Let's talk about Chevy Cobalt SS (Turbo 2008-2010)

MINIzguy said:

Ok, how well do they autocross in stock form?

Thinking Konis, rear sway bar and as much tire I can fit on stock wheels.

They do pretty well stock, although they're classed slightly unfavorably in DS.  I personally feel they should be moved to GS as they are very comparable to the Focus ST.

You'll definitely want the Powell XXX sway bar for the route you're describing.  Keep in mind that the Koni's for the front are inserts, so you'll have a bit of work to swap them in.  The directions that came with my Konis would have had me trimming the old shock body down too far, so check your measurements closely.  You need to be sure the stabilizing 'tabs' on the insert go into the shock body.

FooBag said:

MINIzguy said:

Ok, how well do they autocross in stock form?

Thinking Konis, rear sway bar and as much tire I can fit on stock wheels.

They do pretty well stock, although they're classed slightly unfavorably in DS.  I personally feel they should be moved to GS as they are very comparable to the Focus ST.

You'll definitely want the Powell XXX sway bar for the route you're describing.  Keep in mind that the Koni's for the front are inserts, so you'll have a bit of work to swap them in.  The directions that came with my Konis would have had me trimming the old shock body down too far, so check your measurements closely.  You need to be sure the stabilizing 'tabs' on the insert go into the shock body.

Nothing a letter to the SEB can't fix. I was looking at the dimensions and specs of the Cobalt vs GTI vs FoST and they are very similar. Then looking at the current DS cars, it has nothing against a Camaro, WRX and the potential CTR.

In reply to FooBag :

I have read that Quaife made the LSDs.

Agree 100% on recommendation of Powell springs and rear bar. These transformed my car's willingness to turn, with a slight improvement in ride quality. Mine has 33,000 miles and a dozen track days and has been trouble-free. I've taken several long trips without undue pain.

I hate this forum. Will pick one up next week. Quickest car decision ever, from Thursday evening to Saturday morning.

They use the LNF Ecotec engine as do the Solstice/Sky, and HHR.  There is a factory GMPP tune available and with after market turbos and tunes, anything up to 500 bhp + is available.

Less driveline loss in the Cobalts but OTOH they have less rugged clutches/transmissons.  These cars seem to have been the darling of young guys that want to burn lots of rubber so a lot have been well trashed - looks like you got a nice one, though.  Expect they will continue to become rarer as time passes.

The LNF is the SC or the Turbo engine?

Jaynen said:

The LNF is the SC or the Turbo engine?

turbo

I've been interested in the HHR SS version of these. Not enough to actually buy one. I only get to buy a car when I have to, and all of ours run fine. 

This forum is such a bad influence. I picked mine up today!

In reply to MINIzguy :

Congrats!! That's a nice looking car! The one I was looking at got in a minor fender bender, but I have al ine on another. I sure love the 4 doors, different body lines with the lower trunk look pretty cool. 

Any more pictures? Have you gotten out and on it?

I happen to have a cold-air intake for one of these in my basement.

Pay shipping and its yours. #GRMlove

Looks very good.  Same color as my coupe.  I predict you will be pleased.

accordionfolder said:

In reply to MINIzguy :

Congrats!! That's a nice looking car! The one I was looking at got in a minor fender bender, but I have al ine on another. I sure love the 4 doors, different body lines with the lower trunk look pretty cool. 

Any more pictures? Have you gotten out and on it?

Did a 1st gear pull and it's quick. It needs an oil change, and a bunch of little maintenance first. Driven it maybe 20 miles. I need to give it a good checkup but that'll be for this weekend.

accordionfolder, I sent you a PM through the site but unsure if it'll go through.

I'm interested in buying OEM FE5 springs from an 08-10 Cobalt. Does anybody on this site have them or know of any leads?

NickD said:

ZombyCougar Woofencamp said:

No.

 

Excellent cars that got zero respect here because some people can't look beyond that great big bowtie on the front.

I think part of the problem was that these cars came out when GM was tossing around performance badges on some real clunkers (Malibu Maxx SS, G6 GXP, Vue Red Line) and cheapening the breed, and the Cobalt SS got grouped in with them

That and the Cobalt was the replacement for the Caviler so they didn't exactly inspire confidence. 

They're neat in their own way much like the SRT4. I always liked it's Ion twin.

So I've been driving my Cobalt for 2 weeks now. With my 100mi/day commute, miles are adding up fast. 1500 miles and it's clicked over 158k already! Also did my first autocross with it. Bone stock, on 3 different brands of all-seasons, and it is awesome. I wish my E36 could rotate this easily.

Seems solid so far. Any tips on making this thing last for a long time? 200k will come in about 2 years and that is a high number.

Sold mine with over 250,000 miles on it.  The turbo seals went at about 200k.  Otherwise just routine oil changes, air filter, spark plugs.

My C5 goes (to my son) at the end of the month. I'm considering one of these as a daily. Have my eye on a one owner 09 with low mileage. Nothing is selling right now so I'm watching the price drop before I make the move.

Wife had an 06 Cobalt. It was the most reliable care we've ever owned.

I found Cobalt buyers to be a different breed. When I was unsure of it and wanted to sell it last winter, every potential buyer besides one needed a loan. And mine was listed at $5500, so it wasn't an insanely high price.

I got my basic maintenance covered now. Did anybody have rust issues (I'm guessing parker didn't cause he's in Texas) since they don't really have any type of rock guard on the underbody? I don't want this thing to disintegrate after one NJ winter.

Do not pass go, do not collect $200. Oil spray it immediately.

That's the reason we sold ours. It still ran great and the person we sold it to is still driving it but it's getting really rusty. Look at your fuel lines, they especially get rusty near the rear wheel. I fixed ours then my (other) Son's about a month ago and his car was really clean two years ago when he bought it. I told him to spray it and he didn't.

I've seen a lot of supercharged SS cars lately well under challenge price and I think it would be a real easy car to make reasonably fast on a budget

I was pleasantly surprised by the handling of the Cobalt SS that I raced at Rev It Up years ago, and that was the suspension package without the turbocharger.  I have seen really clean versions around here for cheap and wanted to pick on up, you all are not helping.  

Oil spray. Got it! Guess I'm buying some Krown rust proofing cans and going at it once it starts cooling down. Closest Krown place to me in ~2hrs away.

Had the fuel line problem already and replaced everything with nylon lines. Mine isn't that rusty but damn those lines were bad.

Not sure how the supercharged ones compare to the turbo ones. It's supposed to be a completely different suspension, but I'm not sure to what degree.

06HHR said:

accordionfolder said:

The real issue with these is the bolt pattern 5x110 - no wide race wheels seem to exist for them. I'd like to get at least 255s or better under it....

They used to run these in the GrandAm Street Tuner class.  IIRC some of the teams swapped hubs to the larger G6/Malibu size so they could run Enkei RPF01's.  Really wanted one of these back then, nice score!

EDIT: i think it was a factory approved modification, found this old picture for reference

They probably went to the larger hubs for the larger bearings.  The Cobalt stuff is weenie sized.

pinchvalve said:

I was pleasantly surprised by the handling of the Cobalt SS that I raced at Rev It Up years ago, and that was the suspension package without the turbocharger.  I have seen really clean versions around here for cheap and wanted to pick on up, you all are not helping.  

I did the same thing when Rev it up was at Englishtown. There was no line so I asked if I could go again and they said "Sure!" so I did, over and over and over for hours. Then when the tires were scrubbed off they got me another car to continue!  I liked the way the Cobalt SS handled and keep my eye out for a cheap one.

the Rev it up thing was a good event IMO. I'm light so I held fast time of day in the pretend drag strip thing for most of the day, think they had a Malibu or some other appliance for that segment. Vette was fun but course was too short and tight for a car like that.

MiniZ are you still looking for stock springs? If so, PM me.