2009 Chevrolet Cobalt

Many cars are so middle-of-the-road in so many ways that nothing about them, good or bad, is memorable. Then there's the Chevrolet Cobalt SS.

Chevrolet Cobalt SS Styling

The Cobalt isn't a bad-looking car...if you stand 50 feet away and view it with 2004 eyes from an angle that doesn't include the front end. Unfortunately, it's necessary to get much closer to drive the car, and you can't always approach it from the rear quarter, where the coupe's clean sweep of a roofline comes off to best effect. Once you've seen the wide, uneven gaps around the googly headlamps, it's hard to forget them. At least the "look at me I'm 17" rear wing is now optional rather than standard.

The most powerful Cobalt is finally available as a sedan this year. The sedan is less stylish than the coupe, since it lacks the sweeping roofline.

Every time you get in the Cobalt, the hard plastic oval door pulls will answer "Can the interior of the Mk IV Jetta be reproduced for half of VW's cost?" with "no, no it can't." The other interior surfaces don't rise much above the dime store door pulls. If you coat cheap plastic with silver paint, it still looks cheap, Cheaper, in fact.

Chevrolet Cobalt SS Accommodations

Silver paint notwithstanding, there is one bright spot in the Cobalt SS' interior. Make that two: the front seats. They're more comfortable than the compact norm, and provide excellent lateral support in hard turns.

In back, space is limited, especially in the coupe. Even compared to other current compacts (they've all gotten larger and larger) the Cobalt is not a roomy car.

Trunk space is at least up to the class average, and the rear seat folds to open up additional space when needed.

Chevrolet Cobalt SS Performance

Every penny saved on the interior went into the engine. The original Cobalt SS' supercharger has been dumped in favor of a turbo abetted by direct injection. Literage remains 2.0, but peak horsepower jumps from 205 to 260. And this power isn't all up high: torque reaches 260 foot-pounds at 2,000 rpm, and stays there until just before the 5,300 rpm power peak.

This isn't the best engine-or car-for doing what most Cobalt's do best: toodle around town. Get on the throttle, then change your mind, and the engine gives a little kick when the boost you requested a second ago-but no longer desire-arrives anyway. The manual shifter is better than GM's usual stick-in-a-bucket-of-balls, but smooth shifts aren't effortless in casual driving. Sadly, there are only five ratios; a sixth would improve performance and/or highway fuel economy. Road noise is on the high side, and the ride can get busy. (Much more livable than a late model Evo or STI, though.)

But who buys a track-tuned 260-horsepower compact for grocery runs? Go for big numbers on the goofy-looking but addictively entertaining pillar-mounted "Performance Display" and good stuff happens. From the engine, there's none of the on-off behavior that once defined high-pressure turbos. Boost comes on smoothly, with a clearly audible whistle but no sudden surges and little lag. This refinement isn't all for the best: the Cobalt's 2.0 doesn't deliver the midrange punch of the larger turbo fours in some competitors, and as a result the car doesn't feel as quick as it is. But make no mistake-with this much power in a 2,975-pound coupe, the Cobalt SS is very quick, and it's easy to end up well over the posted limit. Which is where the firm fade-free Brembos come in handy.

But is there torque steer? This is a relatively light compact with 260 foot-pounds of torque shunted entirely through the front wheels-of course there's torque steer. But not too much. GM firmed up the electric-assist steering, and then firmed it up some more. So, when you lay into the throttle, the steering merely takes a set a few degrees off center rather than yanking the car towards the curb. Traction is aided by an optional limited-slip diff (you want it).

The steering isn't chatty-the war against torque steer has a price-but natural weighting and an urge to turn (when not at WOT) compensate. The chassis' balance and composure belie its nose-heavy weight distribution and twist-beam rear axle, while roll in turns is minimal. The grip of the tires on asphalt is only exceeded by that of the heavily bolstered, faux suede-trimmed buckets on your...torso. Instrumented tests reinforce these impressions: on a curvy track the Cobalt SS can shame any other U.S.-market sport compact, even the Evo and STI.

But you don't need a track to enjoy this car. There's a non-monetary benefit to cheap: the Cobalt SS team was free to pursue the visceral thrill of driving in a way that the developers of BMWs (and wannabe BMWs) are not, post-Lexus. Simply put, the Cobalt SS is fun.

Chevrolet Cobalt SS Price Comparisons and Pricing

With a base price of $23,435, the Chevrolet Cobalt SS lists for about the same as the MazdaSpeed3, but a couple grand less than the Dodge Caliber SRT4.

What is Dodge thinking? The Caliber is clearly the least desirable of the three.

Between the Chevrolet and Mazda, price isn't likely to be the deciding factor unless Chevrolet piles on the incentives.

Prices change frequently, and differences will vary based on feature level. To quickly generate these and other comparisons with the specific features you want, visit my Web site, TrueDelta.com. (It's the only site that provides true "apples-to-apples" price comparisons.)

TrueDelta's page for the Cobalt:

http://www.truedelta.com/models/Cobalt.php

Last Words: Chevrolet Cobalt SS

If you're willing to forgive the SS its residual Cobaltness-you won't be able to forget it-you can take home the top-performing sport compact for a price in the lower twenties. Or just drop by the closest Mazda dealer and pick up a MazdaSpeed3. The Mazda doesn't handle quite as well, but the interior is considerably nicer and overall it's more refined.

Or you could wait for the upcoming Chevrolet Cruze, while based on official photos will have a very nice interior. But the Cruze will be heavier. And it will still be WWD. Which makes one wonder: if GM's track addicts can make a Cobalt handle this well, what could they do with a compact rear-wheel-drive chassis unencumbered by BMW envy? Put the turbo 2.0 into that chassis, avoid aesthetically off-putting trim, price the combo in the mid-twenties, and you'd have a compact that wouldn't need to be renamed with every redesign. We'd all forget that the Corvair, Vega, Cavalier, and Cobalt ever existed.

A Note on Chevrolet Cobalt SS Reliability

I cannot practically cover Chevrolet Cobalt reliability within the context of this review. However, many people are interested in such information, so I've been collecting my own data. Results are posted to TrueDelta.com, with updates every three months. Unlike other sources, TrueDelta clearly identifies what the difference in reliability is likely to be if you buy a Chevrolet Cobalt rather than another vehicle by providing "times in the shop" stats.

To report results, TrueDelta needs reliability data on all cars--not just the Cobalt--from people like you. To encourage participation, those who help provide the data will receive free access to the site's reliability information. Non-participants will have to pay an access fee.

Details here:

http://www.truedelta.com/reliability.php

Alphabetized links to my other vehicle reviews can be found on my profile page.