Getting back to this Cobalt SS thing....I'm not quite sure how I feel about it.

On the one hand...I can see how reserving the SS name for the top engined Cobalt only... would be useful. On the other hand, having a less expensive 170 hp SS sedan and coupe could have been a good strategy too. SS cannot be compared to SVT or SRT with the same brush stroke. SS is about performance..yes. But it is also about volume (unlike SVT or SRT).

The normally aspirated SS versions would have been very attainable and would have exposed more first time buyers to the "SS" brand.

Somehow, saying: " I'm gonna take down that Scion in my Cobalt LT"...doesn't have quite the same ring as "Cobalt SS".

 

I kinda want GM to bring back the GTZ trim levels...

The Beretta GTZ and the Mitsu Galant GTZ are the only two uses of the GTZ distinction in US market (at least within a number of years). I think its time for another......

Cobalt GTZ sounds so much freakin' meaner than Cobalt LT.

The distinction "LT" makes me think of a Ford LTD... LTZ doesn't sound so bad but............. GTZ..... muhahah

 

how about using a different designation and the 170HP engine. ..

Cobalt RS
Cobalt Sport (so super sport would be above it logically)
Cobalt GT (too much blue oval influence so I wouldnt choose it)
Cobalt Rally
Cobalt Pro
Cobalt GTS

 

RS would work quite well I think....

 

I like RS the best, Sport would be ok too

Rally would work if it had AWD
Save GT for Pontiacs
GTS makes me think Viper, I think GTS sounds like it should be above SS.

What about Z24 ????

 

I dunno.

RS = I still have a bad taste in my mouth over the "performance" of the 3rdgen Camaro RS's (save B4C models) and the Cavalier RS ones too. blech...

Cobalt Sport = Too much negative connotation(sp?) to the current LS Sport Cavalier models)
Cobalt GT (too much blue oval influence so I wouldnt choose it)
Cobalt Rally = unless its 4wd, nah
Cobalt Pro = sounds like a table saw
Cobalt GTS = Viper or Toyota connections (Corolla GTS; Celica GTS)

Those are just my personal opinions, thus why I think GTZ would fit perfectly.

 

RS
Z24?
GTZ

I think either would work but I would like to get a Cobalt with the 2.4 to replace my Chevy Corsica with my daily driver it would have around the same amount of torque in and probally a little more horsepower with the V6 plus a new top quality chevy car I could own.

 

It doesn't surprise me they're dropping the 2.4 from the SS. Chevrolet was never happy with the meagre 170 hp output of the 2.4 and had concerns about marketing it as an SS.

 

How do you know they were unhappy with the 170hp form the 2.4L?

That output is ahead of Toyotas, Mistsubishis, Chryslers and Hondas (except for the 200hp one) and it beats them all in torque.

Given the fact that Car and Driver got 15.5 in the 1/4 mile from
a Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart (162hp 162lbs-ft) I would bet a Cobalt 2.4L could improve on that a bit.

That would make it faster then the 3800 NA Monte SS they have been building for years. So its not like a 2.4L 5 speed would be slow.


Does it have to be "SS" for me? No
Just keep the whole package (appearnce, wheels, engine)
RS would do.

 

A $16,000-$17,000, 170 hp Cobalt SS would have matched a SCION tC pretty well...and probably slightly outmuscled it.

Maybe GM isn't all that serious about competing with Toyota.

 

The 2.4 Cobalt will still stick it to the tC. Id doesnt need an SS badge to do it.

 

Check the website. NO 2.4 COBALT!

 

I don't think Chevy's SS strategy really leaves room for a Cobalt GTZ.

But if it did....it should be the spiritual successor to the Beretta GTZ. That would require the same doctrine used on the Beretta GTZ.....which was, according to Chevrolet... "Create the best handling FWD in the world".

In the late '80s, the GTZ had 180 hp. What does that translate to, a decade and a half later? 280HP?

Now we're talking Cobalt GTZ!

 

For now, till the 2.4 goes on line for production.