2004 Saturn VUE AWD Red Line cont...
Oddly enough, the reluctance our Red Line's tires had for off-road adventuring probably saved its understructure from the sort of hammering the Chevy Equinox's better off-road tires invited. Frequently, our team would start off for a distant point of interest, trundle a bit, and then decide it might be wise to park the Saturn. Then we'd ramble a bit farther and park the taller Chevy, finishing the venture packed into the Escape and Santa Fe.
What separated the stopping locations of the VUE and Equinox (which rolls on a 5.9-inch-longer version of the same platform) was the Saturn's lower height. But what specifically parked them was concern about a particularly low-hanging (and blunt-faced) chassis box section that locates the rear suspension's trailing links. Both vehicles sustained evidence of repeated impacts exactly there, removing the paint from the Saturn's and positively puckering the Chevy's.
Of the quartet, the VUE Red Line was, to be perfectly honest, the only genuine performance grin-maker on the tarmac. Our test numbers bear that out, with a 0-to-60 best of 7.4 seconds, a stopping distance from that speed of 128 feet (11 fewer than the Escape), and skidpad laps that would do a sport sedan proud (0.81 g). Basically, comparing the VUE Red Line's athleticism with the others is like dynamiting fish in the performance barrel. While the terrific Honda V-6 can be had in the VUE sans the Red Line treatment, it sure seems logical packaged with it.
At rest, however, the VUE can be less convincing. Open the door, and you'll notice that the jamb is awkwardly black-painted and sprinkled with big screw heads. Climb in, and the door pull you'll grasp is disagreeable plastic, as are the flat, nearly featureless door panels.
The design of the interior is either refreshingly unique or just plain peculiar. For those who fondly remember the Klingons, it's a homecoming. The rest of us probably will see just a jumble of forced angularity, topped off by a steering wheel that might work better in a Pontiac. It's one of those "individual" things.
Lavished in its neon paint color, the Saturn VUE Red Line looks like a full-size version of a Hot Wheels car we might've stood before, agape, as a kid. For some, it's the car for the kid in us now.