2009 Chevrolet Cobalt SS Turbo

[jjrock5]

So somebody at work just told me one of his buddies bought a 09 Cobalt SS Turbo. It costed him $25K, and completely stock.

Then he said, he dynoed it after tuning the car, and still completely stock (Im sure the guy had an intake or something). Apparently it pulled 330 WHP...

What do you guys think? BS?

I love my DSM but if it DID dyno that, Im giving the Cobalt props for that.

I'll just wait a couple of years til theyre like $5K and maybe Ill pick one up, since thats what the stupid supercharged one is going for these days.

 

[JusMX141]

Total B.S.

At the Shootout this summer my buddy dynoed his bone stock Evo X and it made 256 at the wheels, which seemed to amaze even the Buschur staff who apparently didn't think it would make nearly that much.

There's NO WAY a stock COBALT makes 80 more horses than a stock Evo unless that dyno is horribly wrong. If so, that's where I want to dyno my FWD when it's finished!

 

[habitatguy187]

I read in car and driver that the cobalt puts down 263 at the crank, and 260 torque. With the boost turned up and a tune who knows? 330 sounds like a lot though, especially with the stock exhaust.

In car and driver it got first place between the mazdaspeed3, lancer ralliar, golf gti, and mini cooper s.

This is another car in the wave of direct port fuel injection, which allows you to run extreme compression ratios w/out knock. It basically turns gasoline into meth. (not literally but you get the point)

I'd rock one of these, car and driver did low 13s in the 1/4 w/out the lsd, and they said that it handled better than all the others, also it only weighs something like 2800lbs. Only bad thing I've heard about direct injection is that the fuel pressure has to be really high and the aftermarket fuel pumps are like $600.

Either way, there's going to be a lot more family sedans pushing 250hp or more, I believe the new camaro v6 uses DI also (300hp and 300tq V6)

 

[324vr4]

They are better than most people think...they dominate the handling department at most tho...but that much power in a FWD vehicle seems like a more of a mental strain than fun...race him...er..line 'em up and see who's better...

 

[habitatguy187]

"In their October 2008 issue, the guys from Motor Trend put the new 2009 Cobalt SS Turbo through its paces by having it carve its way through the famous, 11 corner, Laguna Seca Raceway. Being placed in a comparison with cars that have an average MSRP of $73,836, not much was expected out of the $22,995 Cobalt SS, but that's where they were all wrong. The Cobalt SS tied the Audi R8 in steering effort, matched the EVO X's time around the track at 1:47.7 and outranked the GT500KR in the final rankings by being a "much more refined" machine. The testers loved the Cobalt SS, its 260hp turbocharged ECOtec power plant and its linear steering feel, all of which made the car a blast to drive"

 

[mnr88talon]

ask for a dyno sheet

 

[jjrock5]

Well it seems like a good package for the price. But 330 Horses sounds unfeasible with a stock car and a ''tune''. I personally call BS but said, ''Wow man, nice numbers'' Im not going to call the guy out in the middle of the office without even knowing him. haha

I would happily line them up but looking at my mods...well not sure how it would go. I think he could take me, for now.

 

[habitatguy187]

I would happily line them up but looking at my mods...well not sure how it would go. I think he could take me, for now.

Yep you'd get dusted. I raced a mazdaspeed 3 with an exhaust over the summer while I was still on my 14b with 7cm turbine housing running 21psi. My mods were decent but this guy killed me, and car and driver said the cobalt is faster than the mazdaspeed.

Like stated for the price you can't beat it, but it's such an ugly car...

 

[jjrock5]

hahaha. Agreed.

 

[Mitsu RacerX]

I can say this about time Chevy got into the tuner market. I'll still stick with my dsm and imports never had any luck with chevy's..
Guess this is the way for them to save face on all the other POS's they put out..

 

[Eclipsed]

what kind of dyno was it? if it was a mustang dyno id be very impressed, but not without a dyno sheet. it definitely isnt making 330 stock. upping the boost, full intake, exhaust and a tune MAYBE on a dynapack.

they can definitely be pretty quick cars. i was amazed when one "sort of" kept up with my evo from 30-60.

 

[lacroixdp]

"In their October 2008 issue, the guys from Motor Trend put the new 2009 Cobalt SS Turbo through its paces by having it carve its way through the famous, 11 corner, Laguna Seca Raceway. Being placed in a comparison with cars that have an average MSRP of $73,836, not much was expected out of the $22,995 Cobalt SS, but that's where they were all wrong. The Cobalt SS tied the Audi R8 in steering effort, matched the EVO X's time around the track at 1:47.7 and outranked the GT500KR in the final rankings by being a "much more refined" machine. The testers loved the Cobalt SS, its 260hp turbocharged ECOtec power plant and its linear steering feel, all of which made the car a blast to drive"

I've been saying this for months on here now, and people were saying I was crazy and a liar. The T/C Cobalt is simply an unbelievably fantastic car. When I told someone in a thread a while back that it would put a new M3 to shame, everyone was up in arms.

 

[Mitsu RacerX]

I'm not a fan of chevy but the car looks good I just want to know, has the car been torture tested yet..Its all good with the numbers, but I want to see how long it will last when it has been beat on and driven hard(not whipping donuts, just aggrressive driving running into boost and so forth)..I give it till about 75,000 then all hell breaks loss..

I'm not buying into the Ecotec motor just yet..

 

[Whiplash]

Fast car but not 330hp fast. Maybe he has a factory freak and its making 280hp or something.

 

[cs82685]

I've been saying this for months on here now, and people were saying I was crazy and a liar. The T/C Cobalt is simply an unbelievably fantastic car. When I told someone in a thread a while back that it would put a new M3 to shame, everyone was up in arms.

I know it's an impressive car, I'll be the first to admit it, but putting a new M3 to shame? I've been in a new m3 around a track and they are absolutely amazing.

 

[JEFFREYCASTGSX]

Theres a vid of a SS/TC up on youtube on a dynojet and it registered 24?whp, which ain't bad, and i know that with a flash they will make 280-290whp, but not 330whp(he is just one of those people that doesn't know but lies to get attention). Nowadays there arent any factory freaks, and plus they all make sae corrected hp.

 

[fstfcs]

A simple tune really opens these car up like you wouldn't believe.

My buddy has the supercharged one. I hate the body styling but i have to hand it to them, it's simply an amazing machine.

 

[Dallas J]

I was really surprised by one at the last auto-x. They put down about the same time as a Mini Cooper.

If I were to choose between the two though, Id pick a mini cause they just have more character. Still though, mighty impressive chevy made something worth a damn outside a truck or corvette.

 

[Zex4g63]

They have Direct Injection, which helps them make killer power. With a GM stage kit you can add 80ft lbs and 20hp.

 

[PIMking]

I wouldn't buy a General motors Union car ever in my life time. Poor car company had to take my tax dollars to get out of big trouble and gave all the power to the unions the same unions that got them in trouble in the first place.

 

[JusMX141]

You have to consider the fragility of these cars' driveline components as well as other parts compared to a DSM from the factory. Our cars are considerably de-tuned when you realize the potential of a stock engine, which is somewhere around 400-450whp on a 7-bolt and 500-600whp on a 6-bolt.

A good friend of mine has a supercharged Saturn Ion Redline which has been worked over quite well for still being stock enough to receive warranty service from GM. He has some money, and all the performance parts are GM parts installed by GM techs keeping the car fully under warranty, his main goal with owning this car. Even with the full stock exhaust, the car has dynoed at 313whp, and he just broke into the 12's at the strip last summer. The trouble is he's quickly reaching the potential of his transmission, which other GM builders have claimed is right around 350whp...and there aren't nearly the options we have when it comes to aftermarket transmission parts at that point. He'd have to buy a new OEM trans and hope it stays together.

Could you imagine owning and building a $20k+ car with a drivetrain timebomb at just 350whp? We don't realize how lucky we are to have guys like Shep, Jack's, TRE, and other great shops working hard everyday to raise the bar on what these cars can put to the ground.

 

[miniturbo23]

RACED 1 not 350hp, you guys got convinced to fast.. I'm not even close to 300whp.. oh and I won on a 35 roll, t25 on 16psi..

 

[Steve93Talon]

I just got back from a trip to TX, my rental car was an '09 Cobalt. It felt very marginally better than my mom's old '95 Cavalier. The black plastic was very cheap looking and feeling. The seats, rear view mirror, wipers, and many other details felt exactly like the old 80s-90s GM crap. The engine was raspy and unrefined. Getting back into my '06 Civic with 92k on it felt like a freaking Lexus. I don't care if a Cobalt SS ran 11s stock and cost $12,999, I wouldn't drive one.

 

[spoonman]

My brother is a really big J-Body (Cavilers and Sunfires) supporter and he rambles on about how amazing this car is. I think that the 330 HP is probably true but only a tune and no increase in boost pressure does not sound reasonable. I believe that the car may have had the OEM intake, exhaust, and no "mods" but the boost pressure had to be increased to flow more LBS/MIN to make the extra power, simply making the timing curve more aggressive and adjusting the fuel tables could never yield that much more power unless the fuel was changed from gasoline to race gas, and then still that is a lot of power from just a tune.

I have high expectations of the turbocharger Cobalt, the ECOtec engine is a very good design but for higher HP applications the aluminum block needs the cylinders to be sleeved.

 

[jjrock5]

I just got back from a trip to TX, my rental car was an '09 Cobalt. It felt very marginally better than my mom's old '95 Cavalier. The black plastic was very cheap looking and feeling. The seats, rear view mirror, wipers, and many other details felt exactly like the old 80s-90s GM crap. The engine was raspy and unrefined. Getting back into my '06 Civic with 92k on it felt like a freaking Lexus. I don't care if a Cobalt SS ran 11s stock and cost $12,999, I wouldn't drive one.

Did you drive the SS package?

RACED 1 not 350hp, you guys get convinced to fast.. I'm not even close to 300whp..

Who won? You raced the SS? How far was the win by?

You have to consider the fragility of these cars' driveline components as well as other parts compared to a DSM from the factory. Our cars are considerably de-tuned when you realize the potential of a stock engine, which is somewhere around 400-450whp on a 7-bolt and 500-600whp on a 6-bolt.

A good friend of mine has a supercharged Saturn Ion Redline which has been worked over quite well for still being stock enough to receive warranty service from GM. He has some money, and all the performance parts are GM parts installed by GM techs keeping the car fully under warranty, his main goal with owning this car. Even with the full stock exhaust, the car has dynoed at 313whp, and he just broke into the 12's at the strip last summer. The trouble is he's quickly reaching the potential of his transmission, which other GM builders have claimed is right around 350whp...and there aren't nearly the options we have when it comes to aftermarket transmission parts at that point. He'd have to buy a new OEM trans and hope it stays together.

Could you imagine owning and building a $20k+ car with a drivetrain timebomb at just 350whp? We don't realize how lucky we are to have guys like Shep, Jack's, TRE, and other great shops working hard everyday to raise the bar on what these cars can put to the ground.

Stock exhaust and made 313 WHP? I'll consider that impressive. I believe that the market for those cars will grow soon and thats when they'll be competition but never reach the DSM potential.

What performance parts has he done to the car that the dealer installed?