As a Cobalt owner, I would want to argue with you but you nailed it on the head. It's a cobalt that has its fair share of issues(power steering tcm nonsense).
I wish your rant about the seats wasn’t cut off, I really wanted to hear that. My dad flipped a 2012 Malibu, we occasionally drove it before it was sold, and those were the worst damn seats ever
I remember a review in the newspaper saying the cobalt seats are like a milking stool, the bare minimum of what something needs to qualify as a seat. That was the cobalt in General, the bare minimum, and if you just needed something to get to work, that was probably enough
The Supercharged Cobalt SS was such a blast to drive. I worked at GM at the time and my coworker and her Husband had matching SS's, hers was the supercharged one and his was the turbo variant (1st gen was SC, 2nd gen was Turbo) and having driven and worked on bith their cars the supercharged one was my favorite. It had a bit of torque steer in a straight line but on some corners, railing that manual with those hip higging seats, oh it was fun. But yeah those 90s-2000s GM interiors were all godawful. Its one of the big reasons i went with my mustang over a camaro or firebird, when you sit in a older GM its like sitting in a plastic factory, everything is hard, dull, and just isnt pleasing to look at our touch or be in.
The main problem the Cobalt had was the Cavalier. The Cavalier had become a long running joke by the time the Cobalt came out. Far too many Cavaliers were sitting in driveways with electrical problems that not even the dealership could figure out, and the running ones has so many things wrong with them nobody wanted to continue to put money into them, especially with the bad gas mileage and the horrid interior, and the body was also too soft looking, and overall such poor quality that you could get them for free because no one wanted to deal with them. The Cobalt felt too much like the Cavalier, the Cobalt wasn't a big enough leap away from the Cavalier, so it felt like GM put lipstick on a pig with the Cobalt, and it felt like GM was trying to hide the tragedy that the Cavalier became with an updated body and a new name. The Cobalt weren't bad cars at all, and the SS was actually pretty fast but it was just too late, the Cavalier had done too much damage to the GM small car platform, the Cobalt/G5 never really got a fair chance. Especially thanks to the Sunfire.
Having driven both extensively, the ST is a far better car than the SS ever was. The SS is a fun car but it never had the poise, the power, or the quality the ST had. Its likecomparing a GEO Metro to a Civic, theyre both good in their own right but we all know the civic is better.
@ yes but remember, the SS was released in the mid 2000s. I’m sure if Chevy released it when the ST was out, it would be a slightly different car than what it is today.
There was someone who lived across the street from my middle school who had one. It was replaced with a Focus ST before the magazines even had their articles out.
Even after riding in a pretty well tuned up turbo version one back in the day that did surprise me with how quick it was; I could just never take these cars serious lol. Most of them around here in southern central PA were/are both clapped and riced out pretty hard too which didn't help. Like a tribal tattoo on wheels.
I knew a couple guys who had SS cobalts or modified normal cobalts and they all had something to prove or a chip on their shoulders. They were all short tempered, weird, and smoked cigarettes.
Lol. I wanted one of those after playing Need For Speed. As life has it, I'm stuck with 2015 ford focus se flex.. 100k. Should I just keep fixing it or move on?
Keep it around if it’s working for your situation. I hit a deer in mine and with the kids, my wife wanted something bigger. So we got a sorento hybrid. Not bad, but every focus I pass in the parking lot breaks my heart a little.
I'm a little more snarky - the Chevy Cobalt SS was what happened when you let Chevy designers try to make a Honda Civic Si. You got none of the good bits of the Honda, and all of the problems of a company making a 4 cyl hot car when everybody in the company still thinks that V8 muscle cars are the future.
Gotta get the early version with the supercharger or even the Saturn ion redline. And apparently the engine can run 5s in the quarter. Heard some lady funny car driver talking about it. And the earlier versions had a better body kit and interior. Still cheap feeling but thebseats were better. My papa had one and loved it. He spent way to much money on the gm upgrades just to keep a warrenty hed never use lol
Manual transmission is dog crap. I test drove a brand new one back in the late 2000’s. It shifted like dump truck compared to a Honda, or Subaru for that matter. Wound up buying a used Mazdaspeed 6 with low mileage.
Yeahhh all true but that gas mileage though. Economical as all get out and GM must have thought enough of the base Cobalt to make the Saturn ION. (Or vice verse idk which came first)
The Cobalt SS has to be had for the right price as pointed out that interior is a shit show To be fair the Cobalt SS was proof that there were good people at GM pre-2008 unfortunately the 14th floor would prevent these people from doing a complete job because apparently quality to the 14th floor harmed profit margins where quality at Toyota Honda Subaru Mazda and Volkswagen actually helped profit margins
Lived in the shadow of the WRX STI? I dont think so. More like the RSX Type S, Civic Si and a plethora of other FWD sporty cars that were much better than a cobalt. With its playskool interior.
It probably shares a lot of parts bin components, but no. It was designed by Daewoo (now GM Korea). Its replacement, the Cruze was designed along with the contemporary Astra, but had a different body to look less dumb as a sedan. The second generation Cruze and contemporary Astra were nearly identical.
“Did I drive one of those?” is how you know your show has gone on for a long time
The reason the Cobalt SS didn't get respect was because it was a Cobalt.
As a Cobalt owner, I would want to argue with you but you nailed it on the head. It's a cobalt that has its fair share of issues(power steering tcm nonsense).
Watching you for ages now, and it’s awesome to see your growth.
I wish your rant about the seats wasn’t cut off, I really wanted to hear that. My dad flipped a 2012 Malibu, we occasionally drove it before it was sold, and those were the worst damn seats ever
I remember a review in the newspaper saying the cobalt seats are like a milking stool, the bare minimum of what something needs to qualify as a seat. That was the cobalt in General, the bare minimum, and if you just needed something to get to work, that was probably enough
The Supercharged Cobalt SS was such a blast to drive. I worked at GM at the time and my coworker and her Husband had matching SS's, hers was the supercharged one and his was the turbo variant (1st gen was SC, 2nd gen was Turbo) and having driven and worked on bith their cars the supercharged one was my favorite. It had a bit of torque steer in a straight line but on some corners, railing that manual with those hip higging seats, oh it was fun. But yeah those 90s-2000s GM interiors were all godawful. Its one of the big reasons i went with my mustang over a camaro or firebird, when you sit in a older GM its like sitting in a plastic factory, everything is hard, dull, and just isnt pleasing to look at our touch or be in.
The main problem the Cobalt had was the Cavalier. The Cavalier had become a long running joke by the time the Cobalt came out. Far too many Cavaliers were sitting in driveways with electrical problems that not even the dealership could figure out, and the running ones has so many things wrong with them nobody wanted to continue to put money into them, especially with the bad gas mileage and the horrid interior, and the body was also too soft looking, and overall such poor quality that you could get them for free because no one wanted to deal with them. The Cobalt felt too much like the Cavalier, the Cobalt wasn't a big enough leap away from the Cavalier, so it felt like GM put lipstick on a pig with the Cobalt, and it felt like GM was trying to hide the tragedy that the Cavalier became with an updated body and a new name. The Cobalt weren't bad cars at all, and the SS was actually pretty fast but it was just too late, the Cavalier had done too much damage to the GM small car platform, the Cobalt/G5 never really got a fair chance. Especially thanks to the Sunfire.
It was ahead of its time. If Chevy released it when the Focus ST was out, it would have done better.
Having driven both extensively, the ST is a far better car than the SS ever was. The SS is a fun car but it never had the poise, the power, or the quality the ST had. Its likecomparing a GEO Metro to a Civic, theyre both good in their own right but we all know the civic is better.
@ yes but remember, the SS was released in the mid 2000s. I’m sure if Chevy released it when the ST was out, it would be a slightly different car than what it is today.
There was someone who lived across the street from my middle school who had one. It was replaced with a Focus ST before the magazines even had their articles out.
Always had a lot of respect for the SS Cobalt. Buddy of mine had one in college, I had a '01 New Edge GT I may have been quicker but not by much.
Even after riding in a pretty well tuned up turbo version one back in the day that did surprise me with how quick it was; I could just never take these cars serious lol. Most of them around here in southern central PA were/are both clapped and riced out pretty hard too which didn't help. Like a tribal tattoo on wheels.
I knew a couple guys who had SS cobalts or modified normal cobalts and they all had something to prove or a chip on their shoulders. They were all short tempered, weird, and smoked cigarettes.
With the new one, they should put an LS IN IT and the Chevy Cruz
Lol. I wanted one of those after playing Need For Speed.
As life has it, I'm stuck with 2015 ford focus se flex.. 100k. Should I just keep fixing it or move on?
Keep it around if it’s working for your situation. I hit a deer in mine and with the kids, my wife wanted something bigger. So we got a sorento hybrid. Not bad, but every focus I pass in the parking lot breaks my heart a little.
I had an ion redline same car. Pretty much it was crazy fast
I had a redline too! I pulled the seats from it and now one is my computer chair. Those Recaros fit me so perfectly 👌
I'm a little more snarky - the Chevy Cobalt SS was what happened when you let Chevy designers try to make a Honda Civic Si. You got none of the good bits of the Honda, and all of the problems of a company making a 4 cyl hot car when everybody in the company still thinks that V8 muscle cars are the future.
Eh, with regular maintenance Cobalts are some of the only Chevy sedans/coupes that can reach 300k miles. Otherwise you need a Suburban/Tahoe/etc
And the neon srt, the Mazda speed 3, civic SI. List goes on.
The 2nd gen SS’ were sweet
Quick question: When did Chevy ever have nice interiors? The 40's??
An SRT4 would spank an STI
And the Evo, Mazda speed 6, buick Verano turbo...
Gotta get the early version with the supercharger or even the Saturn ion redline. And apparently the engine can run 5s in the quarter. Heard some lady funny car driver talking about it. And the earlier versions had a better body kit and interior. Still cheap feeling but thebseats were better. My papa had one and loved it. He spent way to much money on the gm upgrades just to keep a warrenty hed never use lol
Where’s the laundry?!
The version with a turbo was no slouch
Not a muscle car bud
but, some did have no lift shift, which was cool.
Manual transmission is dog crap.
I test drove a brand new one back in the late 2000’s. It shifted like dump truck compared to a Honda, or Subaru for that matter.
Wound up buying a used Mazdaspeed 6 with low mileage.
Yeahhh all true but that gas mileage though. Economical as all get out and GM must have thought enough of the base Cobalt to make the Saturn ION. (Or vice verse idk which came first)
The Cobalt SS has to be had for the right price as pointed out that interior is a shit show
To be fair the Cobalt SS was proof that there were good people at GM pre-2008 unfortunately the 14th floor would prevent these people from doing a complete job because apparently quality to the 14th floor harmed profit margins where quality at Toyota Honda Subaru Mazda and Volkswagen actually helped profit margins
Lived in the shadow of the WRX STI? I dont think so. More like the RSX Type S, Civic Si and a plethora of other FWD sporty cars that were much better than a cobalt. With its playskool interior.
Oh is it a Vauxhall Astra G coupe in a different dress and angine?
It probably shares a lot of parts bin components, but no. It was designed by Daewoo (now GM Korea). Its replacement, the Cruze was designed along with the contemporary Astra, but had a different body to look less dumb as a sedan. The second generation Cruze and contemporary Astra were nearly identical.
Dude u brag on neons SRT had almost 300 horse power. Cobalt was like a volt. Remember when you kissed your friend in your SRT truck, once
Wym it never fit in 😂what