Anyone messed with a Saturn Vue?

[CAPTAIN CHAOS]

Anybody here tried working with a Saturn Vue? Any known mods that work/don’t work on this vehicle?
My wife drives a 2004 Vue 2.2 5sp (fwd). It’s a nice roomy, comfortable car (or crossover, I guess) for our family that seems to be pretty decent on gas. She’s been averaging 26mpg with it during her daily commute (70% in town). The cold weather and high winds seem to be conspiring against any better mileage right now though. Still, I can’t help but feel there is a little bit more to be had. She could consistently knock down 30mpg with the Focus ZX3 we had before and even hit 32 numerous times when the weather conditions were favorable (same 70% in-town commute as now). I’d LOVE to get the Vue close to those numbers without any crazy hyper-miler techniques (no EOC or P&G)

Here’s some ideas, anyone tried them? :

-lower front air dam. The factory one seems to go just about as low as the lowest underbody parts. It doesn’t seem that there would be a HUGE amount to be gained here. Who knows though…..

-Grill block-partial/full?? There seems to be a fair number of gaps/holes/openings in the front of this thing. Anyone tried capping off a few of them?

-Hotter running temps? Thermostat change? This thing warms up SUPER fast but it never goes past just barely above a 1/3 of the way up the gauge (no idea what the actual temps are- stupid cold-hot gauges! ). Anyone tried putting in a hotter T-Stat and/or blocking the grill to raise the temps?

-Hot air intake? There’s TONS of room under the hood and it seems like it would be pretty easy to fab something up. I know some cars respond better to this than others. Anyone know how the 2.2 GM Eco-Tec likes warm air?

-regear? I know this falls more into the “major project” category but I’m curious if anyone’s done it. This thing turns WAY high rpm’s out on the road (about 2600rpm@60mph). It’s essentially the same eng/trans that was put into the later Cavaliers/and Cobalts. The Vue, however, has a shorter 5th (.81 vs .69) and a shorter r&p ratio (4.41 vs 3.94 or 3.84 for the Cobalt). Anyone swapped in a 3.94 gearset for the factory 4.41? That should drop the rpms a few 100 on the road and I think this engine would be fine with that. Surely the gearing is costing some mileage.

-uncork the exhaust some. I’ve had some older cars (still EFI) that responded REALLY well to this (as in 2-3mpg’s ) and others that didn’t seem to do a thing. The Focus didn’t gain until I swapped in a full header and even then it was only .5-1mpg. The exhaust on the Vue is SUPER quiet (restrictive???) but doesn’t appear especially restrictive (decent size pipe, minimal bends). Anyone tried?


Things I’ve already done.
-remove roof rack. Already did this one (had to buy a set of security Allen bits to do it-STUPID!). It’s too early to tell what difference this made (been off less than a week); all the previous mpg’s were achieved with it on. However, it is noticeably quieter inside so that rack must have been creating some wicked turbulence up there!

-thinner tires at max pressure. It needed tires anyway so I bought the thinner factory spec tire (215/70-16) as opposed to the fat 235’s that were on it. I run them at 44psi (max sidewall).

Other than that the car is pretty much all stock. We haven’t had it very long so I haven’t really had my hands in it yet- lol.

[darcane]

My wife used to drive an '04 Vue, 4cyl 5spd. So, nearly identical to yours. I didn't do any mods at all to it though.

In her normal commuting, she would get 22mpg, but that is 100% city. On the freeway, we would get 30-33mpg. I never did any sort of hypermiling techniques on this car.

A grill block would help, the grill is way too large (partially to provide enough airflow for the optional V6). But aero tricks won't do much in city driving.

Get an Ultragauge (or scan gauge if you prefer). It will give instant feedback on mpgs and give precise numbers on your coolant temps. This way you can judge how much is too much on the grill block or if a hotter thermostat would help.

I don't think you will gain much, if anything by modifying the exhaust. It has two mufflers, but one is completely straight through and the other is not very restrictive, especially since you won't push that much air through it when driving for economy.

Coasting with the engine on will still provide some gains and is really not "extreme". Coast in neutral down hills or when you see a stop coming up.

[CAPTAIN CHAOS]

Fortunately, my wife is an avid "coaster".
She's probably better at it than me.

I know technique is key to mpg's in town and my wife is already quite good at that (she's averaging 26mpg in a town know as "the stop light city" ). However, the Vue is FAR more comfortable for the family so longer highway trips will probably be taken in it. I'd love to get the overall mpg's up as high as possible. I may just have to toy with it and se what I can accomplish. I'll report in here with any results I can came up with.

[arcosine]

Transmissions are hard to change in Saturns, but a fifth gear swap may work. I don't know the details on the Vue, but the s-series post 98 had a .605 fifth ratio in the MP2 transmission. The ECOTEC engine has a 195 thermostat.

[CAPTAIN CHAOS]

Originally Posted by arcosine

Transmissions are hard to change in Saturns, but a fifth gear swap may work. I don't know the details on the Vue, but the s-series post 98 had a .605 fifth ratio in the MP2 transmission. The ECOTEC engine has a 195 thermostat.

The S-series were before the GM ruin-ation, I mean take-over, of Saturn and are COMPLETELY different animals as far as drivetrain.
The Vue has the 2.2L Ecotec from the L-series and the Cobalt (as well as the later Cavaliers).
From what I’ve gathered, the transmission is the same as the Cobalt except for a shorter OD ratio and a shorter final drive. Presumably this was to compensate for the added mass of the Vue and perhaps allow for mild towing ability (?). However, I think they over-did it as this thing could easily cruise 60 at 2200-2300 rpm without lugging. Swapping to the Cavalier’s 3.94 ratio would put it right in that range w/ the current .81 5th. Problem is, I can’t find anyone that’s done it so I don’t know if there are internal differences that would prevent changing gears.

[arcosine]

Easier to swap the whole transmission, the final drive is integral to the output shaft,at least in the s-series it is, so no can change.

[Arragonis]

Search is your friend.

[Prozac]

And just to note, the Vue's thermostat is 180*, not the 195* that was placed in the cars that came with the 2.2 Ecotec. This is probably due to the engine working a little harder moving the mass of the Vue, especially in automatic form.

[BenArcher006]

This thread is old but I had to revive it so I could get input on whatto do next on my Vue!

I did the full grille block on it, now I'm thinking on making a bigger and lower front air dam! But all the aero mods wont really help me for city driving!

So for city driving what do you guys think?

[dirtydave]

Put a kill switch in that thing. At least to EOC to a red light you know you will hit on red. If she is good at neutral coast this will change the game! Get at least a cheap android phone and a few obd2 apps. If you don't have the cash for a scangauge.