Spy Shots: Saturn Vue Red Line

With the new Saturn Vue crossover utility vehicle due to hit showrooms soon, GM's not wasting a moment: they're hard at work on the Red Line performance version. The intrepid paparazzi at KGP caught this thinly-disguised test mule driving around Detroit.

The shots reveal that the Red Line will get a much more aggressive front end than the standard Vue, with bigger air intakes and integrated fog lamps like on the Saturn Sky roadster, suggesting this could become a new design element for hotter Saturns. You'll also be able to tell the Red Line version from the ordinary Vue by the mesh grille inserts and dual exhaust pipes.

The new Vue Red Line ditches the Honda-sourced engine of its predecessor in favor of GM's latest sophisticated 250-hp VVT DOHC 3.6-liter V6 driving through the General's Hydra-Matic six-speed auto box. A five-speed stick and all-wheel-drive will also be available. That should make for a pretty hot little package from the brand that not long ago was anything but.

[Source: Winding Road]