new cobalt ss , ms3's killer ???

[flipstylex]

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/10/28/o...-bows-at-sema/

found this link guys, it might edge out the ms3 as far as being king of sports compact :-(

 

[ForceFed]

Yup..Welcome to last week.

 

[protegeV]

performance yes...fit, finish, functionality(its a coupe)...NO. that is until they come out with the sedan verion(Im looking forward to that)

 

[Brian MP5T]

Meh

 

[Haltech]

Its still a Cobalt in the end... and GM's fit and finish is worse than Fords.

 

[jeg0024]

Welcome!

 

[CHICO2003]

that link sucks.

anyway, no way in hell it'll edge it out. what does it have 260hp? I'm guessing they both weigh about the same so their #s will be similar.

Personally, I've never cared for the cobalt's styling. I know they're trying to go for a 'corvette jr' thing with the taillights but... they just don't work. the rest of the car is so freakin blah it's not even funny. the design of the last gen cavalier, imo, was better. as far as the interior goes... craplastic abounds everywhere. in the end... formidable from a bang for the buck standpoint but... that's about it.

 

[protegeV]

the only thing that'll help the SS is if they can set the price at $19,995 or something under 20.

 

[PeterC]

Ok let's see...less hp, less torque, less displacement, no LSD, probably no torque management, guaranteed worse handling. It's just going to be another Dodge Caliber.

 

[protegeV]

it does have an LSD...or at least an "available" LSD. And to its credit they have something called the "no-lift shift" system that I guess maintains boost during shifts. You figure with the solstice GXP and sky redline running 14.0 and occasionally faster, and with this car being FWD you still looking at low 14s. Less shifting with the 5spd instead of 6 too.

 

[redspeed]

the design of the last gen cavalier, imo, was better.

You are crazy. I'm not a fan of the cobalt, but the cavalier was a real piece of s***. Somehow I like this new cobalt concept, is a REAL step forward, not world class or anything like that but a lot better.

 

[protegeV]

yes, there is a reason they called it the crapolier. MUCH worse than a slobalt.

 

[numbnuts22715]

Theres no telling what this car can do until it comes out.
There ios a possibility that since its a coupe and not a 5 door hatch that it could handle better than the ms3, but we wont know until it comes out.

There's on article saying it beats the nurburgring record by like 13 seconds, and if thats the case, it's going to beat out the ms3 pretty easily, but until the car comes out and gets reviewed by an external source it doesnt have much validity.
I'm excited to see something come out that actually has a chance of giving the mazdaspeed3 a run for its money.

 

[Igve2shtz]

My best friends are all part of the Cavalier/Cobalt crowd, and I cannot agree more that those two cars are about 10 years behind the times in terms of fit/finish.

But, a stock Ecotec can handle about 300 whp (I've seen it). A stock Ecotec is the 2.2L, naturally aspirated version of GM's global 4 cylinder, which the LSJ and LNF are built off of (which power the Cobalt SS and Solstice GXP, respectively).

Ive seen Cobalts with nothing more than a Stage 2 upgrade put down 221 hp at the front wheels on a Mustang dyno. Now, lets assume the new engine is 260 hp, and comes with a Stage 2 upgrade. That will already put the Cobalt close to the 300 crank hp mark. That is where Chevy will win out over the MS3 becuase of their Factory Backed Staged upgrades which can increase power well past 300 hp, all with a warranty. So, already, the engine is better built than an MZR and is more mod-friendly.

I also look to the gearing. The MS3 does not need a 6 speed with so much torque on hand. If you were able to hold power to redline, a 5 speed would be the best choice. This is where the Cobalt SS may shine also because even with less displacement, Chevy has a way of tuning for nice flat torque curves.

If you are looking for an all around car, the MS3 is the winner. But if you want a straight-line performer, I might have to put money on the [future] Cobalt SS. But, that also depends on the driver.

 

[protegeV]

Theres no telling what this car can do until it comes out.
There ios a possibility that since its a coupe and not a 5 door hatch that it could handle better than the ms3, but we wont know until it comes out.

There's on article saying it beats the nurburgring record by like 13 seconds, and if thats the case, it's going to beat out the ms3 pretty easily, but until the car comes out and gets reviewed by an external source it doesnt have much validity.
I'm excited to see something come out that actually has a chance of giving the mazdaspeed3 a run for its money.

like you said, being that its a coupe it probably will handle slightly better than a MS3...but thats the trade-off. A speedy wagon you can use or a "5-seater" coupe thats really only acceptable for 2.

 

[protegeV]

for sure if you want a factory backed performer go with chevy. Ive seen ppl having lots of problems with voided warranty and such on Mazdas b/c of something as trivial as an intake. The dealer tried screwing me on my broken LSD due to "abuse"

I WORK at a chevy dealership(pay no mind to how I might seem to defend the cobalt I am really no fan of chevys at ALL)...I know first hand how easy it is to get away with modifying your car, though it may cary dealership to dealership. Mine is so worried about CSI scores and such they could care less if you modify your car. I had an SS come in a couple weeks ago. 26K miles and it had a bad cat. I drove it and the boost gauge was going up to 18psi and the s/c was howling but it had no power. I found a home made CAI that had the filter about 8" off the ground. A 3' catback with no muffler, just straight pipe coming out of the cat, a REALLY small pulley(thus the boosting to 18psi instead of the normal 8-10), and bigger non-GM injectors. I showed my boss and he said you can either fight it and get a bad score because they also had a problem with the window I had to fix under warranty which they would get a survey for....or I could just put the damn converter on and collect my .8hr...

 

[Rotary_Powered]

On the track I think the cars will be on par perhaps with the cobalt have a slight advantage in the form of less weight (about 200 lbs) and a lower center of gravity. I'd like to see both cars tricked out from their respectively catalogs and then go at it. The time around the ring is no joke I'm sure the MS3 would be no more than a few seconds behind in the hands of the right driver. The last time the MS3 hit the ring for promotion was in the hands of a pro who had not been around the ring before.

 

[CHICO2003]

You are crazy. I'm not a fan of the cobalt, but the cavalier was a real piece of s***. Somehow I like this new cobalt concept, is a REAL step forward, not world class or anything like that but a lot better.

Hey, I never said the cavalier wasn't a piece of s***. I merely said I liked the way it looked better.

In retrospect though... (just googled a few cavs) I take it back. they both suck balls... the cobalt is definitely the better looking of the two though.

which isn't saying much at all... it's just so plain looking.

 

[stevekt]

GM will find a way to **** this up.

 

[Haltech]

for sure if you want a factory backed performer go with chevy. Ive seen ppl having lots of problems with voided warranty and such on Mazdas b/c of something as trivial as an intake. The dealer tried screwing me on my broken LSD due to "abuse"

I WORK at a chevy dealership(pay no mind to how I might seem to defend the cobalt I am really no fan of chevys at ALL)...I know first hand how easy it is to get away with modifying your car, though it may cary dealership to dealership. Mine is so worried about CSI scores and such they could care less if you modify your car. I had an SS come in a couple weeks ago. 26K miles and it had a bad cat. I drove it and the boost gauge was going up to 18psi and the s/c was howling but it had no power. I found a home made CAI that had the filter about 8" off the ground. A 3' catback with no muffler, just straight pipe coming out of the cat, a REALLY small pulley(thus the boosting to 18psi instead of the normal 8-10), and bigger non-GM injectors. I showed my boss and he said you can either fight it and get a bad score because they also had a problem with the window I had to fix under warranty which they would get a survey for....or I could just put the damn converter on and collect my .8hr...

You should void his warranty considering his blower is going to explode being spun that far out of spec. Eaton's blow heat after 12 psi. Spin them over the max rpm and that damn thing is going to go boom! Ive seen a few lightnings explode eatons because of a 2" pulley on the blower shaft and a 6 psi overdrive pulley on the crank. I can only imagine what the oil looks like in that blower.