I've been following this site for months now but I just recently joined. I am looking to get a new car soon and I have been spending months researching which car I want. I had pretty much narrowed it down to
SRT-4
05 Tiburon GT
05 Cobalt SS/sc

SRT-4 has dropped off completely because although it is the fastest of the three and priced inbetween the other two, it doesn't look that great and I have heard from SRT-4 owners that the car feels like it is going to fall apart while they drive. I assume it is because it is very fast but their suspension and frame cannot handle so much powa.

Anyways, it is down to the Tiburon GT or Cobalt SS. Here's my dilemma. With the Tiburon Gt I can Leather, ABS, Cruise Control, Auto Climate Control, 360W stereo, Power Locks, windows, mirrors & moonroof plus a V6 that has tons of potential and a lot of aftermarket backing all for only $20,200. Plus, TONS of people love the styling including me and it sounds very nice with aftermarket exhaust and CAI.
Pretty much this is how I see it

Quickness Cobalt > Tiburon
Price Cobalt > Tiburon
Accessories This is tough. They are both loaded
Appearance Tiburon > Cobalt IMO

I guess I will have to test drive both. I like the idea of spending less money for the Tiburon and then modding it to my liking. With the new Cams & ECU that is coming out for the Tib, a few grand and the tib would be faster than the Cobalt N/A.
Sorry for the long post but I have just been boggling my mind over this. What do you guys think?

 

Die hard GM fan here. I would never own an import. Don't know much about Tiberon. The biggest difference is you can go *BUY* a tiberon right now if you want. You can't get a cobalt ss s/c

 

what is it with you people.........BUY AMERICAN BELIEVE UNION

and everyone wonders why are economy is stuggling look at all the freakin imports!!

 

I heard that the Tiburon has a lot of Trany problems!!... I or the person I heard it from may be wrong tho!

 

HERE HERE........where would we be if we did not have the industry we do.... it is slowly dissappearing

 

The '03's had problems with the clutches going out as well as the paint flaking and what not but those issues seem to have been corrected for '04+.

Yah, I can buy a Tiburon now but by the time I'm ready to actually buy a car, the Cobalt should be available.

IMO, I think outsourcing jobs to countries such as India is the main factor in the decline of our economy, not buying imported goods. Also, there are Hyundai, Honda, etc. factories here in America that employ american workers but I hate Economics. I'm just a guy looking for the best deal.

 

Most of the "US industry" factories are over seas or outside the country. Yes forien companies have plants and factories here in the US, but I know very well what Toyota does with their money and how they look at the US employee, it irritates me everytime I think of it. As for outsourcing, this is fairly recent in history. Me best friend directs over 500 Indians overseas. The majority of outsourcing is just like my friends employees, data processors. by doing this US companies open up more management positions. Outsourcing does not bother me as much as the loss of industry. Always remember what made us a superpower during WWII, our industry. If we didn't have it anyone could walk right over the USA at anytime.

 

my room mate has an 04 tib, he loves it, hes got the gt v6 with the slap stick auto in it. its pretty quick, faster then my current car, but ill blow him out of hte water. he got his for 17k so if i were you id see what you could do about the price. its a pretty nice car but i drove a red line a week ago and the power from that motor was 5x what his does.

my .02$

 

My father works for a GM/Ford dealership. Thats whats wrong with me '

On the other hand I do own a Honda motorcycle. I think Chevy has made leaps and bounds of progress to value and reliability in their vehicles.

The transmissions in that brand scares me. I had a friend with an Elantra back in high school that would stall when it came to a stop unless you popped the car into nuetral. Keep in mind this is an autopmatic transmission. He tried countless times to get it fixed. Maybe the dealer mechanics sucked but that my little experience with them..

 

heres what this will come down to your budet and the test drive i personally have driven the tibby and they let me down i was expecting much more from the v6. the n/a eco in my 03 cavy had alot more to it then the tibby.

 

And try and remember the culture surrounding import buyers and sellers. They DO NOT discount their cars very much, and import buyers don't expect them too. Domestic buyers expect discounts, and in order to sell volume domestic companies are willing to sell at a discount.

 

The thing with imports, which kinda makes me mad, is when they rate the HP, they dont include the stuff that sucks the hp down. (i.e. the a/c). So instead of it having the hp they list on the site, its actually a little less. I also test drove one of the tibby gt's a while back. i hate the suspension, and the v6 in that car didnt feel like a v6, but the one in my grand am gt, does. -shrug- it all comes down to what YOU want to do with YOUR cash, not what we say. and if you are looking for potential, i cant remeber where it was on the site, but i recall someone saying the cobalt ss s/c engine is capable over 1000hp?? correct me if im wrong, but i thought i read that on here. and the cobalt ss s/c has tons of potential, the tibby has a couple years on it, thats why it has more accessories.

 

yeah i understand that foreign car companies have factories here in the states and employ americans, but where does their profit go??? Not to the US to their country. I guess the thing that pisses me off is that I work at GM and people have the nerve to drive a KIA

 

HAHAHA@! Fly apart? that is a damn good one, go talk to the guys with 350+hp that are running just fine, I have 270 in mine going to 350 and it is fine! HA!

There are no twisting motions going thru the frame in a FWD vehicle like RWD, it is all handled with the engine cradle and the motor mounts.....
Powa huh?

 

i used to own a tiburon GT, and while a nice car, i've moved up in life by owning a redline. the GT has nice torque, and responds fairly well to N/A mods, but once you want some serious power, you'll be shelling out dough, to get to where the Cobalt will be stock, you'll be spending thousands, where if you spend those thousands on the cobalt, you'll be ahead by that much more. don't worry about the aftermarket for the cobalt either, it will be here, not many companies are willing to produce for the ion, but once the cobalt comes out you WILL be seeing an aftermarket, chevy's been having smaller tuning shops working on them so when release comes, there will be some stuff to come, and by the time your warranty runs out, we should be seeing some serious power out of these cars, just look at PSI-FI, they're working out a Twincharge setup, and that will be very promising.

say their kit costs 4000 (hopefully not), when you spend that, you'll end up with WAY more power than that same 4000 will yeild you with the tiburon. and if you get cams for an N/A application, then your SOL with any type of F/I, then if you decide to go that route, you'll be wanting F/I cams. look into Nextgeneration Motorsports, he offers quite the setup for the tib, but once you spend all that, you're looking to be over 25000invested into a car that after so many miles wont be holding together that well, check out newtiburon.com.

on top of that, the delta platform has been compared to the BMW 3 series chassis in terms of rigidity and stiffness, which is remarkable. the cobalt will handle better, outperform, and with a tastefull aftermarket bodykit, can look as good as the tiburon. trust me, you want the cobalt

 

I'm glad to see a response from someone who has done Tiburon research. I'm familiar with newtiburon.com as I am a member and have been following the sites for a little over 6 mos. I also know about NGM and the turbo setup Tim is putting together. I do like the fact of having a stock car that is quick and handles well and is comfortable. I also have to take into consideration Insurance cost, and resale. Tiburon would be cheaper with Insurance but the resale on Tibs is pretty bad. I'm not sure what the cobalt would be. I also like the fact that I could be satisfied driving the Cobalt stock without modding it and ruining the warranty. If I were to get the Tiburon, I would be compelled to mod the **** out of it immediately to gain more horsepower which, in turn, would void the warranty or at least make it much harder to get repairs covered. Does anyone know if the cobalt will require premium gasoline because that is another advantage of N/A is that you can put in 87 octane when gas prices are outrageous. I also like the aftermarket exhaust on a V6 compared to an I4 supercharged.

A lot of things to ponder. I'm sure my mind will be made up after I test drive both cars and see what kind of deals I can get.

 

They are cheap for a reason. Stuff like exhaust systems that rust out in a year or two.

 

I drove a tiburon GT 03 for about 3 months when my grand am was being repaired. It was ok. I love the 6 speed transmission but I was worried about how the seats would hold up and a few other things. I like the cobalt because it has very unique styling like the tiburon and seems to use a higer grade quality in some interior parts. Plus its faster stock. GM has said that there will be performance parts. There are already quite a few things available for the current Ecotec.

 

okay, after reading these i had to post a reply.. people that are hardcore american cars and anti hyundai and stuff always say the tiburon sucks cuz its so slow and blah blah.. ok, maybe if ur planning on making ur car have a million hp then yea, go buy a better car, or if u plan on flooring it and racing ppl every 2 seconds.. but if ur looking for a great car without spending a ridiculous amount of money the tiburon is great. i have a 05 tiburon gt and i absolutely love it.. its fast enough for me to have fun, and its (in my opinion and others that have commented on my car) one of the best looking cars out there compared to its competitors. im not gonna down talk the cobalt, cuz im sure its a great car.. but i think the style and the way it looks is nothing compared to the tiburon, inside and out.. and its affordable! so u dont have to worry about getting all the extra accessories and spending too much. i actually was deciding between a cobalt ss and the tiburon, and after looking at everything i went with the tiburon, and im extremely satisfied with my choice, and i get complimented on my car all the time. im sure ppl are gonna yell at me and tell me im stupid lol but thats my personal opinion.

 

Buy the COBALT SS. I like the Tib, but I couldn't even fathom myself in a korean import. But that's JMO. Hey 05tibby, Welcome to the club. We're a good bunch for the most part.

 

One of the ladys at a chev dealer in calgary is very close friends with my mom, she was getting really sick of the way her manager treated her at the dealer so she moved over to hyundai, she is driving a tiburon GT and she says that she liked the cobalt LS that she had alot better..

 

So if what you're saying is true then the 145hp for the non-ss and 205hp for the ss is rated WITH the A/C on? If that's the case that COULD explain the gains people have seen in horsepower when dynoing their SS' (still haven't gone with my LS) but I've never seen any mention of the "power sucking" items being included in the HP ratings on cars (American made in general). You have a link that supports this...I'd be curious to see?

As for the original post, I had looked at Tiburons one due to the V6 and two it had the 6-speed option, but once I got in the car I just couldn't see myself driving it. The look and feel of the interior just wasn't me. Other than that, I haven't done much research into them though my g/f's mom drives an Elantra that is god knows how old and they've had no problems with the tranny, etc. up to this point...only the inevitable rust when living in "salt central" come the winter.

Permafried-

 

Get the Tiburon! Its name means shark!

 

Eh, the korean's are pretty cool people. Most of them like americans, and our culture. Plus, i like to see their economy grow, to **** off Kim Jong Il ..So I don't mind hyundai's and Kia's. Japan is already rich as hell, and we take care of them militarily, so don't buy their products

 

Iv also herd horror stories of trying to break tibs into 13s, there was one on my GTO site that had a supercharger on it and was barely running a 14.2-14.5 I think. If your wanting a remotely fast car then go with tib, if you want a car that is decently fast then get the cobalt, the Tib has some badass styling, but its not meant to be an actual contendor.