well, drove a buddy’s cobalt ss last night, and i was impressed and not impressed at the same time. it was a bit wierd. the car looks great on the outside in black, and the interior is pretty decent as well for being a chevy. i love the gauges. ok, now for the drive. the clutch and gas pedal feel leaves more to be desired, the clutch felt pretty spongy, and the gas pedal felt kinda iffy…maybe a throttle-by-wire?
so the drive:
first gear SUCKS!!! i was really discouraged.it runs out of rpm in first gear in the blind of an eye, its almost better off starting in second. the car doesnt “FEEL” fast, but then you look down and your doing 80. i dunno, i was expecting it to feel faster. also there isnt too much whine coming from the blower, which i had at least looked forward to hearing. the exhuast note isnt the greatest, and could be a touch louder so the car feels more like they market it to be…fast.
the stick throw was a bit tall, but smooth…i could stand it to be quite shorter, but for those that have seen mine in my car would understand why. i didnt really get to do anything with it to feel how the suspension is, but it is a very smooth ride, which probably is what makes it feel slow, but then you look down and your doing 80. anyway, i was expecting a more thrilling ride and almost feel as though my half-tuned-having to shift at 4k so it doesnt break 10psi homebuilt turbo focus is faster.
definately needs one of the GMPP upgrade packages, then ill re-evaluate.
i dorve OrangeSSs at an auto-x last yr for a fun run…it was good…i wasnt happy with the interior too much…i thought it handled as well as my maxima did but with LSD…the power is def there though
ok, that helps, the kid told me it was 240whp, and i said it didnt feel like it. its not a bad car all aroudn, but it coule be faster and less spongey with the pedals
If you want you could take mine for a spin if you REALLY wanted…it has the GMPP stage 2, for the mad power yo. Also I have the B&M in there so you might like it a bit better than the one you drove. O did that car have LSD because mine does…anyway if you want to drive it just let me know.
My cousin just got a Black 06 Cobalt SS. He got the limited slip option with the recaro seats. I can honestly say I really like this car. The interior is very nice in my opinion (also has 7 speakers with a 10 inch sub in the trunk). Does not look/feel cheap, and the seats hug you nicely. The gauges are easy on the eyes too. Performance wise, I think it’s really good for stock. When he had a good launch, it throws you back nice in first gear, and pulls hard through the RPM’s (def likes the high rpms). It is also the first time i’ve been in a FWD car that didn’t have wheel hop. It almost felt wierd, lol. The SC whine wasn’t hard to hear even with the stock airbox. I am overall very pleased with this car. He went from a plain 99 Cavalier, to an 03 full loaded 5 speed Cavalier with suspension upgrades, to the Cobalt SS. The cobalt in every aspect is a better car.
As far as horsepower ratings, I’ve read that GM rated them at something like [email=“205hp@5600”]205hp@5600 RPM. When it really makes power all the way 6500 RPM.
Here is a dyno graph of a bone stock Cobalt SS with a drop in K&N air filter.
i took a ride in my friends redline (basically the same car) and i must say that i agree on some things and other i dont. like the exhaust tone and the S/C whine is very noticable and sounds even better outside of the car. first and second are very quick, the gears should have been taller def.
he put on a smaller pully and had a computer upgrade and when he went to the dyno he made around 240whp @ 17-18PSI i believe??? the wheels lose traction early in first and some in second now. he went to the track a few weeks ago but i dont know any times he had
i completely agree with most of what iroc said, its definately a solid car, but the clutch/gas pedals arent as “racey” as i expected/would like, and the throw is tall. not to mention first gear in that car has to literally be the shortest first gear i have EVER driven. i beleive it has the LSD, because i had trouble getting it to peel out and such, the kid let me put a decent run through on the car. im sure the gmpp stage2 would REALLY wake this car up, and id love to take one for a spin, if i catch ya at a meet sometime 05orange i might have to take you up on your offer. thats really cool of you to offer.
I’ll prolly be at the next meet with focusinprogress or at least one soon, I would definitely like to check out the SS, unfortunately it seems like it really doesn’t put out that much power for S/C but like you said with the GMPP stage 2 adn some bolt ons I hope it will move a lot better… I like the look a lot, especially the rear end, I actually haven’t taken a ride in any Cobalt SS’ yet tho, just heard a lot about them… but I am defintely curious… I’d take OrangeSS up on that offer for sure if I get a chance…anyways thanks for the offer…
dealer installed= warranty intact…it’s not that bad of a deal…$1000 installed including parts, Im going to order the 2.8 this weekend too…which should make it boost to somewhere around 17lbs.
