2009 Saturn Vue 2 Mode Hybrid First Drive! (finally)

lol...'cause mild hybrids are usually hopeless. If GM spent time and money working with Daimler, Chysler, and BMW on the 2 mode hybrid, they should use it and make sure that the public recognize it.

The 2 mode system is simple yet revolutionary, and it deserves its recognition.
As a matter of fact, if it were put in a Hummer, than Hummer can further emphasize its original "Like No Other" slogan.

World of Lux,

The mild hybrid system is great in theory. If GM could have made it cheap enough they could have put it on every car they sold, which would save HUGE amounts of fuel. But trying to sell that against the Civic and Camry hybrids is just idiotic it will always be a league behind, just by design

damikco I said "finally" because this model was due out some time ago, and as usual, GM is late to the party.

Its actually 37.5% city and 15% hwy in real life driving.

Last years the Vue and other comparable suvs were in some car magazine? I can't remember? The Vue's hybrid against other suv's, and guess what vehicle had the worst on actual mpg! Yes the vue was the least efficient! The 2009 isn't any better really. There is a guy named Johnathan Goodwin that make a Hummer get 60mpg and he has grade 7 education! There are too many educated people that can't think outside the box like this guy! And this is what chevy gives us! Ineficient and underpowered! Just compare this vue to PML's mini cooper! PML's car has 640bhp,four hours of battery time, regenerative brakes,supercapasitors, and when the 4 hours of batteries run out and the generator kicks in it achieves 80mpg! Now try and tell me that any of the companies have anything that can compete with this car.Maybe we must force the gov. to allow these efficient powerful cars on the road! There must be a conspiracy theory! The companies couldn't be this dumb!

The Vue was also the cheapest hybrid in the test, the price difference may or may not have made up for the cost of gas. When the 'mild' hybrid was introduced gas was relatively cheap. At $4 a gallon gas the initial price savings becomes much less important than the reduced mileage.

What is the point of making a hybrid if it isn't good on gas? The whole point is that the Vue was the only hybrid out of all the comparable suvs and it was the worst on gas! And this Vue is virtually the same on gas. What am I missing to get de-boosted? Do you feel bad because you bought this gas guzzler? You should have opted to but something better on gas with more power like the V-6 Rav-4!lol

truckman, nice try on flame baiting me but it isn't going to work. I don't own a Vue, I do own a 2008 Escape V6 2wd that I love. I am merely pointing out that you are missing a big point of initial cost vs operating cost. The last gen Vue greenline actually got very good gas mileage compared to the non hybrid models. It got beat by the Escape hybrid (who has the best SUV gas mileage period) and maybe a few others (RAV4). The idea behind the mild hybrid is that you get to conserve some fuel and don't have to pay a huge premium to do so.

I'm glad they showed that the 2-mode hybrid transmission does work on small vehicles than the full-size SUVs. Now throw it in the Impala, CTS, DTS/STS replacement, & new Equinox/SRX....spread the costs to build to lower the costs to the consumer.

inspirion7
How do you figure there late to the party and use the word finally, since they are the first to use this technology and have already won many engineering awards? All you've done is show you're anti american car agenda! Typical for auto journalist which doesn't make you unique!