4th out of 5th....It beat the Ion, mainly I think because the Cobalt has a better interior. Otherwise after reading the article the 'Detla Twins' would've tied for last.

When you study the numbers and the individual catagory tallies, the Cobalt was actually very impressive. It was third fastest in the autocrossbehind the Ion and Noen ACR (by I think only 0.12 seconds, which could be overcome by the driver), and trounced the WRX and RSX S-Tpye by 2+ seconds.

Funniest part was last month during a 'short take' they praised the interior of that SS but thought this one was 'too dark' and not inviting. No mention of how good the fit and finish and new materials are. Second funniest thing they actually admitted, kinda, they have a prejudice against liking GM offereings because they haven't been any good for so long. They mentioned this directly in the Ion review, but from reading the article, I think that spilt over into the Cobalt.

Most interesting, Cobalt ranked second highest in the 'gotta have it' catagory. If you take the time to read between the lines, you'll come to the conclusion that the Cobalt is a fantastically competative car (especially autocrossing) just begging for something outstanding to do. Can't help but this that a few more ponies under the hood would've propelled it into 3rd or 2nd place.

 

Saw a thread about this on the Saturn website I check out. What a joke of a comparo (it sounds like; haven't read it yet). Rather than type it all again, I'll just paste what I posted on the other forum (some guy claimed that the RSX is a "nicer" car and "deserved to win" - also without having read the article). My post:

"

It might be a "nicer" car (it is an Acura for crying out loud). But the other cars will evidently run circles around it. At least the Cobalt, Ion, and SRT-4 will (keeping in mind that I haven't seen the article yet; this thread is my first exposure to it).

They have always been Honda biased. PERIOD. Which is not to say that Honda doesn't make great cars - they do. (They also used to be heavily BMW-favoring, but that has shifted to Audi. Their other darling is Nissan/Infinity. They seem to dislike Ford and HATE General Motors). I haven't subscribed for years, but still check in online or by way of my brother's subscription. Their new points system is absolutely ridiculous, although it probably just reflects their bias more openly. It used to be less apparent; now they come right out and alter outcomes - like in the GTO vs. Mustang GT test - with "Gotta Have It" factors.

C&D sucks, which hurts to say because they used to be my favorite by far (and they still have a few funny writers). And, for the record, so does Motor Trend, which is aimed at the middle school study hall crowd. Automobile and, particularly, Road & Track are much better, though Automobile is a little light on actual test results and heavier on automotive "cultural" articles. All IMHO, of course."

I didn't know that the Cobalt creamed the RSX THAT badly in performance (I knew it would be pretty much a wash between the Ion, Cobalt, and SRT-4). And yet the two slowest cars, both from Japan, walk away with the wins. Unbelievable.

Honda must be in excruciating pain from all the editors swinging from there ***** for twenty years.

 

That's Car and Driver for ya. That's all that needs to be said.

The editors opinions are so transparent.

 

I too was really surpirsed how much faster the detroit cars were on the autocross. Since the theme of the test was cheap speed, it would seem the detroiters wshoulve placed nexk and neck with the other two if not nip them for the win after the overall packege is considered.

 

The auto media is HIGHLY biased. If it is a "sport compact" from GM it must suck. The *** cars may have a decent fit & finish, but if you're testing performance & get totally owned by the Chevy & Saturn, how can the *** cars win the comparo???

 

I don't know. Another thing that struck me was that the Ecotechs were considered thrashy above 4000 rpm yet the RSX drivetrain made you drive and (constantly) shift at high rpms (6000?), which they complained as being too busy.

I don't know, in my book that was a wash but the RSX got a point more in the draivetrain department.

 

Bravo man, bravo! You are 100% acurate, way more than I could have been. I was waiting for someone to chime in. I can't believe they had the audacity to openly admit it. Just goes to show how dumb, they consider thier readers (drones, most will buy whatever they are told by these morons)(Are the left-wing loonz correct? Are many Americans dumb as a bag of rocks, to read that trash and run right out, and buy what they are told is good?) to be, they know no one will call them on thier bias. Gee wouldn't this mean, that you can't trust anything they say about American cars? As far as I'm concerned they put sand bags, in the trunk of all the GM cars, when they do a test. And until someone can absolutely beyond a shadow of any doubt..... disprove that, that's exactly how I will continue to see it. To say these guys are lower than pond scum, would be an insult to pond scum everywhere! I hope thier audi's leave them broke down in the worst detroit neighborhood, with electrical problems, so their nav/gps (or whatever that garbage has, don't work), and they can't get any cell phone reception. To All America Bashers! Where is Threxx???? Care to come in here, and explain to us ALL once again, how the playing field is LEVEL?????......Fairgame? Yeah right pal! And I got a bridge for ya.......really freakin' cheap! HONEST! And, it's a really good bridge too, you'll love it! I would agree with Sneaky Neil, they are very transparent to Some of US! Sadly, I don't think that's the case with most non enthusiasts! In fact I know ppl read those rags, when looking for what kind of car they should buy. Ok I don't think they are dumb as a bag of rocks......just ill informed ppl looking for transportation, and don't know any better. I hope the ppl wise up!

 

That is total crap!! I remember hearing about this a month ago, and figured that the SRT4 would take 1st, Cobalt 2nd, RSX 3rd, WRX 4th, Ion 5th
To come in 4th!! That is just amazing. Was this Cobalt SS equiped with the performance package (LSD and Recaros)?
That is just absolutly f*ing sad. 4th?

 

Is anyone really surprised? No. C&D is not going to praise the Delta cars. GM's reputation for small cars has never been sterling...even now that they are building winners I guess it just takes time to overcome the bad rep.

What I am surprised about is the Deltas running rings around the WRX. That ugly little rally car enjoys almost legendary street cred, and to see it get dusted around a track by FWD econos that are rated with less HP is quite something. So much for Subaru's AWD advantage.

 

About time for GM to pull it's ads from C&D too....

 

whats funny is C&D did a short take on the SS supercharged and praised it as being a great replacement for the camaro blues(august issue pg.140). they talked about how close to the camaro it came in performance and how it was a great stepping stone to the vette! can't say that about the acura.

 

Was that WRX an STi or not? The non-STi is a far cry from the STi model.

 

It could work!

 

Agreed.

 

Non STi. The perameters of the test was; under $25K price, over 200hp.

The non STi WRX was at 227 hp I think. They talked in the beginning about other cars they could've/should've included, the two biggest ones being a new Jetta GLi (can't remember which performance model) and a V6 Mustang.

I think it would have been VERY interesting to see how they would've rated the Mustang in this group.