Nice specs, too bad this is one of the world's laziest and most boring exteriors.

Makes alot more sense than a Camaro..

I'm sure it's priced around $25k, and in that range anyone would be better off going with the '09 eclipse or lancer rallisport. Similar performance, much better looking. If it's $20k or so though that's a different story...

I am actually fond of that kind of "lightweight" interior. It doesn't look bulky at all. The only thing that bothers me is the shifter boot. They should have replaced it with a gate instead, something not too noticeable but sleek. Overall its quite nice, but like Paul mentionned, I would choose either of the Misubishi options.

I am actually fond of that kind of "lightweight" interior. It doesn't look bulky at all. The only thing that bothers me is the shifter boot. They should have replaced it with a gate instead, something not too noticeable but sleek. Overall its quite nice, but like Paul mentionned, I would choose either of the Misubishi options.

at this price tag, man I will rather have the Ralliart, or Mazdaspeed3 or SRT4 or GTI.

It has a cheap looking exterior.

Fags. All of you.

I like the SS.

It is the GM version of the SRT4. Its still a cobalt even if its got the solstice hp. I will keep my Altima 3.5.

It was about time they remove the ugly wing on the back. I had mine removed from my 2006 SS/SC.

I prefer the leather interior I have. But the brakes are interesting!

I really wish this car looked better on the outside. It has all the makings for a fun little pocket rocket but looks like one solid piece of injection molded plastic.

@Carluver57:

When did GM and Chrysler begin parts sharing?

I am so glad that GM is catering to the compact tuner crowd. It shows that they are interested in competing.

I really like the fact that they didn't go crazy with silly wings and body kits. This car is a sleeper, and the only way you can tell this car is different is by the "SS" batch and the wheels. I like it.

While there are other options out there (as mentioned before), it is nice and refreshing to see that there is an alternative for American car lovers in this segment since besides this vehicle, there is nothing else really (The Dodge abomination doesn't count).

GM seems to be learning at a "Hyundai" rate, which is great. The new Malibu is a very nice car, and this one seems to be going in the right direction. I predict the next generation of this vehicle will actually be competitive with the Asians.

What does Chevy have against the owner knowing what his water coolant and oil temperature status is? Kinda nice to know with a "performance" engine.

Still looks like a cavalier, or I guess now a cavillac SS

Now if only they can make it look good...

a pillar boost gauge! this car is unique. the exterior is out dated but this car should actually outperform all cars at its price even cars with a price tag a couple grands up.

overall not that bad, but the plastic on the dash is down right scary looking, it has to be some of the cheapest looking plastic I have ever seen, worse yet it looks highly abrasive, I can see it now oh nuhoos I touched the dash on accident, must stop the bleeding, finger looks like it was put though a cheese grater.

"What does Chevy have against the owner knowing what his water coolant and oil temperature status is? Kinda nice to know with a "performance" engine."

Thank you for your assumptions. Anyway, it a digital display. It can be toggled to display different information, including coolant temp. I don't think oil temperature is half as useful as oil pressure, and even that isn't very useful except for a warning when its low - which you still have. I you really want you can install an aftermarket gauge. Really, if you're suffering from a rapid loss of oil pressure (fast enough that a dummy light isn't enough warning, such as a gaping hole in your oil pan), a gauge isn't going to be much better. Oil pressure is not an issue with these things. Convincing people to use the right kind of freaking oil... that's a different matter. :P

For what its worth, I think we should wait and see how this thing performs before we jump out say that the Rallisport is going to be so much superior. I haven't seen a price tag on either one, personally. I'd note that the Eclipses i've had the displeasure of hunting down parts for were not really high in the reliability department. With the new Lancer, I'm inclined to give it the benefit of the doubt.

a real american car... too bad its BADLY ENGiNEERED..

a real american car... too bad its BADLY ENGiNEERED..

MSRP is $22,995. I think the LSD is an option at $750+.

At that price, I would spend a few more bucks for a Mazda3, WRX or the new "baby-Evo" Lancer Ralliart.

Or, spend a few less and get a Civic Si.

Either way, every car I listed has a better looking exterior, much better interior and WAY better resale value.

Make it 300hp and spice up the exterior a little more and you have a nice little muscle car.

Too bad it still has the "I Wanna Be a Rental Car" exterior !! GM still has the mentality that if it is a small car it must look cheap and or low budget. The specs are great, now just get the exterior apperance to match the performance. From a apperance standpoint, it still looks like and percieved by many to be a practical economy car designed by people that are too conservitive to be designing cars for this market. I will admit that this looks much better than the 4 door or the new Pontiac G5 (Cobalt Rebadge)

I rented a regular Chevy Cobalt in 2006 before I bought my 2007 Mazda 3 S Sport and hated it. I returned it after 2 days of agonizing neck cramps. The head rest was slanted so that the bottom would hit my head, their wasn't a single comfortable position I could find. I know it was to prevent whip lash but still. I ended up renting a Ford Escape and loved it.

"The head rest was slanted so that the bottom would hit my head, their wasn't a single comfortable position I could find."

It's interesting that the headrests in the pictures here look nothing like what you described.,,,,,,,,,

Great, just what we need, another economy gas guzzler. When is this country gonna pull its head out of its butt?

I like the '05 rims a lot better. Also, this car looks very plain jane; it needs to have the spoiler on it (with an option to have the low key one instead).

Other than that, it's a very nice boost in power over the previous models.

It's at least a good thought for GM to have a representative in this area of economy-gone-sports cars. The exterior does need a little updating, but its better than if Ford tried to make one of those butt-ugly escorts or whatever they're called now a sports car. (Which they will because once they see a profit in a market they go for it) And I never thought the srt4 looked that great from the outside. It's just a 4 door neon with a plastic body kit and fake hood scoops trying to look like an evo.

@jfelano

If the Solstice and Solstice GXP are anything to go by, this car will get better gas mileage than the 2.4L naturally aspirated engine.

I kinda like it. I'm not drooling for it, but I'm not wincing either. They've kept the exterior simple(ish), so you can go sleeper if you want. Or if you insist on flash at least you don't have to tear off a ton of tupperware.

The dash might look plasticky, but it appears functional. And the seats look great. (I prefer cloth in a sport oriented vehicle. Leather and vinyl are too slippery.)

The mechanical numbers sound interesting. Hard to tell without driving it, but seems there's potential there. (Unless you're steadfastly in the 'no replacement for displacement' crowd.)

If I were in the market for a vehicle in this niche I'd certainly test drive this against the competition.

Nice job on this one.

It actually does not look bad at all. The interior is on par with the imports. The exterior is conservative.

Insurance on this car should be alot less expensive on this car also since it is unlikely to be stolen over a Honda or Toyota product.

Why do people hate everything GM does?

I think all economy cars look cheap. Your Mazda 3 isn't a luxury car! Chevy finally makes a legitimate high-hp sporty 2 door 'pocket rocket' car and you all hate on them.

Mazdaspeed 3, SRT4 and the Misubishi Ralliart are all 4 door cars. The Honda is a joke performance wise. The way I see it, if you want a fun 2 door thats fwd, there is no alternative. Not everyone is after the practicality of a 5 door hatch...

I'm sure magazines will criticize it, but look at the performance specs. I'm guessing it'll stack up quite well against the 4 door competition.

260 HP isn't much when the car weighs 6,000,000,000,000 lbs!

it's a cobalt! you know it's gonna be rediculously heavy for it's size!

Wow what's next, a F1 racing engine in a Corolla?

I cannot believe that Detroit does not get it yet. Here it is in simple terms:

Gas almost gone. Big engines bad. Poor gas mileage bad. You're getting your a$$es handed to you detroit, you might want to take a page from the Toyota playbook if you don't want to be lying in a grave next to AMC.

What can i say another American design

Dull, boring, uninspired styling inside and out and if it's anything like the one I drove earlier this year, terrible handling and refinement.

Why do they keep making essentially the same car year after year after year, even though it's "all new"?

J\

Looks like a 3 door Hyundai Accent.

not a fan of the front end, but the rest looks pretty decent. I actually like the no-nonsense interior. Then again, i'm not into bells and whistles. I don't need heated seats, nav systems, or any of that other crap.

...yawn...

"Why do people hate everything GM does?"

It's not GM-specific hate. They hate American cars, even when they perform well, they WILL find something to rip on the car for.

I love it when people who have never owned a car or even (in this case) the previous version (the SC Cobalt SS), yet they will rip on it for poor fuel economy, poor quality, etc. This is a track-proven vehicle, and its pretty inexpensive. It's not meant to be upscale like a Caddy or a Lexus, but as far as durability and performance goes, its a lot better than most people think. The turbocharged Sky and Solstice have proven themselves, and so will this car.

"Gas almost gone (???). Big engines bad. Poor gas mileage bad."
Are you blind? It's a small turbocharged engine.

"it's a cobalt! you know it's gonna be rediculously heavy for it's size!"
Again, more misinformation. Heavy compared to what? A Ralliart? The Ralliart has its advantages, for sure, but it is heavier and has a less powerful 2.0L turbo. A WRX will be similar in weight to the Cobalt, as well.

So, it has a small 2.0L engine and gets 23 mpg city and 30 mpg, which is better than ANY of it's competitors. So I should hear no complaints there... ( @ TheRealist, what are you talking about? Better yet, why are you on a performance automobile forum anyways?)

"John Heinricy drove one of these cars--with the big wing--to a record 8:22.85-minute lap around the Nurburgring's Nordschleife, beating the old record for the subcompact class by 13 seconds." It's 0-60 in 5.7 seconds too!

23k really isn't that expensive, especially considering the excellent gas mileage and how fast it is. Mazdaspeed3 is the same price. So it's comprable, still probably too expensive though.

@ Dan

It weighs 2975lbs. That's really not that much... Mazdaspeed3 is 3180 lb and the same HP, and everyone LOVES it.

Ya'll are free to say it's ugly, boring, bland, cheap-looking etc. b/c that's subjective. But don't criticize the engineering.

Why does everyone hate GM? I think that's their biggest problem right now. People that hate them just because they are who they are, and they are American. Admire cars for what they are, not the brand that produced them, that's irrelevant.

@ Alexvrb

can the stupid bells, whistles, excessive sound deading material, and save yourself a few hundered pounds. the stupid segment of the american population is too busy fiddling with a cell phone and worrying about their butt being warm enough instead of driving.

acrua RSX, 2800 lbs

mazda mx-3, 2500 lbs

honda crx (trim & year depending), 1800-2100 lbs

yes, ralliarts and WRXs will be heavier, they are 4 door cars. the WRXs 4WD system being a culprit for it's weight, but i'd rather my car be heavy because of 4WD than heated mirrors and a NAV system.

there's no excuse (other than catering to the stupid segment) that the cobalt should be as heavy as it is for the market that it is intended for (younger buyers on a tighter budget)

@ Alexvrb

of course the Mazdaspeed3 is well liked, it's one heck of a car, a track day performance monster, and the best performance you can get for the money! it makes the cobalt look like an obese, sluggish 14 year old with a dose emo angst!

mazda focused on the engine and chassis. if a part had something to do with the car acclerating, turning, or stopping, they made it better. if a part didn't help with any of those three, they didn't care (i.e. heated this, chilled that, power this, automatic that).

"a real american car... too bad its BADLY ENGiNEERED"

Isn't that what American cars are?

"Dan:
@ Alexvrb

can the stupid bells, whistles, excessive sound deading material, and save yourself a few hundered pounds. the stupid segment of the american population is too busy fiddling with a cell phone and worrying about their butt being warm enough instead of driving.

acrua RSX, 2800 lbs"

2005 Acura RSX Type S - 2840 lbs - 210HP - 13.52lbs/hp
2008 Chevrolet Cobalt SS - 2975 lbs - 260HP - 11.44lbs/hp

2005 Acura RSX Type S - 2840 lbs - 143lb/ft @ 7000rpm
2008 Chevrolet Cobalt SS - 2975 lbs - 260lb/ft @ 2000rpm

This car is not comparable to the new Eclipse or RalliArt, both those cars are junk. The ecotech motor can support lots of HP and this car would be one heck of a project. I would prefer an Evo but for the price tag this car could be sweet.

This car can't be compared to Eclipse cause Eclipse can do easily 450HP...not to mention the way Cobalt looks (it looks retarded).

The cobalt interior is crap plain and simple. The paint they use on every surface inside will scratch off very quickly. The panels are mismatched. The creaks and rattles will come after a few thousand miles. Thats typical GM. Even the door locks look outdated. The boost gauge on the pillar is retarded, in all that dash space they couldn't make an instrument cluster large enough for more than 3 gauges? It doesn't even match the other gauges. The whole packages is like an afterthought.

I would take any of the other compacts over this car. You can make any of them compete with 260hp for a few grand, it will take much more money to make the interior of the cobalt look good and last more than a year.

I too think the Mazdaspeed3 is an awsome car. I wasn't criticizing it. My point, is that the Cobalt SS is faster, lighter and more fuel efficient with it's smaller engine. Plus, not everyone want's a 5 door. Mazda should use that awesome drivetrain and build an even smaller and lighter coupe for 23 grand. That would be an awesome car.

@TheRealist

Gas almost gone? I guess you've been listening to the idiots who've been saying "we're almost out of oil!!!!" for OVER 100 YEARS. There's plenty of oil and plenty more that hasn't even been touched yet.

Hey D:

The Ecotec can support lots of HP? Can it go to say 1400+ HP like the 2.0L 4G63t that used to be in the Mitsubishi products? if you don't believe me go out and look for some of the DSM 1/4 runs on youtube, Cars with that engine are getting down into the 7's in the 1/4 you do the math. Even though I seriously doubt that the new 4b11t will be able to put out anywhere near that kind of power Mitsubishi had a lot to do with the block design and they were kind enough to let us know that it was over engineered from the get go. I would be surprised if decent street tuners got less than 450+ whp out of the the new engine when fully built.

Oh and you do know that the new Ralliart has the same engine as the Evo right? Sure it has been detuned and there is a strong possibility that it's going to come with a smaller turbo, but those are a small price to pay for an easily tuned engine that should work with all the same performance bits as the Evo for $10,000 less. The Ralliart will lose some ground when it comes to handling seeing as it has a less sophisticated AWD system than the Evo, and no wide body kit, but I don't doubt that it will still easily out handle the Cobalt. I mean the Evo it's handling is being scaled back from clings with a down right frightening .99 G.

The old 2.0 Ecotec's were actually good to about 500hp on the stock internals with good tuning. Not bad considering most B&K Series Honda Engines can't handle more than 300ish on stock internals. However the Honda's weren't built for turbo from the factory...

General Motors isn't a car manufacturer... they are a health care benefits and retirement pension company that makes rubbish, under-engineered cars as a side interest.

I wonder how many people knocking this car have actually driven it...

God, the least GM could do it make the engine LOOK like it could produce that many ponies. Hate to show anyone what's under the hood!

@harryo:

I own a RX-7 it has one on the most unimpressive looking engines ever made. Even with my extreme mods it's not all that impressive looking under the hood. Yet it's still faster than just about any production made and only makes 465 rwHP, good for low 11,s on street tires. Point is who cares what it look like under the hood if it can deliver.

@mf:
Modding cars is not cheap. Adding simple bolts and modding the ECU is not going to yield the power make up the deficit in this segment. At best you might achieve 50 hp improvements for $1500. Adding forced induction isn't cheap by any means even if you can do the labor yourself. Sure you could put one on the bottle but rather sort lived in the big picture. It should also be noted that if you exceed the amount of power your chassis can handle it's rather pointless.

This car currently holds the record at the ring for sub-compacts it deserves some respect. It rather ugly and cheap looking but it's a cheap car. Oh yeah dodge no longer make the SRT4.

@dan
does a 2005 have side impact airbags does a 2005 rsx have to comply with the safty standards of today. How much hp did a sto k 1991 crx have at best 125. Yes its light but it was horrible slow then and its horrible slow now. Its competition was the corrolla gts which was a faster car with more power. Id love to see a 1400 hp 4g63t last longer then 15 seconds. At that power it simple wont. Plus gm made a book on their website how to tune the ecotec for 700 hp so