Track - Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
October edition of Motor Trend (under apex predators)

Cobalt SS/TC
Best Lap - 1:47.751
Max Speed - 121.9mph
Peak Lat Accel - 1.32g

Mitsu Evo X
Best Lap - 1:47.713
Max Speed - 119.9mph
Peak Lat Accel - 1.56g


Nissan GTR ...fastest car they tested
Best Lap - 1:40.453
Max Speed - 123.9
Peak Lat Accel - 1.57g

 

very cool, good find.

 

Sweet!

 

awesome find man

 

ya good find

 

that magazines been out for a good month i just got the newest edition of it so good news but old news

 

Yeah I lost that month and just recently found it again...yeah it was one month old news but I sounds like most never heard of it so its new to them.

 

Sweet!

 

considering the evo has s-awc and all that technology that is really good

 

Dam, Thats a good find. Dam Cobalt jumped up big time, before it was comparing the ss/sc to the srt4 and now we are being compared to the evo's. Thats a great jump in my eyes.

 

^^^ x3

 

Haha! This is great. My brother bought an EvoX just 4 months before I took delivery of my SS/TC. First Car and Driver's test and now this... I'll just have to keep laying it on him that he spend $18k more for AWD.

 

Also take a look at the Road and Track test...I know it wasn't an Evo X...but still shows the Cobalt is the best bang for the buck on the planet!

 

Wow! And thats against the MR too with its (over)hyped SST and billstien suspension setup. Man where was this Cobalt 2 1/2 years ago when i bought my SS/SC . I wouldnt have gotten rid of it....

 

OK, I have to say that after finishing reading this article there are a few things that rather **** me off. First, the test is completely subjective. This all pretty much boils down to one guys opinion. They should have at least had two drivers testing for a comparison. Second, the only objective test for a vehicles performance on a track is time. But they clearly state: "Though the resulting lap times were intriguing, ranking speed wasn't our goal."

OK, the Mini Cooper S handles better??? It weighs 500 lbs less! By this logic, the Lotus Elise (which is remarkably absent) should probably win this competition. This shows really a total disregard for manufacturer packaging in which the mated powertrain is an integral part of the sum. Really, it boils down to results. If they merely wanted to rank a vehicle by it's pure handling characteristics, they should have just left it to skidpad and circle testing. At least that would be objective.

And speaking of absent cars, where was the Corvette and Ford GT? Don't see how they can say that they've identified the best handling car in America when they have left out some clear contenders.

It is good, however, to see the Cobalt running with the big boys. Imagine if GM puts some 245's on and bumps her up to 300hp!

Here's the link if anyone wants to read the whole thing:

http://www.motortrend.com/features/p...ing/index.html

 

The SS\TC would've trounced the Evo if the SS had the same power output. A GM Engineer said that he's a part of a small group in testing with Bob Lutz of the performance division, on a SS\TC with eibach Sportlines 1" lower frt and 1.3" in the rear, 305 hp up from the 260 hp stock and a slotted brembo rotors. This test mule Would handily beat 97% of the cars in the test from last months lightning lap said Lutz. This test mule also had the skidpad G's go up from 0.92 to 0.97, the slalom went from a very fast C6 Z06 beating 72.4 mph to a supercar beating 73.3 mph ( only a few cars on the planet beat that new slalom number: the 08' Viper ACR, Nissan GT-R and the 08' 911 GT3 RS, Ferrari Eno ) braking from 60-0 drops from 117 ft to 110 ft , And, AND John Hienricy GM's racer\record holder said that the SS\TC,In fact John has driven a similarly prepped SS\TC around the ring in the last few weeks at the time of , are you ready: 7:13 More than a 23 sec drop !!!! All thanks to better brakes, more hp and a second helping of handling. Some of these items maybe avail from GM in Nov. 2009 "IF" GM can climb out of the whole that at this time is still getting deeper by the day. We already knew this little car was hot but DAMN! this is impressive.

 

A tc ring time is 8:22, you just pulled 1:09 off the time?

 

yeah good find...good article to read..i get this mag.

 

Great info.

 

cool find
i remember seeing articles stating the evo can keep up with the Lambos so by the transitive property lol that was the old evo though

 

Here's the video if you haven't already seen it
2008 Cobalt SS handling contenter video

 

Bad link. Try this.

http://www.motortrend.com/av/roadtes...deo/index.html

 

sweet find!!

 

Fixed....had a couple extra http's in there.