GTI's, WRX's, SRT's, EVO's, and even Civics with turbo kits are all highly regarded and are putting out well north of 350hp with out too much trouble. I don't understand GM's decision to go with a supercharger, from what Ive seen 300 hp is the limit on the LSJ. With most modded SS/IRL's running low 14's and struggling to hit high 13's, I think GM swung and missed with this car. The only way to go big is to scrap the whole supercharger system and convert it to turbo which is a huge custom project on these cars.

We've owned our IRL for a year and a half now, and its definatly the black sheep of GM's performance division and the sport compact market in general. I've retuned with GM's stage 1 and gone down to a 2.7" pulley and its probably in the mid 200's hp now, but going much further makes the car a pain in the *** and takes a lot of work.

The whole idea of this car is to turn young buyers on to the idea of buying GM and alot of that has to do with potential. Even if little Bobby's Civic only pushes 200hp, he can point to countless 350+hp ones and thats why he loves his car. Same with Supras, Evo's, Srt's, ect. The current SS/IRL just cant put down big numbers. I think we'll have to wait untill the ecotech goes turbo before perception really gets changed.

 

Actually the RSX is right in the ballpark of SS/SC $$ wise and is a VERY popular car in the sport compact world . The GTI , if you dont load it up with leather and the DSG trans is priced right at what a loaded Cobalt SS/SC goes for . Its quality may or may not have gone down , it popularity has not ....its still a respected and very popular car .

 

That "stage 5 kit" is basically as far as you can go with the LSJ and they even post dyno sheets showing 270/270 hp/tq. You just aren't going much higher with this engine.

 

Is there anything that isn't "underrated" these days? Even engines that were made 30 years before the advent of the chassis dyno have suddenly become "underrated".

Anyway....here's the real issue....

....and curiously, nobody has an answer for that yet.

 

I dont even know if GM has separate sales figures for the Supercharged Cobalt and Ion Redline . Hmmm

 

What about twincharging? I would think that would be a relatively elegant solution to the undersized superchager, and I know that someone has done it before on the car.

 

There is a company that did this and made 340 hp to the front wheels on an Ion redline . There are a couple kits in the works , but nothing released yet .

 

There are a few cobalt's ecotecs pushing 1000+ hp and running mid 9s. A cobalt currenty holds the FWD speed record. Like anything . Its how you want to spend. A lot of those cars that you are talking about are not in the cobalts class. They cost nearly $10,000 more. I mean, the supra? Come on guy.

http://www.cobaltss.net/forums/showt...highlight=fast

And yes. A twin screw supercharger would be awesome.

 

Granted it's not as hot as the SRT4 or the CiVic's... but, I think one they strap a turbo on it, it might catch the attention of the rice/4 cyl crowd. I don't think they realise that the S/C is just as effective.. I think they are brainwashed by F+F immage of Boost = Turbo's.... ... It's almost pitiful.

 

Short of the Corvette, I think the Cobalt SS is by far, the most fun-to-drive new Chevy available. With that stated, I guess the original question speaks to who's got the street cred.

Quick. If you're looking to spend around $25K or under, which one of these cars strikes you as the most badass? Cobalt SS, WRX TR, MazdaSpeed3, Civic Si, SRT-4 (either the old Neon or the upcoming Caliber)?

Tough one huh. Who picked the Cobalt?

For those who didn't pick it - would it matter if the Cobalt had a turbo, or didn't have that wing, or had a catchier name than SS?

 

Honestly I might pick the mazdaspeed 3. It wasnt there when I bought my cobalt.

 

Not a dud.

Look up Cobalt SS numbers and compare them to the performance version of "ricers".....NEW ricers..... not some 2 year old import that some kid picked up out of Autotrader and started modding.

As far as performance, it's already been hit on.

The only people who are calling the Cobalt SS a dud are kids who are tooling around in older used imports, not people buying new.

 

You can get a Cobalt SS for $21K though, and it will out handle the rest. AWD on the WRX would be nice, and the Mazda 3 is putting out more power. With the Solstice 260HP 2.0L the Cobalt would be the winner in my book. I like the coupe looks the best, it has great handling and the best price. AWD WRX would be nicer in winter though.

 

I would get the WRX, AWD + turbo..... I heard since they put the 2.5 engine in there they are a lot faster with minimal $$$$

 

In Canada, you can take out the WRX, it is priced about 10G over the other models. If the cobalt had the turbo and 4 doors, it would be my pick.

Why on earth are they not putting the performance engine in the 4 door cobalt makes no sense to me. Even civic will have the 4 door version of the si. Mazda and wrx both have 4 door only.. so whats up cobalt?