Earlier in the week I reviewed the Mazda Protégé LX, following a 24 hour test drive. In that review, I mentioned taking another car on a 24 hour test drive the previous day, and that car was a Saturn Ion 1 with air conditioning and compact disc player. Read on and find out why despite my long test drive (I put 84 miles on the car) I’m still not sure if I like the Ion or not.
First off, I’ll come right out and say that this is a very strange-looking car. The exterior is unusual, mixing Saturn L-Series, Dodge Neon and even a bit of Cadillac CTS cues into a blender and then adding a few extra lines and arcs for good measure. I’m still not sure if it works or not, but it isn’t offensive. From some angles it looks pretty cool (rear view) while from others it's a bit frumpy (side). I’ll call it dead average in the exterior looks department on account of an equal number of design elements that appeal and do not appeal to me, and Saturn's designers actually making it look almost normal and not ugly.
The dashboard is also strange, with a Toyota Echo-like center instrument panel. I’ll be honest and say that I don’t care for the location. I had no problem adapting to it, and just like in the Echo and Scion Xa (review coming soon), I found it functional and just as quick to interpret. My complaints about the location are purely subjective, as it just doesn't look the way my eyes tell me a car dashboard should look. Strangely, the speedometer is in the same location in the Mini Cooper and I think it looks terrific there, just as it does on old Army Jeeps. Call me biased.
Getting past the location of the panel, the instruments themselves are terrific, much better than in Saturns old instrument clusters. I should know, my wife has a 2001 L-200, and while the gauges in that car are large and properly round, the lettering doesn't grab you like it does on the best instruments. The gauges in the Ion grab you, they look terrific, day or night, and do much to improve the ambiance of the car in addition to keeping the driver well informed.
The rest of the interior is just cheep looking, but functional. The steering wheel is the perfect example, it is small and made of cheep-looking materials, but is properly fat and feels very nice in the hand. The shift is a bit looser than on a Japanese car (see my review of the Protégé), but it is perfectly placed and despite really flogging the car, I never once missed a shift. The seats are more of the same, with cheap-looking cloth that grips well and shiny, cheap-looking plastic on the doors and dash.
While the interior looks cheap, it is a quiet place to be. The car cruises very quietly, about the same as my L-Series, and at highway speeds has a very relaxing way of going down the road. Other than the lack of cruise (this was an Ion 1), this would be an excellent long-distance car. Even the seats are up for long rides. Many reviewers describe them as lacking lateral support, and that is true, however I spent over an hour sitting on them in rush hour traffic and I wasn't any less comfortable than I am in the excellent seats of my Mitsubishi Galant or my wife's L-200, another VERY comfortable place to spend a lot of time.
The rear is not so rosy, with a too-upright seatback and not enough legroom. I'm only 5'9", and I usually test a car's roominess by setting the front seat where I like it, then getting in the back and sitting behind myself. In the physically smaller Mazda Protégé I was extremely comfortable in the back, and wouldn't mind spending even a long amount of time back there. In the Ion I felt cramped and crowded, not to mention there was no cushion support for my thighs. The small Protégé was even better than my midsize Galant in this respect, but the Saturn was even worse than my old 1997 Nissan Sentra was, and that was an even smaller car than the Protégé.
The control response and feel of the Ion is another mixed bag, with very good elements and what I consider problem areas. Other reviewers have mentioned the steering feeling artificial, and while I didn't find it to be that bad on the base Ion 1, it did feel over- boosted at all but highway speeds, though over 60 MPH it is terrific. The shifter, as described above, doesn't feel particularly sporty, but then again, it always lands in the correct gate without any fuss. The clutch takes up and engages smoothly and the throttle linkage feels about as good as any car I've ever driven. Adding to the excellent throttle pedal feel is the engine hooked up to that throttle linkage, the very same 2.2 liter Ecotech that is in my wife's L-200. I love this engine in the L-200 (we have over 40,000 trouble-free miles on ours) and I love it even more in the Ion. The Ecotech is tuned well, giving more than enough torque to move an automatic-equipped midsized car with much the same authority as the more powerful engines in the Accord and Camry move those cars. Put that large, counterbalanced and altogether modern four cylinder into the smaller Ion and run it to the wheels through a manual box, and it really comes alive. Just like when we bought the L, I see no reason at all for a bigger or more powerful engine in this car.
Finally is the value equation. In Ion 1 trim, this car is a bargain. Quirky or not, anytime you can buy a car with a terrific 2.2 liter engine, power steering, AC and a decent stereo for under $13K (much under), and that is before the $2000 rebate and any private rebate you may qualify for ($1000 owner loyalty, $750 military or $750 college, only one of the three permitted), which for me (owner loyalty $1000) comes out to around $9400, and that is before my GM employee discount which essentially pays the tax and license (another $950 on the Ion).
Would I recommend this car to someone on the market? Not sure. The dealer experience is terrific, and the car may or may not be, depending on your tastes. As for me, I haven't made up my mind yet. Perhaps its like beer, tastes terrible as a kid, but you grow into it. Maybe its more like the math wiz with poor English skills on the SAT. A stellar math score and a poor English score result in a super-bright kid getting an average grade. Perhaps I'll come to like the Ion, I'm just not quite there yet.
***Update 12/5/03***
I took another long test drive in the Ion, this time a 2004 model (review coming), and then went and bought a Mazda Protege. Saturn improved the interior materials (still not up to class standards, but better than 2003) and the steering feel, however the rebates just aren't what they were last year.
In the end, the Ion 1 ended up costing the exact same amount as the Mazda Protege DX, and the Mazda, while returning poorer fuel economy, just feels like a better car.
Amount Paid (US$): 9400
Condition: New
Model Year: 2003
Model and Options: Ion 1, AC, CD
