THE DRIVE : I Just Bought an Extremely Clean 2009 Chevy Cobalt SS and It’s Amazing So Far
- Thread starter odie
- Start date
Did we spend some time reading this site today?
Context is key.
A 2009 Cobalt SS is amazing... for a
That said, these raise an eyebrow:
Yeah, the seats are better than the base Cobalt. Everything else is exactly the same. Sharp, hard plastic abound. The silver finish is incredibly prone to ugly scratching and generally wearing off.
This era of GM has one of the worse implementations of electric power steering on Earth. These early column-mount EPS systems were what turned people off of EPS for years. The only thing the SS has going over it's stablemates (Cobalt, Ion, HHR, G5, G6, Malibu, Ion, Captiva, and Vue all used the same EPS) is that the steering is heavier. It still suffers from a vague on-center feel and overall numbness. Precise with good feedback are adjectives I wouldn't use to describe the steering on a Colbalt SS. To top that, the EPS units aren't very robust, often clunk, and were the subject of numerous recalls over the years.
Again, context is key. The price-to-performance ratio, especially in relation to it's peers of the era, make all this easy to forgive. Don't kid yourself though: The interior and steering aren't great.
A 2009 Cobalt SS is amazing... for a
That said, these raise an eyebrow:
No, no, no. The plastics don't seem cheap, they are cheap, and it's not some of them, it's all of them. All the plastics in this car are cheap.
Yeah, the seats are better than the base Cobalt. Everything else is exactly the same. Sharp, hard plastic abound. The silver finish is incredibly prone to ugly scratching and generally wearing off.
Yes, the author will get flack for that and he should.
This era of GM has one of the worse implementations of electric power steering on Earth. These early column-mount EPS systems were what turned people off of EPS for years. The only thing the SS has going over it's stablemates (Cobalt, Ion, HHR, G5, G6, Malibu, Ion, Captiva, and Vue all used the same EPS) is that the steering is heavier. It still suffers from a vague on-center feel and overall numbness. Precise with good feedback are adjectives I wouldn't use to describe the steering on a Colbalt SS. To top that, the EPS units aren't very robust, often clunk, and were the subject of numerous recalls over the years.
Again, context is key. The price-to-performance ratio, especially in relation to it's peers of the era, make all this easy to forgive. Don't kid yourself though: The interior and steering aren't great.
Wait till he has to do a water pump, thermostat, timing chain and a lot of other normally easy jobs. He will wish he bought a GTI.
Yes .
Back in that same timeframe I was looking for a hot FWD hatch in order to become familiar with driving one on the track(we were seeing more GTIs, Mini Coopers, Civic Sis, etc., at the HPDEs and myself and most all of the other instructors drove RWD cars). The SS offered a lot of bang for the buck, but I couldn't stomach the interior. I went with a Mazdaspeed 3. For $5,000 the Cobalt SS is a much attractive proposition.
The Cobalt SS is descended from the J-car of the 1980's. I had a 1985 Pontiac Sunbird turbo, in which I learned autocrossing and track driving. I loved that thing. Sometimes I dream that I am driving it. The Cobalt SS made an excellent showing in the Car and Driver Lightning Lap competition at Virginia International Raceway many years ago. It is probably the most over-achieving car they have ever run at VIR. It's performance per dollar ratio is excellent.
I like mine...
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