When Car and Driver gave it the beans, they could hit 60 MPH in seven seconds and go through the quarter-mile in 15.5 seconds at 89 MPH, significant improvements over the old GM supplied V6 from Vue’s past. If you were willing to look past the build quality and ride (which I’ll get to later) between the Pilot and this Saturn Vue, you could get this Saturn Vue V6 for $24,185, a significant discount compared to the Pilot. I find the “innovation to pass service stations” quote a bit cheeky because the only innovation Saturn did was shoehorn a Honda into their Vue.Īt the time, the cheapest Honda you could get this engine is the MSRP $27,590 Honda Pilot LX.
Here are a couple of brochure shots thanks to that shows Saturn advertising this Honda engine.
That was also paired to a Honda 5-speed automatic. The J-series engine is a Honda design that goes way back to 1996 with the basic block architecture of this J35 engine still doing work in current Honda’s like the new Passport and Acura in the RLX.Įngine Code GM L66, this Honda J-series put out an advertised 248 HP at 5,800 RPM and 242 lb-ft at 4,500 RPM. We now know that Saturn in GM got a Honda V6 and Honda got the right to use diesel engines, primarily for the European market, for its smaller cars. GM would use a Honda engine in a future vehicle, and Honda would use diesel engines from GM partner Isuzu Motors Ltd.
According to AutoNews in their report at the time GM also increased its stake in Isuzu from 34% to 49%.Īround that time, GM and Honda disclosed to its shareholders that GM and Honda would work together on a handful of projects, no relation to the increased ownership in Isuzu. Six years prior, a vehicle exchange program between Isuzu and Honda gave us badge-swapped cars like the Honda Passport/Isuzu Rodeo, Acura SLX/ Isuzu Trooper, Honda Odyssey/Isuzu Oasis and the obscure Honda Domani /Isuzu Aska. By 1999 both Isuzu and Honda were already strange bedfellows when it came to vehicle partnerships.
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