![]() The former holds rpm steady for a clutch-dumping takeoff, and the latter allows you to keep your right foot planted during shifts for a satisfying pop from the tailpipe and minimized turbo lag on clutch reengagement. Like the coupe and the manual-equipped HHR SS, the sedan has Chevrolet’s nifty launch control and no-lift shift features. The resulting traction deficit hampers launches, but the SS manages 0 to 60 mph in 5.5 seconds and the quarter-mile in 14.2 at 102 mph. The brake pedal is easy to modulate, and the binders haul the Cobalt down from 70 mph in 163 feet-two feet longer than the last Evo we tested.Ĭompared with competitors like the Evo, though, the Cobalt suffers from two fewer driven wheels. The steering is tight, quick, and pretty chatty. Often, the words “speed-sensitive electric power steering” on a spec sheet mean feedback as clear as Charlie Brown gets from his teacher, but not so in the Cobalt. Primary-control feel, too, is class leading. With such excellent wheel and body control, the ride-and-handling balance demonstrates a level of expertise-dare we say passion?-Chevrolet has heretofore only achieved with the Corvette. At the limit, the Cobalt remains responsive and easily controlled, without sacrificing comfort and confidence on uneven roads the way the Mazdaspeed 3 does. A stable 0.92 g on the skidpad is outstanding for this class. GM is not known for small-car excellence, but if it keeps this up, it will be. All the SS extras that come with the coupe are included on the sedan, meaning the same suspension treatment, the same Brembo front brakes, and the same body mods.Īnd just like the coupe, the SS sedan works remarkably well. A five-speed manual is the only transmission available. Like the coupe, the Cobalt SS sedan is blessed with a 2.0-liter, direct-injection, turbocharged four-cylinder stirring up 260 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque. And now the SS is available with four doors. We took a coupe down to Virginia for our annual Lightning Lap track fest, and it dominated its class, setting a new front-drive record and lapping VIR’s 4.2-mile Grand Course more quickly than a Subaru WRX or Mitsubishi Evolution MR, not to mention plenty of higher-pedigreed and far pricier machinery, including a Honda S2000 CR and the 416-hp Lexus IS F. News flash: The turbocharged Cobalt SS is good. I just wish that the issues I do have with it wouldn't have come about.Chevrolet’s small cars have been so consistently dreary-when was the Vega introduced?-that it’s hard not to greet the arrival of a new one the way we start each Detroit Lions football season: just waiting for the faults to appear and the excuses to start. I was hit in it while driving, and there were no bumps, scrapes or dents left on the back end, and I was highly impressed since I was hit by an SUV. The car has bad gas mileage because of the turbo. It would shake the whole car when the radio was turned up high enough. The car has a large trunk that was great for grocery shopping, and I had an aftermarket subwoofer in it as well. It had several recalls on it that I'm not sure ever were addressed which could have been part of the problem. Overall, the car ran nice and handled well in bad conditions. As time went on, I had the same problem with all four tires. ![]() It kept happening off and on for several months, and it stayed on because it couldn't read the front right tire pressure monitor. It would stay on for a day or two and then disappear. I noticed a month after getting my car that it kept telling me to check my tire pressure. The Chevy SS has a turbo in it that I loved hearing going off while speeding down the street. It had a completed review and was up kept nicely.
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