Cobalt LS Sedan



It’s a sunny afternoon here in Patterson California, not a cloud in the sky, and with the sun shining over the local Chevy dealership, a new vehicle shined the most, a vehicle that is quite possibly the most talked about GM vehicle that’s ever been produced.

The all new 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt, one of the many new Chevy’s being produced. This car uses Gm’s Global Delta platform for its body. This platform provides room for more refinement and stiffer suspension.
Gm plans to capture the youth market with this vehicle unlike its predecessor, the Cavalier, that was never able to really capture the youth market, due to its lack of refinement, lack of sound dampening material, lack of Chevy’s all new “Quiet Steel.”

Yes that’s right GM has developed all new steel, called quiet steel. It’s amazing material, you can tap it against a counter top and it will not give a ping/ring sound associated with steel. I was amazed after feeling it I was doubtful that this material will not act like typical steel but nevertheless it amazed me on how quiet it sounded.

This Quiet Steel material along with sound dampening material all along the firewall, also gm has implemented a foam type substance in all seems, welds so it can dampen even more sound.

Does it work? Yes it works well enough to quiet the Cobalt’s 2.2 Liter 145hp Ecotec engine. On the outside it’s not nearly as loud as the Cavalier. While driving the engine noise is very minimal the only thing you hear is the road noise which is not much, you are still able to hold a conversation with a passenger without raising your voice, which I find doing quiet often in my Cavalier. I also noticed no noticeable creaks or wind noise coming from anywhere, so refinement in chassis was there which GM definitely needed to improve on.



Performance wise it will serve an excellent commuter car with enough get up and go to move in and out of traffic with ease, braking is firm and crisp with no noticeable brake fade. Transmission shifted with ease, almost BMW like, it was smooth and shifted quietly and precisely.
Suspension was smooth the car absorbed a majority of the smaller pot holes but when there was a large pot hole it was felt but comfortably, something that I can honestly say I loved, it was nothing like a cavalier, braking was much more crisper, handling was mushy didn’t feel as if I had full control of the car, the car did feel heavy. I prefer more road feel while turning especially while maneuvering corners.



The downside to the cobalt was interior. Overall interior space was not bad being short I had plenty of head room, but for you taller people say around 6’ and up I think you will have hard time not hitting your head on the roof. The interior quality on the other hand was cheap; it looked cheap and felt cheap. Chevy used hard cheap looking plastics for the dash board, and the door panels, carpet was low cut, and my biggest upset was the lack of an arm rest in the center console. Overall styling of the interior was nice and looks good, but they, Chevy, took the easy way out and used plastics to develop it. Seating was fairly comfortable, comfortable for a 4 hour commute in rush hour traffic each day.

To end on a much better note, at first I was disappointed in the gauge cluster not having a temperature gauge, but after I turned on the car I seen it was digital, it was an awesome piece that Chevy developed, it has the option for engine Temp, Oil Life, AVG. MPH. readings, it was really impressive to see that in a domestic automobile, especially one at this price range.

Overall car, I would rate the car at a solid B. The Engine, Transmission, and Low Interior noise, is what gave this Automobile a Solid B other wise I would have rated a C-. Interior is too cheap and the car felt somewhat heavy while driving.



Written By,
Eddie Paulo
February 3rd, 2005

 

Looks like you tested a base model (which I also did earlier this week). I'll bet the LT, SS (and maybe even LS) have interior materials that may better suit your taste.

 

dash board and door panels meterial will be the same through the base all the way to the ss supercharged, that is what i was refering to. the meterial looks cheap, styling looks good but just looks meterial wise, cheap and feels cheap.

gm could have charged an extra 1000 dollars imo and upgraded interior meterial to say honda accord type meterial and it would sell much better a honda accord goes right now for 25 grand here in the states fully loaded ss s/c will go for around 23grand so for 24-25grand they could have had them selves a winner in every category possible aside from brute acceleration.

 

only thing that will change is "brushed aluminum" pieces around the stereo. thats it. bu if this car was designed on the nurburgring then my cavy will do hella good on it. watch out ss s/c. he he. maybe its the drive by wire thing i dont know first time driving a car with that it can be that it just feels heavy while turning its responsive but feels heavy. one thing i loved was how quiet it was as you can tell and i especially loved the brakes for having disc front drum rear it braked pretty damn good imo. possibly better than my 97 z24 cavy w/ xdrilled rotors and performance pads.

 

Ok I have a question. Does the base model have enough power to get out of its own way?
I'm not making fun of the car I'm just looking out for my stepbrother and I want to make sure he has something that won't get him in trouble but keep him from getting ran over if the situation calls for evasive actions.

 

get into trouble cars that arent as quick as this car would probably be a civic ex, and you see those cars getting into trouble all the ime. its by no means fast, base cobalt, but its not a dog. when getting on the highway you can achieve full speed (70mph) with ease.

 

Thanks for the reply. He knows better then to try and get in to trouble, I and his parents both have given him the once over about driving right and he knows if he screws up he doesn't get to drive my buddies vette, I was just wanting to know if he could get up to speed at a safe pace instead of holding up traffic and possibly causing an accident.

 

The Cobalt has more base power then most of the cars in it's class, and especially with the 5-speed is decently quick, in fact quicker then a lot of other compacts. Think of the point of view that most reviewers so far have had... we are people who want the SS S/C, and want to make it faster. Obviously the base model will not be up to our performance desires if the SS S/C in stock form isn't even there.

I have to take issue with Eddie's comment then other than the drive train and noise you would give it a C-. What about chassis rigidity and feel, comfort, ride and handling, styling etc. Are you saying that you see this car as basically a cavalier with low road noise? Obviously the FE1 suspension was designed for comfortable ride and decent control, as opposed to the FE5 which was actually tuned at the 'ring. I have driven both base Cav's and base Cobalt's and the Cobalt is easily better in both ride and handling. I guess that's my opinion though. And even though you think the interior plastics are cheap, compare them to the segment. Civic's and VW's are debatably better, but also more expensive. What about the Neon, Focus, Corolla, Lancer, J-car? Compare the tactility and ergonomics of the controls and switchgear as well as interior styling, and I think the Cobalt is up there with the class leaders.

I realize that is really just a difference in opinion between two people are therefore neither of us can be proven right, but I just thought I'd offer a different view on the issue.

 

I touched up the pictures a bit so they were not as washed out:






Thats better.

 

well comparing it to chasis regity cobalt has cavalier beat in my opinion it feels like two different cars. completely different cars. the cobalt felt pretty heavy where as the cavalier doesnt imo. my parents 97 chevy lumina doesnt feel as heavy as the cobalt did. the car was well refigned i heard no squeeks nothing like that it was quiet asside from road noise, on a cavalier you get engine, road, and suspension noise, you hear everything working, which sucks.

driving my friends lexus all you hear is a nice whining from the engine, thats it no road noise nothing, i love it. but for an affordable car cobalt is a winner.

turning imo sux its as if the car didnt have power steering imo the steering wheel felt very hard to turn, possibly due to being a brand new car but who knows. and thats why i didnt care much for the handling aspect but it gets the job done. its not what i want to see in a car,

i'm sure i'll like the ss s/c with fe5 suspension, stiffer suspension and front and rear sway bar i'm sure i'll have my fun test driving that beast..

 

thanx for touching up the pics, i clearly took them with my phone he he.

also zstyle if you have ne more questions on why i feel that way just ask me. there are only 2 things really i liked about the cavalier over the cobalt, it was the road feel you can feel that you have control of the car more than i did with the cobalt and the soft touch padding on the dash.