I haven’t been terribly interested in Chevy’s compact car, the Cobalt. The styling is so reminiscent of a beached whale except the whale has a better tail fin. But some how, some way, the Cobalt has caught my attention. At least the SS model has. Looks aren’t everything especially when you have the horsepower and handling to put the Honda Civic Passer-by-er in his place.
What’s caught my eye with the Cobalt SS? The engine, the power-train, the price and the performance. The SS is equipped with a dual overhead cam 2.0 liter turbocharged direct injected Ecotec engine capable of 260 horsepower and 260 ft-lbs of torque. Yeah, that’s not a small number for a compact car. You get all that and 22 miles per gallon in the city and 30 on the highway.
And just cause you can get there in a hurry doesn’t mean you can’t stop. Stopping the Cobalt SS are some 12.4″ discs with 4 piston calipers in the front compliments of Brembo and 11.5″ single piston caliper brakes in the rear. But the SS doesn’t stop there, they tuned the suspension too.
But what is the real world aspect of all this? Chevy claims a 0-60 mph time of 5.7 seconds and a car that has .9 Gs of lateral grip. In other words, the Cobalt SS can keep up the last production model year of the SS Camaro (2002). And if you’re unsure about all this you can confirm it on the Cobalt’s LCD screen which can display your 1/4 mile times, 0-60 mph times, or lateral Gs. And don’t think the 5.7 second 0-60 time is due to just horsepower because Chevy uses a no lift shift feature of the car. Which mean you don’t have to lift off of the throttle to shift the gears in the SS just bury the throttle and ratchet through the gears.
The new SS Cobalt can come in one of two forms; a sedan for the family man and a coupe for the less sensible people like me. Each with a starting price of $24,095. So if you can suppress your gag reflex enough to make it past the exterior of the car, your well on your way for getting the most bang for your buck.
All Images © GM Corp.
1 comment so far ↓
Aww… what gag-reflex. I think the exterior is awesome. I love this car. =D
Now, for the Mitsubishi Lancer, I CANNOT suppress my gag reflex… but I’d even get the non-SS Cobalt, just because of how much I love the way they look. I had no idea they packed so much power. Wow.
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