Stopped by a Chevy dealership yesterday to kill some time after I dropped my wife off to have lunch with her friends, and checked out a Cobalt SS. First impressions, nice enough looking, has all th e nice stuff we ll want right out of the box. (Pioneer stereo with subwoofer and XM, leather interior, sub-dubs and 45 series rubber, sunroof, all for under $25k) I wasn't incredibly impressed that the sunroof sunshade was jammed in place neither open or closed, but that's a minor thing that can be fixed I guess, it just felt cheap compared to the PT Cruiser. I hated the view out of the back with the high deck and the sangle of the window making visabilty bad even by Fiero GT standards. The car looks like a hatchback, but it has a trunk that is pretty huge with a trunk lid that renders the trunk fairly useless. Anything wider then 18 inches is going to have to go through the fold down back seats. That sucks.
The salesman was a kid who gave me the keys without even asking to see a drivers license, so I knew that it was time to have some fun with it.
Driving it, it was hard to get used to getting it going without spinning the tires. Probably due to it being 2 years since I had my 4 speed GT, but also since the thing seems to make a pretty ungodly amount of torque with no traction control apparently. I was spinning the tires in first and second as I took off into traffic. It seemed to have some jizz to it, but you had to get it in the right gear. Big difference from driving the Fiero with the L67 and the slushbox, where instant acceleration is always just a heavy right foot away. Also, the suspension wasn't quite as crisp as I would like, but the ride was nice. It pushed pretty hard going through turns. I went through a Texas turnaround at about 50, which in retrospect probalby wasn't the best idea, but it did stay with it. It just felt like the front wheel was going to fold under.
All in all, I think it's a nice idea, and I'm glad that GM has that sweet sweet sweet supercharged Ecotech engine and the tranny is a very smooth shifting piece, but I think I'd pass. I think the Saturn Ion Red Line is much better packaged with it's larger trunk opening and it's rear "doors", and it costs $3k less. Of course, I didn't get to drive the Ion as they didn't have any Red Lines in stock at the Saturn dealer, and according to Car and Driver the platform was much improved for the Cobalt. Hopefully Saturn can adapt some of thse refinements cheaply and keep it a nice deal.
Punished a Cobalt SS.
Moderator: crzyone
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crzyone
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I havn't seen an SS yet, but I can't stand the looks of the cobalt. It looks extremly narrow, and the ass end sticks up way to high. It just looks cheap from the outside.
Its also to expensive, its more than an SRT-4 for less performance and less upgradability. I guess if you NEED 2 doors, its your only cheap option for a quick new car around $22k
Its also to expensive, its more than an SRT-4 for less performance and less upgradability. I guess if you NEED 2 doors, its your only cheap option for a quick new car around $22k
RSX man!
crzyone wrote:I havn't seen an SS yet, but I can't stand the looks of the cobalt. It looks extremly narrow, and the ass end sticks up way to high. It just looks cheap from the outside.
Its also to expensive, its more than an SRT-4 for less performance and less upgradability. I guess if you NEED 2 doors, its your only cheap option for a quick new car around $22k