Saturn Vue long-term test
Ice Queen takes winter in stride
Our longterm Saturn Vue, which we’ve dubbed The Ice Queen, has proven to be a tough winter warrior.
I know … you’re getting tired of reading about our adventures in the snow with our 2008 Vue XR. But believe me, you’re not as tired as we are of driving in such conditions.
The latest – and most hair-raising – adventure came on Ash Wednesday, when we set off for church 15 km away to attend evening services. When we left our home in the country it was snowing, but that quickly turned into a blizzard with drifting and snow-covered back roads and near whiteout conditions.
For once, Connie didn’t have to tell me to slow down. It seemed the only sensible thing to do on such a dark, miserable night.
Athough our Vue is equipped with all-wheel drive I kept it under 60 on roads with an 80 km/h speed limit. After logging almost two million kilometres (yes, really!) at the wheel, I don’t have to prove how macho I am by pushing the limit in bad weather.
Unfortunately, some people do. We were passed by a subcompact car driven by someone who was determined to do the speed limit no matter what. Luckily for him – or her, visibility was too tough to tell – the little car didn’t end up in the ditch.
Coming home an hour or so later, the storm was even worse. This time Connie shut her eyes tight for the hairiest parts of the trip. But I wasn’t worried. The Vue has had no problem plowing its way along this winter on its Bridgestone Dueler H/T all-season radials. We made it safely home and up the long, steep driveway that has been known to defeat lesser vehicles. Several times this winter visitors have had to leave their wheels at the bottom of the driveway and trudge the 125 metres to our front door.
The Vue never has any trouble going up – or down.
I’m hoping we’ll get to drive the 6-cylinder XR in better conditions before we have to give it back at the end of April. But I’m not counting on it. As I write this, the Weather Network is predicting another storm headed our way with up to 20 more centimetres of snow.
God bless The Ice Queen. We’re glad to have her.
Good Vue over all the snow
Early last autumn, after the Woodcock family had requested a 2008 Saturn Vue as a long-term test vehicle, we got a call from Natalie Nankil, from the product communications department at General Motors of Canada.
Natalie needed to know which options Connie and I wanted on “our” Vue, and which colour it should be painted.
We always ask that our long-term vehicle be optioned just the way most people buy them, so I left that in Natalie’s capable hands. But as to colour, the Woodcocks knew exactly what they wanted.
“That new Sunburst Orange is really cool,” Natalie suggested.
“Nope,” I said. “It should be Ruby Red so it will stand out against the snow this winter.”
We had a good laugh over that, but I’m not laughing any more. We got a Ruby Red Vue XR in late September and except for our first six weeks with the compact crossover, we’ve hardly been able to find it for the snow.
In an earlier update, I said we called our AWD Vue “The Ice Queen” because of its ability to mush through snow, and since that writing we’ve had another major storm out our way, dumping 30 cm of snow we didn’t need.
The Vue, with its all-wheel drive and powerful six-cylinder engine, can handle our long, steep driveway, even when it’s icy or snow-covered. But for other lesser vehicles we get the driveway ploughed. Last weekend marked the 10th time the plough has come to dig us out.
It’s been that kind of winter, and we’ve been glad to have the Vue (and its heated front seats) to see us through.
In my last report I mentioned that Connie had noticed that in really cold weather The Ice Queen’s outside temperature readout might go wacky until the vehicle heated up. That got the attention of GM’ product communications staff, who sent a query off to the engineering department.
Seems this is something other Vues have encountered and Clement Lim, brand quality manager, GM of Canada, had a temporary fix.
“The outside air temperature sensor reading can be updated using the A/C control head (press the A/C and Recirc buttons at the same time) or using the Tech 2 to display the current ambient temperature,” he wrote back. “Do not make any repairs at this time. Engineering is aware of the concern and is working on a software update.”
In the meantime, temperatures have been warmer and the problem has not reoccurred.
Now if only we could say the same thing about the snowy weather.
A new Vue on winter
Our 2008 Saturn Vue XR proved its usefulness the week we got it when it helped us move to a new home back in October 2007. Although it’s a compact crossover, and not one of those monster SUVs, box after box disappeared into its cargo bay with 1,598 litres (56.4 cubic feet) of space available behind the front seats.
I thought at the time how the SUV/CUV has become today’s station wagon – the most versatile vehicle the auto industry has ever devised.
Our Vue proved that versatility again last week when we lugged home a treadmill for Connie, who has become a real fitness buff. If you’re familiar with these machines, you know they’re quite bulky.
We lowered the split rear bench seats (just lift a tab at the top of the seatback cushions and pull forward), creating a perfectly flat load floor. Even so, I didn’t think the treadmill was going to fit.
But then I moved the front seats forward a few centimetres on their tracks, and it rolled right in. My driving position may have been a little scrunched, but the rear hatch was able to close without hitting the treadmill’s metal frame.
In frigid weather it seems to take a while for the Vue’s electronics to warm up. For instance, when it’s really cold it will display a tire pressure warning. But when you stop and check, nothing’s wrong.
We’ve learned to ignore it, because when the Vue warms up, the warning light goes off.
We’ve also noticed that the outside temperature display can be wildly inaccurate when the temperate drops well below zero - a problem that also is rectified as soon as the vehicle warms up.
Nothing major, but something for the Saturn technicians to check next time it’s in for service.
In this recent cold snap our fuel usage also has risen to 13.2L/100 km from the 12.4L/100 km we’d been averaging.
When equipped with standard front-wheel drive, Vue’s fuel tank holds 73 litres. But that shrinks to 63 litres with the all-wheel drive option of our test vehicle. That means more frequent fill-ups, but it’s a trade worth making for the AWD’s go-anywhere ability.
Even in this old-fashioned winter with lots of snow, our Vue has been unstoppable.
Latest News
-
1.
-
2.
-
3.
-
4.
-
5.
-
6.
-
7.
-
8.
-
9.
-
10.