fergyflyer

Chevrolet introduced their new Cobalt SS to the press at Buttonwillow racetrack in California.

The car has some really neat features, including a stability control system that induces a slight amount of oversteer. No matter how hard some journalists tried to get the car to understeer, the computer, in conjunction with the brakes would not allow it, the car just rotated and pointed towrds the direction you wanted to go and went.

The brakes are Brembo's at all 4 corners with vented and slotted rotors on the front. Brake feel was excellent and the car stopped without fade after multiple hard stops.

The interior features Recaro seats with a suede like cloth in the center. They were extremely grippy on the road course and all day comfortable.

The car has traction control coupled with a throttle by wire system. The car also has a no lift on the gas pedal shifting system. You step on the clutch while leaving the throttle wide open and shift. The computer holds the car at 4500 rpms for a perfectly smooth up-shift to the next gear. They even discuss this in the owners manual, so it's ok to shift like this and then take the car in for warranty work.

The power comes from a 2.0 Liter VVT turbocharged Ecotec that makes 260 hp, a 55hp improvement over the supercharged SS.

Chevy didn't release official times, but hinted that they would be in the low 5's to 60 and in the upper 13's in the 1/4 mile. What they did do was bring some cars to compare the Cobalt to. They brought the Civic SI, Mazdaspeed 3 and Rabbit GTI which the Cobalt easily out ran on the track. What was real impressive was the rear drive competition that GM brought to the track, a 350Z and a Mustang GT. Yep you guessed, it most most drivers were faster in the Cobalt than the Mustang GT and even the serious track car, the 350Z.

The cars base price is in the 23,000 range and the car has everything mentioned here, plus On-Star, head and side curtain airbags, Stabilitrac, a Driver Information Center, a tire pressure monitoring system, a 228 watt sound system, power windows, locks and trunk release, XM, steering wheel controls for the radio and cruise control, and 18 inch aluminum wheels.

All this and the car gets over 30 mpg highway.

Sport and Compact Car said it's good to see that GM is finally getting serious about the compact car segment.

Looks like we have a serious contender here with this thing. With it being turbocharged the mods will come easy. This just might be a good replacement for my Cavalier. I've gone from 37,000 miles when I bought it in October to 60,000 miles now. Come fall I might do an SS driver and a Z06 fun times car.

 

Aramz06

Awesome, You had me at low 13's, but 30 mpg is just insane. This looks like its GM's reply to the GTI . I just told my brother about it and his V6 mustang's Lease is ending this year, and he is seriously considering this as soon as its released. This would be such a fun project car. Its RWD correct? Either way thanks for the news were looking forward to it

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With 400 hp, I'm proud to say I have ZERO TRACTION

Wing_Nut

GM is on a roll. Caddy, Chevy, Buick, Saturn, Pontiack, & GMC all have some very nice product. Finally, GM gets it. It's all about the product.

Thanks Bob Lutz.

fergyflyer

It's still a front driver. They have stability control and it's program is set up to rotate the rear end during aggressive driving, just like you would expect from a rear driver. I'm guessing like the Corvette they have a competitive driving mode for the stability/traction control. That's why everyone from the press were trying to get it to understeer. It just wouldn't plow.

NJSierra

Pontiac needs to put the ole turbo on the G6 GXP! I drove one and it is a nice car inside and out. A little more horses and it would be a great car!!!

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fergyflyer

The G6 GXP has 252 hp from it's 3.6L V6. I'm thinking the extra 8 hp is hardly going to be felt and the torque loss will definately be felt going from the V6 to the turbo 4.

Now Caddy has a direct injection version of the 3.6 V6 that has just over 300hp. That's what they need to stuff into the Pontiac.

They also should do a version of the coupe with the 2.4L 4cyl. They might be able to get the starting price for the G6 below 20,000 with that. They could then have a strong competitor to a 4cyl Accord coupe and the pricing is in the same range as the Civic so they might steal some Civic buyers too. I'm sure the extra MPG from the 4cyl would help their overall CAFE too.

Rukee

I think he was suggesting they turbocharge the V-6, or twin turbos even.

scg87

It's still FWD, so it still doesn't interest me, but def a cool little car....

fergyflyer

Yeah, I see now!!!! That would work out great. Work the suspension magic they did on the Coby on the G6 GXP and with 325 to 350 hp You got an impressive package. You could have the Coby beating up on the 350Z and Mustang GT for thousands less, and the G6 beating up on the EVO and STI for thousands less. The G8 GT beating up on the Hemi 300C and the Charger RT, and the G8 GXP beating up on the SRT cars for thousands less.

scg87

The Cobalt SS is not beating up on any 350Z or GT stock for stock. A turboed GXP wouldn't touch an Evo or STi. The cars are completely different niches anyway.

The last two parts I agree w/.....