The C6's Younger Brother?

Corvette's Little Brother

Introduction

I'll admit it, when I first saw the Cobalt commercial, I was won over. The commercial was 'Bump', and it's the one where the Cobalt bumps a C6 Corvette, and the C6 wheels around to 'berate' it's smaller brother. The car had the right look, and I wondered if Chevy would get it right.

I did my research, online, and found out that it was an upgrade to the aged Cavalier, a venerable old beast known for blowing a head gasket every ten thousand miles. Also known for a squeaky ride, massive rebates, and generally being the most boring car since the ubiquitous Ford Taurus.

I figured, okay, wait, and see what a few million in development will do for a new car.

And it was worth the wait.

To say the Cobalt excels over the Cavalier in every way is an insult to the car, because the same can be said about almost any car in the world. This is a whole different class of car, and for once, it actually works as marketed. It feels like the very little brother to the Corvette in every way (Wait... Read on).

I recommend it immensely. It competes with cars like the Corolla, the Civic, the Mazda3 and the Neon. Having test-driven all of the above, it beats them all.


First Contact

I had just gotten a raise at work, and I knew it was time to upgrade from my smoking, ponderous, 1987 RX-7 to something a little more respectable. A long, hot day spent car-shopping eventually brought me to Ramp Chevy on Long Island, where I met Dexter.

Dexter is an electric blue Cobalt LS coupe, almost fully loaded (yes, I name my cars). Features include: Heated leather seats, power everything, 7 speaker Pioneer sound system with MP3 player, side-curtain airbags, Driver Information Center, etc. Sticker price was $19,000 in change, and it was a straightforward negotiation to net around $1,500 in Rebates.

When I saw the car, I knew I wanted it. The lines are clean, well-thought out, and very tightly put together, with a long windshield rake and unique back-end that definately pays tribute to the Corvette (and, unintentionally, the Nissan Skyline) with it's round tail-lights. The engine started with a very nice sound, for a four-banger. The premium sound system is amazing, with a 10 inch subwoofer in the trunk and tweeters. It has a great range of sound to it.

Nothing about this car looks cheap (like the Cavalier) or out of place (like the Saturn ION, which shares it's platform). The Interior is all hard-plastic, of course, but it's thoughtfully laid out, with an eye to ergonomics and simplicity. The climate control system is easy to figure out, which is saying a lot for a modern car.

Spoilers are available. I think that both designs are pretty tacky, though.

About a half-hour later, I was signing paperwork.


Driving Impressions

When I say that the Cobalt is the Corvette's little brother, I don't mean to imply that it's a rocket. However, the 2.2L Ecotec 4-cylinder has more pep than it's direct competition, and more importantly, it has the personality of it's larger sibling. This is a car that wants to be driven. It's nimble passing from 50-70, and it has a deceptive amount of torque off the line.

Passenger comfort is high, although the seat is harder than expected. It provides support in the right places. There are two smallish blind-spots, caused by the door-frame pillars between the front window and the backseat viewports. GM makes good automatic transmissions (I haven't been overly pleased with their manual transmissions, however). The shift-points in this tranny are sensibly placed, and it shifts where you would expect. It's easy to anticipate it's reactions, and it's not shy about going to redline.

Coming from a sports car like the RX-7, with it's oil chugging, smoke-belching rotary engine, I expected to be disappointed with the Cobalt's pep. I wasn't. It couldn't have kept up with the Rex, but it's got the right amount of power to feel fast.

Handling is quick and nimble, aided with GM's electronic assist steering. At parking-lot speeds, the steering wheel turns easily, but it tightens up at highway speeds. A lot of people complain in their reviews about this steering system, and I can see that it's a "love it or hate it" type of feature. I like it. It feels tight in the right places, yet it slings around in parking lots easily.

Nice ride. QUIET ride. This is easily the quietest cabin (with the Pioneer system off, of course) in it's class. Road noise is non-existent, and the engine is a distant purr.

Good stopping ability. Nothing like the tap 'em and lock up brakes on the Cavalier.


Safety and Comfort

The Cobalt was one of only two cars to score anything other than 'poor' in the IIHS side impact test (with side-curtain airbags, which at $400, is more than worth your life). The other was the Corolla. The Neon was called 'a disaster'. With solid construction, and front and side airbags, you can feel pretty secure driving this little gem in a world of elephantine SUVs and Trucks.

The premium sound system is truly top notch. The deck is clearly laid out and easy to use. The sound quality blows away any dealer-installed system that I've heard, to date.

The location of the handbrake is inconvenient. It's beneath the center console (which folds up), so you either have to have freakishly long arms like me to wrap around, or raise the center console and get at it that way. The cup-holders are shallow. Good for cans, marginal for Big Gulp style cups, and useless for larger bottles.

But despite my 6' 4" height, the front doesn't feel cramped at all. There's plenty of leg room and head room.

The back seat is pretty vestigial. I'd hate to have to squeeze back there. The electronic mirrors are a bit flaky, but they do eventually settle in where you want them. The trunk is absolutely huge, but the opening is small, so manuevering large items into and out of it can prove a challenge.

Set into the gauges is an LED screen that will display information about oil life, fuel economy, coolant temperature, outside temperature, etc. It's quite handy.


Overall Response

This car has a personality. They all do, I guess, but this one's is quirky. Color me as tainted by advertising, but the fact is that it has the spunk, pep and 'look at me' design sensibility of a rambunctious kid, which is what it is. In some way or another, this car wants attention. I've had people stop and ask me what kind of car it was, and the stereo is just audible enough outside the car to remind everyone that it's there (which could be a bad thing, if you live in a high-crime area).

It's not gonna win too many drag races (although the platform is a tremendous one to build off of), but it will definately get on it from a red-light and pass up whatever might happen to be next to you. It's fun to drive, tightly put together, and it handles like a gem. The interior is amazing, especially considering the source (GM cars are not exactly known for their opulence and ergonomics).

It's fun, and to me personally, that's the most important thing. The Cobalt is never a chore to drive, and it never feels like something you had to settle for because you didn't have enough money (like the Cavalier did). I recommend it heartily to first-time car owners, young professionals (like me), college students, hell, anyone without the need for a large back seat.