Whats up my Chevy brothas and sistas! I currently have a 09 Cobalt SS/TC and im thinking about trading it in for a 06-07 Sti but really cant decide. I would love to have an AWD car but i know my SS can beat the Sti with simple mods. But i want to change up my platform. Im having a tough time trying to decide. What do yall think?

 

AWD cars blow for gas mileage, something the Cobalt does very good at. Keep in mind gas prices have been going up. I have heard the STI motors are weak compared to the EVO's if you were thinking of adding boost. Stock they are probably fine but I would presume you would want to make more power. Despite what I have heard I too have always been a bigger fan of the STI then the EVO. I would also suggest an 03,04 Cobra if you have never thought about it. The price has come down on them and they will eat up just about anything you throw at them. All you need is a pulley, tune, and your car should be making about 450whp.

Unless you live in an area with a lot of gravel, dirt, and snow I'd probably just stick with the Cobalt. Remember: Musical chairs is fun. Musical cars is expensive!

 

I was going to do the exact same thing earlier this year when I paid my car off. I demodded and everything just before my final payment because I was dead set on going through with it. Then I realized I don't want another car payment, the STi is slower, the STi doesn't take as well to mods, AWD isn't that important, and gas is only getting more expensive. Needless to say, I'm back to modding the 'balt

When I went through the pros and cons...it came down to the STi's exhaust note being the only real plus side. Do it if you want, but you're going to spend a lot more to keep up with a downpipe & tune SS.

 

its cheeper to mod the ss than the sti but... awd is nicer but more $$ in thed gas tank and to buy one. Drop 500 (and mabe 154 shipped for a bad mab dp) into the ss and u will be surprised at what hp u are putting down. 250 for a hp tune from (byt)and cai for 250, and 154 shipped for a bad-mab dp and your looking at close to 300 if not a tad over 300 hp

 

Cobalt > sti seen it done many times

 

^^^^Done it many times. lol.

 

To the OP: What makes you want an STI? I'm a former Cobalt owner who's recently switched to a WRX (I live in Canada so that's my big reason..snow)

You can mod an SS to keep-up with an STI...but you can always mod the STI as well.

 

Don't you mean you need to mod the STI to keep up with the SS?

 

If you've already got a turbo 4 banger, just stick with what you have.

 

I'm not here to bash the SS/TC, I think it's a great FWD performance car. But to act like it's *more car* than an STI is pretty ignorant.

AWD really is a ton of fun, the two cars are very different despite the performance similarities. My WRX feels nothing like my Cobalt did, corners differently power delivery is different, the grip in these cars is unlike anything you'll get out of FWD. Even everyday driving is much different...not to mention you can have fun regardless of the weather, these cars are a BLAST in the rain, etc.

You will lose a bit of MPG, I don't notice much diff between my old 06 SS/SC and my new 2011 WRX...but an STI will be worse by a bit. This was a moot point to me but is important to some.

If you're into modding much, ~350 AWHP will feel much different than 350 FWHP.

I was merely wondering what the OP wants out of an STI that he's not getting out of his Cobalt. His criteria would give you a much better idea of whether or not an STI or a Cobalt is the best bet.

I live in a crap climate where we get our fair share of snow, ice and rain so there's plenty of opportunities for me to get my money's worth out of the AWD. If I lived somewhere that it never snowed I'd heavily consider a new ford mustang (I'm not a ford guy at all, but I gotta give that car the props it deserves as a performance bargain)

"Musical cars" as one person put it most definitely is expensive this is solid advice.

 

i wouldn't do it, you are looking at the worse year of sti 06-07 had the most problems especially with the motors being weak from factory and i doubt you will find a hawkeye that hasn't been abused, if you could find a clean 05 i would get that instead or get a 06-07 wrx the gearing is better and you can just bolt the jdm sti turbo and walk stage 2 sti's

the only thrill factor the sti or any awd is gonna give you is from the launch it will feel like a way faster car but from a roll forget it it will feel ***** slow, but if you are gonna do a power build then i would say get the awd since they hook up better

but if you are only gonna do a few bolts ons i would keep the ss

and like everyone else is asking why do you need the awd

 

get an evo. /thread.

 

I'm guessing, based on his location, it's not a weather issue. He probably wants to be able to 5 grand launch with minimal wheel spin

 

i wanted to say that but if that what the man wants

 

I'm not sure which year they strengthened the WRX transmission (it's a google search away but I'm currently lazy).....but if I was going to get a used WRX it would have to be that year or later.

The transmission in the STI really is quite bulletproof. The new WRX transmissions are holding power fine as well but older ones are known to fail.

The only thrill AWD gives you is a launch? take one into a corner and say that. I can't stress enough the cars feel and handle much differently, with AWD you have a lot more grip. That being said if inclement weather wasn't on the plate I'd likely still be going with RWD.

I personally am a huge fan of the boxer rumble as well, but that's not something that I would actually buy the entire car for.

In other news...I've just looked out the window at work and it's freaking snowing...

=\

 

On the whole grip aspect a cobalt ss with a real set of tires will run just as fast as an sti in autox if not faster. Only real advantage is launching and crappy weather grip

 

evo's a alot more

 

Also, a lot harder to find in an unmolested condition. When I was looking, There were 0 unmodded Evo's available anywhere close to me. I just don't understand...why would someone trade a car in with mods still on it? It would be worth more AND you could sell your old parts. Meh...oh well.

 

I'm not talking about autocross, there's a difference between going around a corner in autocross and grip in general. Watch any decent review of an AWD car (subaru's specifically if you'd like) they all generally go on about the amount of grip. In a corner if you punch a FWD car with power like the Cobalt you're prone to spinning your wheels, with AWD there's no spinning present.

That's NOT to say one will get around the corner faster than the other when driven by professional drivers on a closed racetrack...but in REAL LIFE the extra grip is there and very obvious.

There's a very clear difference between driving your car on a race track and having some fun blasting around off ramps/mountain roads, in an AWD car you can get on the power coming out of a corner much sooner with the confidence that you're not going to spin the tires which is a lot of fun. They're just very different driving experiences.

 

X2, I just purchased my cobalt ss after 3 months of searching high and low for cars. Was about to buy an 06 Sti, drove it hated it. Drove the SS, all i can say made me feel like i was in an e46 m3 in handling and speed. stick with the SS don't downgrade please

keyes chevy on van nuys= great dealer no worries with mods and warranty.

Subies on the on the other hand, dealers suck. high maintainence, very pricy.

only other car i had a hard time deciding was the evo8 or SS. SS wins cause of warranty and dont have to worry about the evo that was raped cause more than 95% of those cars are raped and launched super hard.

 

you want to trade a pretty reliable cobalt for a engine blowing sti?

 

Ugh i feel your struggles.. I've been debating the same for the past year. It's such a pain in the azz putting my kid in her baby seat. Plus the wrx sounds sooo nice and AWD to boot. Buuuutttt...my buddy has an 09 wrx that I make quick work of (roll of course) and he has put quite a few more dollars into his car. That money would be better invested in diapers for my kid. Both cars are ugly and sexy in different angles. Both are fun to drive. And i honestly find both interiors to be somewhat bland but "good enough". Tough decision. Good luck.

 

Blah, blah, blah. I hope Wangspeed reads this and chimes in on the handling of the CSS. I can see you having more traction in bad weather conditions, but on dry, I don't see an advantage. I hate that lawmower boxer sound, too.

 

How could you hate that sound lol. Everyone with a fwd is delusional if they are saying they wouldn't prefer awd or rwd to fwd. If you could afford it you would not have a fwd whip

 

the SS beats evo and sti's at tracks all the time...wtf are you talking about? I get good gas mileage being fwd, its cheaper, lighter and trackable, I can keep up or beat awd cars...soooo where is the bad?