JonyyB

I'm working on some FAQ to help with the many emails I get about the new cobalt. Please help with any FAQ that you think might be useful to someone that was never interested in a Cobalt and know nothing about them.


What is the new 2008 Cobalt SS?
The SS is a new addition to the Cobalt passenger car model lineup. It combines comfort and economy with uncompromising performance, including a turbocharged and intercooled Ecotec 2.0L engine, unique interior, and unique exterior styling.

Was the Cobalt SS Discontinued for 2008?
The 2.0L Cobalt SS Supercharged coupe that was available 2005-2007 was discontinued for 2008. The 2.4L Cobalt SS coupe/sedan that was available 2006-2007 was discontinued for 2008. 2008 will get a late addition of the new 2.0L Cobalt SS Turbocharged. So in short, 2008 will have a Cobalt SS.

What is the official name of the 2008 Cobalt SS?
According the GM vin code card, the 2008 Cobalt SS does not have the “Turbocharged” in the official name as the 2005-2007 Cobalt SS Supercharged did. It is simply called Cobalt SS because there will be no additional SS’s so there is no need to distinguish this.

What is the 2008 Cobalt SS 0-60, quarter-mile, and top speed?
0-60 mph is approximately 5.7 seconds.
Quarter-mile is approximately 14.1 seconds.
Top speed is more than 160 mph.

Will the 2008 Cobalt SS be offered as a sedan?
Yes. A sedan is planned after the coupe rollout

What colors does the 2008 Cobalt SS come in?
Victory Red, Black, Ultra Silver Metallic, Imperial Blue, Rally Yellow, Sport Red Tintcoat and White.

Does the 2008 Cobalt SS come with an automatic transition?
No

What is the “no lift shift” feature?
“No lift shift” allows the driver to shift the manual transmission without taking your foot of the accelerator. This feature maximizes acceleration and gear changes for better track times.

Is there preliminary pricing for the 2008 Cobalt SS?
Pricing is not available at this time, but we are speculating a starting price around $25,000.

When can I buy it?
Second quarter of 2008

Where can I get more information:
https://www.cobaltss.net/cobalt_ss_turbocharged. No official page updated on chevy.com as of yet.

brentil

My Cobalt SS makes a variable ticking sound, is this normal?
Yes the clicking is normal from the engine. The LNF uses a cam driven fuel pump with a high pressure solenoid to provide the 2000+ psi of fuel pressure the direct injection system requires under load. The clicking is the solenoid opening and closing and is a common feature of all DI engines (Mazda 2.3L, BMW 3.0L, Cady 3.6L).

My Cobalt SS is only reaching 14~17 psi, is this normal?
The LNF's Turbo builds boost to demand levels, so depending on your region you may never see the full 20 psi. Seeing 14~17 psi on average is normal and within functioning values. You're still making 260 HP without having to hit the max 20 psi.

What turbocharger is in the Cobalt SS?
The Cobalt SS (along with all other LNF based cars) use the Borg-Warner K04 turbocharger. The trim level is unknown at this time. This particular model (however not the same trim levels) is used in some Audi/VW cars (TT/Passat) and is a popular upgrade for Audi/VW cars that use the smaller K03.

What ECU does the Cobalt SS use?
The LNF engines use the new Bosch MED9.6 ECM.

Does the Cobalt SS have a Wideband sensor?
Yes, the LNF engine uses a Wideband sensor as part of the control loop in keeping the engine in check. The sensors readouts can be monitored by various ODBII scanners.

My car is making a lot of soot, is this normal?
Yes, like the ticking the soot is an unfortunate side effect of running a SIDI engine. Using a metal polish or long lasting auto wax on the tail pipe will help make cleaning easier.

REIGN SS

What is are the SAE Horsepower & Torque Ratings for the LNF L850?
262HP at 5300 RPM & 261TQ at 2000 RPM


Will there be GM Certified Stage Kits available?
Although there are rumors, GM currently does not offer any stage kits for the LNF motor.
But keep in mind that the platform is still very new so with any hope the stage kits will follow soon.
*Interesting discovery for the Solstice Race Concept: https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/08-10-ss-turbocharged-general-discussion-152/lnf-stage-ii-kit-82752/

What are some of the major upgrades for the Turbocharged Cobalt over the Supercharged version?

• The Turbocharged Cobalt will include Brembo 4-piston front & 1-piston rear vented disc brakes.
• Factory Short Throw Shifter
• Improved electronic power steering with a quick 14.8:1 ratio (20-percent quicker than other Cobalt models).
• StabiliTrak electronic stability control system
• 3.82:1 final drive ratio.
• No-lift WOT upshift
• Direct Fuel Injection with Variable Valve Timing (VVT)

Is there going to be Tuning available?
The LNF has already spent a year in the Pontiac Solstice GXP & Saturn Sky Redline so some tuning has already begun. HPTuners has a beta release but it can't fully control the engine yet. The tuning is still very immature and not full featured at this time.
One of the major hurdels of tuning the LNF is the complexity involved in tuning the Direct Fuel Injection.

Are there any Pictures available?
You can find SEMA Pictures here and a few here.

brentil

Is there any official GM documentation on this engine & transmission?
Yes, as of the start of SEMA 2007 GM updated the GM Powertrain 2008 documentation to include the Cobalt SS application for the LNF and the new Cobalt SS transmission.
http://media.gm.com/us/powertrain/en...2008/08car.htm

What are the difference between the previous LSJ and the newer LNF besides being Turbocharged?
Short answer is VVT, SIDI, Turbocharged, GenII EcoTec block, and various other changes. For a detailed answer compare the GM Powertrain documentation of the two against each other.
LSJ - http://media.gm.com/us/powertrain/en...J%20031006.xls
LNF - http://media.gm.com/us/powertrain/en...tec/08_LNF.xls

What is this "No-lift shift?"
No-lift shift: An algorithm in the engine's controller allows upshifts to be performed very quickly without lifting the throttle. What this means is that when shifting from 1st to 2nd you can keep your foot fully down on the accelerator and then shift to 2nd instead of lifting like one normally would. The computer then matches the throttle and gears correctly to engage the next gear while maintaining some level of boost. This helps prevent time lost from having to physically repress the gas pedal and saves time and power while maintaining boost. This is a new feature on the HHR SS and Cobalt SS and is not found on the Solstice GXP or Sky Redline.

UmeNNis

Good info very nice thank you.

KillerBee

So a turboed sedan in the third quarter huh nice

scottw03

will the 260 hp be at the wheels or is it at the flywheel? Either way it is a good bump from the SC but I hope you guys get the 260 at the wheels. Give you a jump on the market in a way. Put you inline with the MS3/MS6 and modified SRT-4's. What is max boost for the K04 turbo? Isn't it the same turbo that is used in the MS3?

Sorry for the stupid questions. Just figured some of these would be the same questions that others are thinking. I got my fingers crossed for you guys.

hatrickstu

iTrader: (1)

damn i must have missed the SAE output test, thats good news!

XM15

Its 260 at the crank. From what we've seen, the LNF is not underrated like the LSJ was.

hatrickstu

iTrader: (1)

thats fine, you are still looking at close to stage 2 numbers from the factory, and the thing will love light modding

scottw03

cool, I was hoping they would have thrown 260 to the wheels but it is still an increase over the SC and stock. Plus I think you guys will be able to get better power out of it easier and probably cheaper with the turbo. Atleast I hope so. Still with 260 to the fly wheel that would be about 225-230 to the wheels I think

Jamo

What does NLF and LSJ stand for? I wonder if the old model can be tuned up to provide comperable steering, suspension and performance? Is everyone ditching their older models to get the new one?

Oh, yes, first post. Hi, y'all!

krispy

Depends on the dyno, the place you run the dyno, etc. Engine dynos give more accurate results of power as its much easier to build a climate control chamber around one (they are smaller) and you can directly bolt the engine to them instead of going through tires/rollers. Regardless, for the price there arn't too many other options out there short of the Mazdaspeed 3 with the same amount of power.

ADM PERFORMANCE

Just dynoed our HHR SS in stock trim

More to come tommorow.


http://i25.tinypic.com/2qm2f50.jpg

Cobaltss/TC

at wheels i am guessing, that is really!!!!good!!!!

Archie

Wait a second. That can't be at the wheels, can it?

If that is at the wheels, then that means that GM changed the tuning for the LNF compared to the Sol/Sky. Maybe GM wanted to keep up with the underrating like they did with the LSJ.

Wow, if that is at the wheels, then people are gonna be in for a huge surprise!!

ADM PERFORMANCE

Here is the dragtimes data as well.We rented the track on friday to get some base line testing.Currently Hp tuners has little to no effect on the times,They claim to have more adjustability in the coming months.We will have down pipes available for these very soon,today will will have more dyno data with off road down pipe and catted down pipe.Then we will start turning up the boost

http://www.dragtimes.com/Chevrolet-H...lip-15018.html

kkanowitz

Looking at dragtimes, it is noted that it has an aftermarket tune from ADM Performance.

Do you guys plan on becoming a supporting vendor?

AlphaJaguar5

The thing will trap 103 stock if you don't monkey around with it.

kkanowitz

Oh yeah...the RT was almost a second.

Archie

The 60' was 2.6. I'm guessing the HHR has more problems with traction than the ss/sc, considering I have hit 2.3 and 2.4 60's consistently in my 2.2L balt.

Plus it has such a big wind resistance in the front, I don't think it will hit the 103 trap like the cobalt ss/tc. I could see 14.2 @101 with that car stock, with tons of practice.

SS_TC

conservative numbers turn around that... 14.2@101MPH... but the edmunds full test managed a 14 flat @ 103MPH... pretty darn good

ADM PERFORMANCE

It is a brick going through the air,kinda like the Trailblazer SS we do currently.

I am planning to be a supporting vendor of this site,sent email,no response.

Also the tune(what little I could do) was mearly modifying the iat spark retard and trying to raise the rev limiter,but currently hp tuners does not change this.

We did our custom 3" Down pipe today and showed no gains,flattened the air fuel and added timing after the torque curve with no improvements.Currenly in a holding pattern till Hp tuners get us on track with enough parameters to get it dialed in correctly.

The 60ft times were horrible,this thing just does not launch.The launch control sets the throttle blade at 40% till you get the revlimiter,this was datalogged with the tech 2 on every launch controlled pass.Launch control does not do as stated.Zero lift shift works perfect,that is how I got the 14.67 out of it.It was t warm on friday and we just left a rain storm causing track/air conditions to not be favorable.

More to come...I will get pics of the down pipe soon.


Andy

116Fanatic

I still don't get how the SS/TC isn't putting down better track times???

kkanowitz

Awesome...sounds great. Looks like you'll be our gateway for the 2008 Cobalt SS market. As far as the supporting vendor email, just be patient (even if it takes forever), they should hopefully get to your email soon enough. Keep us updated!