Anyone that buys a Grand Mark or Crown Vic that doesnt have Capt, Sgt, Officer or Grandma/Grandpa before there name, needs there head examined, nevermind picking one over a Cobalt.

 

The power kinda was really unexpected . Its not that it was exactly fast , but it felt very qwik for a small 4cyl car like this . It always felt like it had power , there really wasnt any laggy spots at all . It wasnt buzzy at all and imo , was really refined and smooth at all rpm's . Like I said in intial post , this thing is vault . I didnt have the radio on while I was driving it , no tire noise , it felt solid and was rattle and squeek free over all type of pavement . I really couldnt fault it for anything and Im a picky sob . As far as I know , its a carryover 140 hp 2.2 ecotec . I didnt really have any interest in a base model so I didnt really pay attention to the mechanicals of the engine in car I drove .

Mecca - I just had called gates a couple months ago and told them I was interested and they called when they got one in .

 

good step for gm, we will see how it sells, probly will be at rentals galore.

Too bad the 4 door at least looks hideous as all hell. Blah, civic for same thing. =P but it is a step in the right direction.

 

Am I the ONLY one that thinks the Cobalts are UGLY?

The 2 door isn't AS BAD, but the 4 door is horrible! I liked the Cavi better!

The 2 door looks good from the front and side, but the rear is way off... Those tail lamps and the height off of the ground is what ruins it to me...

Looks like they tried to make a "smaller" Impala rear end...ugg...

Maybe when I see one in real life, I'll think differently but I still think its not going to be what Chevy thinks it will.

 

I agree that the sedan's roofline / C-Pillar area is awkward looking... that is really my only beef with it's styling though.

 

It looks odd in pictures, but up close it isnt as noticable. I see the same thing with the Mazda3's sedan...but somehow they pulled it off better?

 

The more I see Mazda 3s on the road, the more I think they are goofy looking. Compact sedans have gotten taller to allow more interior room (thank God, since I'm a fairly tall guy) - see the Toyota Corolla, Mazda 3, Focus, Ion, and so on. The Cobalt sedan looks just fine to me in person, in a utilitarian kind of way (like most of the above mentioned cars). The Mazda 3s that I see have some weird things going on in profile and the rear 3/4 view. The 6 is a pretty car, but it doesn't work as well on the 3. Says I, anyway.

 

Dante and Darth,

Have you seen the 4 door in person? I've seen 2 LTs in person now at shows...they look GREAT in person. Not as good as the coupe, but the odd look to the rear pillars looks far better in person...I too shared your opinion until I saw one up close.

The more I see it, the more I think about it, the more I like it I just wish they took this car and grew it a bit and made it a Malibu instead. I really want one, but going from a GP to a Cobalt, size-wise, might suck.

Not that the Malibu is so bad, but when I saw a black Cobalt LT at a show I asked the GM rep "The same car line that produces this produces THAT??" pointing to a Malibu LS. Malibus I think get more of a bum rap on here than they deserve, but the Cobalt is so good, it makes you wonder...

 

Yes, I've seen them for quite a while now.

I live near Lordstown Assembly, and I've seen pilot cars driving around with MFG plates for a few months.

I still think the C-Pillar area is quirky looking in person.

This is my only problem with the car though, and I don't think it's downright hideous or anyhting.... just a little dis-proportional or something.

 

I know them, they know me. They want my $$

 

Kinda like the Cavalier sedan, which also had a C-pillar that was "quirky looking."

Again, the Cobalt reminds me of when the Cavalier was rebodied just about 10 years ago. The new car shares little with the Cavalier - except for the carried over drivetrain - but the Cobalt upholds the tradition of a borderline attractive coupe and slightly ugly sedan.

 

What I am about to say shows how shi!!y Gm advertising is. I work at a Saturn dealership and if you guys want to test out the driveability of a cobalt SS take an Ion redline coupe out for a drive. IDENTICAL powertrain and same platform and handling. The only thing is the build quality is not to the cobalt SS's but close. Drive one and you would be surprised, has long has the wheelhop can be tuned out. I wanted the buy a redline they stickered for $22.8K loaded. I could have gotten the car new for $14K with my discount and I wanted to but I am buying a house. Test drive one you won't be dissapointed. Me and an engineer took one to the track and everyone was asking what it was and the car was on the showroom for 9 months. The next week we sold all 9 of them.

 

1. Do you ever feel like the Maytag repairman?

2. Now that Saturn is well down the road to total "badge-engineering," does anyone remember why GM started this division to begin with?

3. I'm not sure why GM needs both the Ion Redline and Cobalt SS?

 

The redline is hardly in that catagory

Correct me if Im wrong , but almost all manufactures use this concept yet GM gets bashed the hardest for it . Fords new 500 and mercury variation oughta be the biggest violators in some time . Ford is getting the total badge engineering job down to a tee as of late with mercury . At least GM's platform mates in almost all cases does not share any body panels or have the same interior with a different trim . Gm's new mini vans are the sad exception The Ion and the cobalt are quite different from each other visually , in and out .

I work for saturn part time , spend a day in a Saturn dealer and it still is a different kind of car company . Now it just needs good product to go along with its first class dealer expirience

Frankly , neither do I at the present time . The center dash pod is NEVER going to be desireable . The redline with a convential interior would have sold much much better . Ive heard time and time again , " I cant get over center guage pod" . With Saturn going upmarket , maaaaaybe if their new models are well recieved , they can pull off a Civic/RSX type thing with the redline being the upmarket RSX equivilent . As an example .

 

Saturns are great cars (My wife and I have an ION QC3 and Vue AWD v6) to go with our Mini Cooper. While Saturns rarely ever win a direct comparison in magazines and etc for refinement and etc but the one quality that never gets factored in on a Saturns total score in magazines is how you are treated at the dealer after you buy the car. I dont care how great a car performs or how nice the interior is if you just endup getting shafted at the dealer when you try to get it serviced.