New Chevy Cobalt SS....Turboed

[Rock36]

http://www.motortrend.com/features/a...o_hhr_panel_ss

The title says it all really, but here is the skinny. They are predicting 0-60 in 5.7 seconds with lateral Gs at 0.9 with a solid 8:22 on the Nurburgring which set the lap record for front drive sports compact cars.

It has 260bhp@5300 rpm and 260 ft-lbs @2000 rpm, and weighs in at pretty light 2975lbs too.

That kind of power to weight ratio makes me think it will be a tad quicker to 60mph than 5.7 and can muster a quartermile in the high 13s with a skilled driver who knows how to drag a FWD car.

[DGthe3]

Never really liked the cobalt but this thing is pretty respectable. I don't understand the HHR SS though.

[Power Junkie]

I'm betting it torque steers like a biatch!!!

[TAG UR IT]

Meh...if you are going to turbo it, at least make it look a little more appealing.

[Dave McFly]

It sounds like a nice little car, but i was under the impression that GM was dropping the SS badge for the cobalt and just calling it the Sport? I was at my local chevy dealer on friday to order a part and they had a Cobalt Sport which has the same engine, wheels and rear wing as the non supercharged SS model. other than the Sport badge it looked identical to the standard SS coupe.

[stovt001]

For 2007 they had the SS with the 2.4L engine, and the SS Supercharged with the 2.0L supercharged engine. For 2008 two things changed: Chevy temporarily dropped the SS supercharged while they developed the new SS we see here, and secondly they decided to stop watering down the SS name by placing it on cars that are less than hardcore, hence the "lesser" SS is now the Sport. Works for me. I feel the new turboed Cobalt is worthy of the SS badge, barely.

Now I have what I'm sure is a really stupid question. When it is answered, I know it will be a big "duh" moment. What do they mean by "no lift" for the transmission?

[DGthe3]

I think it means that you don't have to lift off the gas, I think.

And for the cobalt, I would love to see them redesign it to a rear drive, with just enough room to cram a small block up front. And then call it a Chevy III. None of thats gonna happen but I can dream right?

[stovt001]

I heard rumors a loooong time ago Chevy would get a variant of the Solstice/Sky and it would have a V6. I doubt that though... I also heard rumors that the Pontiac G5 might be replaced my a small RWD car. We'll see if the Solstice Coupe (see thread on that subject) fills that void. In any case, the Cobalt is the obvious alternative to a Corolla or Civic, and it makes perfect sense to keep it FWD. However, I see no purpose at all for the G5, and given rumors that Pontiac wants to switch to full RWD, I don't see much ahead in the G5's future.

[stovt001]

Oh, and if you're right about not lifting off the gas...then cool. That could be a nice feature.

[Mr. Wyndham]

I believe the "no-lift" is sort of a designed power-shift feature...
You shift gears without ever easing up on the gas...except this car is designed for it.

I've got a 150 hp Cobalt (Pics very, very soon)...I can only imagine another 110 hp...

[Dave McFly]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

I believe the "no-lift" is sort of a designed power-shift feature...
You shift gears without ever easing up on the gas...except this car is designed for it.

I've got a 150 hp Cobalt (Pics very, very soon)...I can only imagine another 110 hp...

i just have to ask, how is the electric steering apposed to having it being driven by a pulley on the engine? I hear from different people that it feels 'numb', how do yours feel. and since the HHR is based on the cobalt platform i am sure it has the same type of steering correct? as for a daily driver, I would NOT mind a Cobalt Sport with the 170 hp engine.

[stovt001]

I get decent feedback in my Cobalt LS with the electric power steering, but it is not "good", just average I'd say. I like the heavier weighting on the steering though, but that's just personal preference. With 148 hp my car is fast enough for a student-budget daily driver. I drove the NA SS with 170hp for Chevy's Rev It Up and it was a lot of fun to drive. I also drove the HHR there, and the steering seemed slightly better to me.

[Mr. Wyndham]

The steering is a little...er, soft, I guess? the connection to the road isn't very direct.

But it's smooth as silk, it's effortless, and it frees up horsepower form the engine, so I'm more than happy with it. The great thing is, that it seems to adjust to your speed. up on the highways, the steering is much more stiff, than when you're driving around town.

And if you sit in your driveway, and try to turn the wheel, you don't need to tug and pull like you're ringing a church bell...with the force of my index finger, I can turn the wheels from stop to stop. And it frees up horsepower.

That's my take on it....

[EllwynX]

Originally Posted by Dragoneye

The steering is a little...er, soft, I guess? the connection to the road isn't very direct.

But it's smooth as silk, it's effortless, and it frees up horsepower form the engine, so I'm more than happy with it. The great thing is, that it seems to adjust to your speed. up on the highways, the steering is much more stiff, than when you're driving around town.

And if you sit in your driveway, and try to turn the wheel, you don't need to tug and pull like you're ringing a church bell...with the force of my index finger, I can turn the wheels from stop to stop. And it frees up horsepower.

That's my take on it....

I actually prefer my steering to feel a bit tight.

Ok, dumb question, what did my '02 Camaro have (now that it's brought up, it's not something I ever thought about)? IIRC I had an option that actually made the steering tighter, but I forget what the option was exactly. I believe it was the same option that gave it dual outlet exhaust (it was a V6).

Other people always commented how tight the steering was (they didn't really like it), but I loved it. I hope the new Camaro has nice tight steering as well.