing Compound removed EVERYTHING, then I clay barred the car to get paint scuffs and tar off. It's in the garage waiting on finishing wax then it'll be getting registered!

Pics will be added as soon as the sun comes out!

I plan to drive it a few weeks w/o a HAI to get a baseline.

not bad, 1200 is great for a car worth 4k!

but I was hoping for insta 50mpg results guess I'll have to wait like that episode of South Park where Cartman freezes himself. Some weighty objects worth getting rid of are: Trunk Lining, ac hoses/compressor/brackets, tow bracket(rear bumper) Center Console bucket(5lb), it'll leave a little thing to throw stuff in(more comfortable, more room). Rear speakers too, just get good front ones.

As for stuff that I wouldn't recommend.. carpet and lining soaks up water, and legal..repaint the floors.. there will be rust...

plus, if you vaccum everything, sometimes you can pull 2-3lbs of dirt out of the car in the winter. Then clean all the dirt out from under neath the car with a dust brush rag ect and thats worth another 2 lbs.. then you'll want to repaint the bottom side of your car, so you aren't replacing parts all the time..

also you might want to remove this cars built in wind brakes, or modify the front of the front wheel wells, cut holes near the edge of the quarter panel with a 5/8 drill bit to allow air to pass through instead of being trapped. plus you have that giant wind break called your rear bumper too, you can modify that to allow air to more easily escape from underneath your rearside. I'm all for more psi in the rear than front too...

spot - what's wrong with you? ;)

Why bother with all that 2-3lb junk? I'm just gonna roll it as is. I'm probably going to register it Thursday and put it on the streets starting next week. I'm in no rush though. I have a strong connection to my '96 and I'm sad to see it getting pushed aside.

What sucks is I just got a rare optional center console for the '96 SL2 that doesn't fit the '01+ cars. So now that I'm used to having an armrest for my right arm, I'll be without it again in the '01. :mad: I could probably swap entire center consoles, but the plastic "desing" was changed at some point and the textures don't match. Also, my aftermarket cd player in the '96 has input for MP3 player and the '01 has the OEM cd player that still works fine, though it has no input for mp3.

I'm debating a few swaps onto the '01 from the '96. One might be the steering wheel, also considering swapping the cruise control over. Though I don't use it, I realize it's valuable for resale. Also, my alloys and touring tires from the '96 might replace the steel wheels and hub caps and all season tires on the '01. Wish I could swap the sunroof!! LOL I might also swap sway bars. SOHC cars don't have a rear bar.

don't forget the 2.5 ounces worth of plastic clips!!

jk
that was just what I did recently tho, thats about 100lbs or more I sucked out of that car. i was bored what can i say.

the consensus as far as I could tell at saturn fans.com is thats saturns burn oil because they don't have proper oil drainage holes drilled in the piston, and not because of bad rings, every saturns I've ever owned burns oils the only thing that stopped it was pennzoil..

also my old one burned oil for the whole 50k(until 200k) I owned it and this one with 90k on the engine burns oil so I wouldn't give up consider the car hopeless, I still think u made a damn good choice because of the engine efficiency enhancements from 96 to 01

I found checking the oil every half tank is good.

I check the oil every 3 or 4 days. It's usually 1/3 qt low. :o

Piston oil relief holes is correct, there are none. The compression rings are usually fine (at least my last compression test was fine) its the oil control rings that gum up and refuse to move. It won't hurt the cylinder walls any, it just allows for a lot of oil to accumulate there, and eventually burn up.

I don't like pulling creature comforts like carpet/passenger seat/dash/etc. I daily drive it and have friends and g/f in my cars all the time. Though it's not a 'Benz, its gotta be somewhat presentable/respectable.

I won't ditch the A/C because I'm hoping to fix it and actually use it since it has crank windows. In my '96 SL2 I don't mind that the A/C is INOP because the power windows allow me to easily control what windows are down to reduce wind noise by my left ear (I hate that). Since this has cranks, and I don't feel like climbing in the back seat to modulate the window everytime I leave the house, I'd rather just click a button and ride in comfort.

Can't take out seats or belts its illegal,
(at least to pass inspection). They are safety devices, but your car should remain legal at all times. I think you can get fined for these if pulled over(not sure, depends where too).

https://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_...0026_large.jpghttps://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_...0027_large.jpg

As promised.

Clean! :thumbup:

you got THAT car for $1200?! ok, you stole that car and gave her 12 bills for charity.

reminds me...gotta post pics of my new ride.

Sure did!

In all fairness, the circumstances being what they were, she needed a low price to get someone willing to go along w/ her little song and dance.

She was in Cleveland but advertised it on Cincinnati (250 miles away) Craigslist. Said buyer must be willing to purchase on March 13th and be 100% positive about the sale, having no way to drive the car prior to buying it. (or so she thought.. I mean, who would drive 4 hours to buy a $1,200 car? I think thats how she was seeing it as well, but...) Just so happens I have family in Cleveland and needed to get up there and visit anyway, so the timing was perfect. I went up and test drove it and a week later met her in Cincinnati and bought it just like she needed. She apparently has a cousin down here who works for a stealership and was intending on driving her new car back to Cleveland.

I spent about 8-10 hours on the paint to get it back to the original finish. She had parked it for several years under a bilboard and when it rained the glue residue got all over the car. The whole front end and driver's side had this stained clear coat, making the car look half gold (pewter actually), half silver. Another hour on the engine and interior.

I'm very very happy with it. As you can see I can't shutup about the car. I've only put 40 miles on it and that was driving it back to KY the day I bought it. Rides much nicer than my SL2 but cornering isn't as tight w/o the rear sway bar, and the driver's seat doesn't have a lumbar adjuster like my SL2. Can't have it all I guess.

you can swap seats so you can have some of it. and you can swap the bars too so you could in fact have it all. except for an arm rest.
thats a clean car. i really wish i could have gotten a newer model but im not too sad about being stuck with tb injection. i cant wait till you start posting some numbers.

I bought some kind of mesh seat insert you velcro around the seat that has a steel frame with elastic stretched over it to give support to the lower back. I'm using it in the SL2 right now to see how I like it, so far so good. I think I'll just use it on the SL1 when I make the transition.

Steering wheel + cruise control is probably getting swapped over, as well as the rear sway bar if the bolts aren't rusted too badly to remove.