REVIEW: 2007 Cobalt SS Supercharged...

[SVT666]

I...want...this...car!  It's brilliant.  I mean that.  It's brilliant.  I have driven a Cobalt LT coupe and I thought it was junk, but this car so much better it's hard to believe it's based on the same car.

Let's start with the exterior: 

This car actually looks good...wing and all.  When I first saw the SS I thought the wing looked stupid, but the more I saw it and once I got to drive it, I feelt he wing fits the personality of the car and I would not want to take it off if I ever owned one of these cars.  The body kit (wing aside) is subtle and handsome.  It's nicely done and I quite like it.

The burnt orange paint is beautiful and I wouldn't take this car in any other colour.

Now for the interior:

This car came fully loaded with every available option including the Recaro seats.  They are very comfortable and very supportive and are height adjustable.  My dad is only 5'8" and I'm 6'1" so when I got in my head brushed the ceiling.  I cranked the seat down and I had 2" of clearance.  The seat frame is very stiff and does not flex at all which is very nice. 

The shifter is very smooth, very quick, very direct, and very precise.  I never missed a shift or a gear.  My only complaint is the knob is too small.  I found that when I pulled the lever from 1st to 2nd I was only really catching the knob with one finger because my other two fingers slid off on either side.  That's a problem that is easily fixed for $35. 

The dash layout is logical and the materials are decent.  The dash lighting is very nice and has a quality look to it.  The guages are very easy to read and have a more upscale look to them.  My only complaint here is the boost guage is in kPa because we live in a metric society.  I would have preferred it in PSI because that's what all gearheads understand.

Now for the best part...the steering wheel.  I fell in love with the steering wheel.  It's thick and shaped just right for performance driving.  The steering wheel sports cruise control buttons and controls for the 9 speaker Pioneer stereo that includes a 10" Pioneer subwoofer in the truck. 

Surprisingly, I found the subwoofer lacking in that deep "rich" bass Pioneer is known for.  XM is built in and I was very impressed with the seamless operation it offered through the stock head unit as opposed to the Delphi Roady XT I have in my car. Overall the sound quality is very good and gets better as the volume is turned up.


Performance:

0-60 mph happens in 6.1 seconds, but I have to admit that it felt faster.  It gets to redline really fast and I hit the rev limiter 4 times in 1 st gear before I got it figured out.  Dropping the clutch in this car is a mistake.  I made a 3000 rpm launch and it resulted in severe axle hop and my dad yelling, "OK! OK! OK!".  I had to apologize to him for that.  The most impressive part of the power is when you are just cruising along in 3rd gear and you drop the hammer and watch the speedometer climb the numbers faster then you ever expect.  It feels like the horsepower rating of 205 is underrated.

The handling is even more impressive then the power.  Corners are taken flat, confidently, and fast.  The steering is very direct, linear, and is virtually torque free.  Putting the pedal to floor in the middle of the corner resulted in some tire spin or the front tires gripping and pulling through the corner with little to no drama.

I have very few complaints about the car and they are relatively minor.  I already mentioned the shift knob and that can be fixed for less then $50.  You can't hear the supercharger.  At high revs, the supercharger is still very quiet and I would like to hear it.  The last thing is the boost guage being in metric.  Again that's something that can be fixed by buying an American guage off eBay.

I do really want this car because it offers excellent performance and handling, looks good, drives very well, it's very comfortable, and it all comes with a relatively low price tag and I'm not talking MSRP.  I'm talking real world prices.  My parents bought this car for $23,000 when the MSRP was $29,500.  For the life of me I don't know why they had a hard time selling them, it is a brilliant car.

My pictures will follow tonight.

[Colonel Cadillac]

Nice writeup! I've always thought it was a great car. I assume it just didn't sell too well is because people in the sport-compact market tend to favor Japanese cars for usually no reason, but it is a fantastic little car.

[SJ_GTI]

Cool write-up, sounds like a nice ride.

I am pretty sure you are right about the engine being underrated.

[Raghavan]

I really hope that you get lots of money out of the guy who sold you your Sunfire.
That way you can sell the Sunfire and buy one of these.

[The Pirate]

Nice write-up!  I rather like the Cobalt SS, and probably would have strongly considered one had they been in my price range.  Alas, I never even bothered with a test drive, as I knew it was out of my budget. 

I agree, that orange is the color to get, though I'd still prefer a lower profile spoiler.

[MX793]

This was the one GM car that is in my budget and that I would have seriously considered as my next vehicle....  and GM discontinued it this year 

[TheIntrepid]

This was the one GM car that is in my budget and that I would have seriously considered as my next vehicle....  and GM discontinued it this year 

It's dead!? Why!?

[VetteZ06]

I'm not sure why the SS Supercharged got discontinued, but I seem to remember some rumors about a turbocharged Cobalt floating around. There may have been pictures, too.

[the Teuton]

260 hp turbo FTW???

[VetteZ06]

260 hp turbo FTW???

That seems like a reasonable guess to me.

[Raza]

Considering how that chassis deals with 205bhp, I'd hate to struggle with that steering wheel at 260.  It's a great car, but it takes a measured foot as is.

[SVT666]

Considering how that chassis deals with 205bhp, I'd hate to struggle with that steering wheel at 260.  It's a great car, but it takes a measured foot as is.

Torque-steer was virtually non-existent which was the complete opposite of the Mazda3 I drove this summer.  The Cobalt SS spins it's tires fairly easily though and you do have to be gentle with the pedal.  I agree though that 260 hp would be too much.  If I had one of these I might swap out the pulley for a smaller one but only to see how it handle the extra power because I really don't think the car needs it.  If it was RWD I would push the power to the limit.

[Eye of the Tiger]

FWD can handle ginormous power, you just have to do it properly.

[SVT666]

FWD can handle ginormous power, you just have to do it properly.

Trust me, you actually have to be very careful not to spin the tires in this car.  I wouldn't want the huge power in the Caliber SRT-4 or the Mazdaspeed3.  I've driven a regular Mazda3 and the torque-steer was unbelievable.  Thankfully the Cobalt has virtually no torque-steer or else it would have been downright scary.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Trust me, you actually have to be very careful not to spin the tires in this car.  I wouldn't want the huge power in the Caliber SRT-4 or the Mazdaspeed3.  I've driven a regular Mazda3 and the torque-steer was unbelievable.  Thankfully the Cobalt has virtually no torque-steer or else it would have been downright scary.

Yeah, I trust you.
The Caliber SRT-4 uses traction control, at least.

[omicron]

It looks outstanding in that colour. Good to hear it's a snappy car to drive - one hell of a used buy.

[SJ_GTI]

Trust me, you actually have to be very careful not to spin the tires in this car.  I wouldn't want the huge power in the Caliber SRT-4 or the Mazdaspeed3.  I've driven a regular Mazda3 and the torque-steer was unbelievable.  Thankfully the Cobalt has virtually no torque-steer or else it would have been downright scary.

I am with you on this. I've had my GTI for over a year now, and at no point have I thought to myself "Boy I wish I had more power!" Its already enough where I can spin my tires in first, and then chirp them going from 1->2 and from 2->3.

~200 HP seems just about perfect for small, FWD cars. If you go to RWD or AWD, more power makes sense (STI, EVO, etc...).

[TheIntrepid]

Yeah, I trust you.
The Caliber SRT-4 uses traction control, at least.

Doesn't the Caliber SRT-4 have AWD?

[Eye of the Tiger]

Doesn't the Caliber SRT-4 have AWD?

OMGWTFBBQ NO

[TheIntrepid]

Never mind. I knew the Caliber's available with AWD... I would have assumed that something with friggin 300hp would have it at least OPTIONAL.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Never mind. I knew the Caliber's available with AWD... I would have assumed that something with friggin 300hp would have it at least OPTIONAL.

It would have been nice, fo shizzle.

[TheIntrepid]

It would have been nice, fo shizzle.

I'm sure the modders on the SRT4 community will figure out how to bolt an AWD transaxle to it.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I'm sure the modders on the SRT4 community will figure out how to bolt an AWD transaxle to it.

If the R/T's AWD system was capable of handling 300hp, don't you think they would have stuck it on the SRT4?

[TheIntrepid]

If the R/T's AWD system was capable of handling 300hp, don't you think they would have stuck it on the SRT4?

It's Chrysler. When the hell was the last time they came up with a SMART idea? 1984 with the Magic Wagons?

[Eye of the Tiger]

It's Chrysler. When the hell was the last time they came up with a SMART idea? 1984 with the Magic Wagons?

I think this was pretty SMRT:

[TheIntrepid]

Yes but j00 drive a 'st33m. j0ur judgement is impaired.

[Eye of the Tiger]

Yes but j00 drive a 'st33m. j0ur judgement is impaired.

shut up, u fucktard. i drive an escort now. 

[TheIntrepid]

Where's the 'st33m now?

[Eye of the Tiger]

Where's the 'st33m now?

parked outside next to the escort 

[TheIntrepid]

parked outside next to the escort 

Move flames onto the broken window!