Cobalt SS?

It's not often you hear somebody complain about supercharger lag.

Bryce

the Cobalt really is not a Cavalier...the Cav was crap...the 'balt is not...and the SS is a true flyer. I believe that a very famous racer once said it was the "best handling front wheel drive car" he had ever driven.

maroon92 wrote: the Cobalt really is not a Cavalier...the Cav was crap...the 'balt is not...and the SS is a true flyer. I believe that a very famous racer once said it was the "best handling front wheel drive car" he had ever driven.

No, the Cavalier is not "crap", the people who owned them treated them poorly, just like the people who own(ed) Suzuki Swifts/Geo Metros/Chevrolet Sprints treated them like crap. We have put over 140,000kms on our 2002 4 door autotragic cavalier with ZERO ISSUES. Its now at 197,000kms. And we've owned about 5 of them.

The cavalier was a GREAT car, for its purpose. Cheap, reliable, cheap (did I say that already?) transportation. No, it was not smooth, no, it did not have class leading gas mileage, and no, the build quality was by no means great. BUT there are hundreds of thousands of them being driven as a first car by a younger population (specifically teenage girls) and they do not have issues.

For what it's worth in my quest for a pretty new, fun, fast, and practical daily the battle was between the MS3, Civic Si, MKV GTI, Caliber SRT (hah, don't even bother), and the Cobalt SS. Having tested all of them I chose the GTI. The cobalt has more power and handles better, but it looks and feels like a rental car. The GTI won me over with its much, much higher interior and general build quality, much better ride quality and general driving experience, and the pretty trick DSG trans. The SS would be the better track car for sure, but it's not something I'd want to live with every day compared to the much better options available at the same price point. Even the Mazdaspeed 3 is worlds better interior and quality wise. The Caliber SRT is just a joke, I didn't even test drive one, sitting in it at the dealer was enough to tell me it was garbage.

As far as general cobalts go I've got two friends with base 4 doors that just hate them. They're reliable but just sort of suck as cars.

Also, my wife had an 04 cavalier. It was just as terrible as everyone thinks they were. It drove like an old pickup truck and was falling apart at 80k miles. It's the only car I've ever really regretted buying. It was also the most expensive car to insure I've ever had. Cavaliers were not by any means great cars. They weren't even good at being basic transportation. You're doing everyone on the internet a unforgivable disservice by spreading these lies, HiTempguy. I won't argue that the cavalier wasn't a hugely successful car for GM. They sold them by the thousand. But the car flat out sucked and you can't deny that.

suprf1y wrote:

Feedyurhed wrote:

z31maniac wrote: What about reliability/durability, things to look for when buying a used one? That's more what I'm interested in.

Hate to say it but it's a Cavalier. Have a friend who has a Cavalier, no SS but it's got tranny problems, sqeaks, creaks and leaks. Want's to get rid of it but he's upside down on the loan. Sorry, I would go thumbs down.

You're on a car forum. Learn about cars before you post.

It was early when I posted that........I didn't mean Cavalier I meant COBOLT. So just replace the word Cavalier with Cobolt in my original post.

John Brown wrote:

skruffy wrote: For what it's worth in my quest for a pretty new, fun, fast, and practical daily the battle was between the MS3, Civic Si, MKV GTI, Caliber SRT (hah, don't even bother), and the Cobalt SS. Having tested all of them I chose the GTI. The cobalt has more power and handles better, but it looks and feels like a rental car. The GTI won me over with its much, much higher interior and general build quality, much better ride quality and general driving experience, and the pretty trick DSG trans. The SS would be the better track car for sure, but it's not something I'd want to live with every day compared to the much better options available at the same price point. Even the Mazdaspeed 3 is worlds better interior and quality wise. The Caliber SRT is just a joke, I didn't even test drive one, sitting in it at the dealer was enough to tell me it was garbage. As far as general cobalts go I've got two friends with base 4 doors that just hate them. They're reliable but just sort of suck as cars. Also, my wife had an 04 cavalier. It was just as terrible as everyone thinks they were. It drove like an old pickup truck and was falling apart at 80k miles. It's the only car I've ever really regretted buying. It was also the most expensive car to insure I've ever had. Cavaliers were not by any means great cars. They weren't even good at being basic transportation. You're doing everyone on the internet a unforgivable disservice by spreading these lies, HiTempguy. I won't argue that the cavalier wasn't a hugely successful car for GM. They sold them by the thousand. But the car flat out sucked and you can't deny that.

Compare maintenance costs...

That VW DSG service is a tick under $500.00 every 40k miles.

Service at 10K (2008 prior) is $135.00

Service at 20K (2008 prior) is $245.00

Service at 30K (2008 prior) is $135.00

Service at 40K is $800.00

Service at 50K is $135.00

Service at 60K is $495.00

Service at 70K is $135.00

Service at 80K is $1150.00

restart at 10K ;)

These prices are approximate using prices of cars I have serviced this week.

...not having to drive a cobalt: priceless

I drove the SS/SC in anger at a couple of GM events and I loved the power delivery of that engine. I believe Recaros=LSD, so if you the seats have a blue or red insert the car probably does not have the LSD. Why the SS coupe won't make my list: 1) Poor rear vision, I need to parallel park everywhere in SF 2) Huge heavy old Camaro like doors that are guaranteed to smash any vehicle parked next to me in a lot. 3) Too big for a coupe, should be about a foot shorter in length. Once the turbo sedan prices drop I will re-consider.

are the Cobalts related to the new Saturn Opel, or even close ?????

never drove one but big thumbs up on the car, I prefer the sedans.

I got an 09 SS sedan 2 months ago. So far I'm loving it

I had to scour the country to find a 4 door, non-sunroof, with limited slip, but I got one!

I've put 6000 miles on it so far. It's first track outing comes in 2 weeks. It is SOOO much faster than my 98 Neon RT's that I'm moist with anticipation.

GTwannaB wrote: I believe Recaros=LSD, so if you the seats have a blue or red insert the car probably does not have the LSD. Why the SS coupe won't make my list: 1) Poor rear vision, I need to parallel park everywhere in

05-06 yes recaros = lsd. For what its worth the recaros hurt my back, but i have two sliped disks. The normal ss seats are fine for hours. My Kirkey in the dwarf is okay for about 15-20 laps...we race 25 to 30...

Hey i forgot about the dumb ass kiddy wing. i had a LT wing on hand before i got my car. Paint still matches purfect. One of my good e-bay finds.

44

Stealthtercel wrote: There was an SS sedan parked near me the other day (which makes it turbocharged and an 09 only, I think). It was your basic plain white. Unless you looked at how the wheels filled the fenders (and who does that except people like us?), it came across as an airport rental at best. Complete invisibility has got to be worth something. Meanwhile, you've got an engine that puts out as much hp per cc as the latest Ferrari everybody's all goo-goo about.

Know a guy who has one, I wasn't all that impressed with it.

You can get the SS with the little wing and no body kit, or at least you could when it was SC. My dad's may be bright-ass yellow, but it looks like the normal car with the little wing.

I have a friend with a SC/SS and I have had the chance to drive it (wish I had 4 door SS instead of the Sonata) and sure the interior shows a bit of wear and it could be better but you get the feeling that the car designer said “wait hold on a minute guys lets just this once give the engineers some money and let them have fun with the car.”

The wing on these things is RETARDED. Neat little car though.

skruffy wrote: ...not having to drive a cobalt: priceless

Beat me to it..

bequietanddrive wrote: The only downside I can think of is that every Cobalt SS owner I see around here is some giant flat brimmed sideways hat wearing thug wannabe. Just a thought.

I had one the other day.. cruising down the highway 5 over the limit in my BMW when he zooms up quickly in my rearview (I am in the slow lane) and squirts over before impacting my back bumper.. gets on the brakes and pulls even with me.. gives me a E36 M3 eating grin, drops it down a gear, and takes off.. all while hurting my ears with his ricer melonshooter exhaust.

No, I did not take the bait

I sold my WRX, partially because neither my wife nor I could even drive to town and back without people trying to start some E36 M3 in traffic. Every kid in town wants to race.

I imagine that the SS would be the same way.

It sounds like a good DD on paper, but I prefer a fast sleeper.

For performance - $ ratio, the turbocharged cobalt cannot be beat. It will keep up with an Evo X around Laguna Seca. Scary thought. The supercharged one...meh. Id take a look at the 8th gen Civic Si insted. Great ergonomics, interior, tame when you need it, glorious when you work it. Best compromise car in the price range I would say, can even be had with 4 doors.

I have heard good things about the cobalt ss, actually enough that I breifly considered buying one (not too long after the 4 door ones came out), until i went ot the dealer and asked about them, and weas informed that every one that they got was sold in less than a day, and that gm had decided to stop producing them. That was enough to make me go back to not being a GM customer (we have 2 gm vehicles, but i dont like either of them), although id consider buying a cobalt ss sedan when they get cheaper. I doubt the interior can be any worse than the current vw stuff though. lol

I think it's a fair statement to say thatthey picked up throaty of the market that the departure of the neon srt-4 left.

Except for being driven by the wrong pair of wheels they drive out very nicely. And they can be had fairly cheaply.

Varkwso wrote: Except for being driven by the wrong pair of wheels they drive out very nicely. And they can be had fairly cheaply.

I lost my copy, but I believe it was C+D that did a big lay out on the new turbo ss as well as its creator John Heinricy and a little bio on him.

He used to be the chief engineer for the corvette as well as head of gm performance for a bit in addition to driving many GM's in SCCA road racing. The redesign of the ss in turbo form apparently was his pet project, there are more differences than just the motor swap. He also said they are running almost identical track times as his C4 when he was racing and developing them.

I have a friend who just bought the turbo ss, it has a built in lateral g-meter....

I want a tan 4 door, debadged no wing and wide steelies.

I did an interview with John Heinricy. He was a really cool guy to speak with. I could probably post it here if people asked real nice. (and gave me a brazilion dollars)