So my SS is in the shop to get the bottom of the doors repainted (paint is coming off...like all Cobalts it seems). They gave me a '07 2.2L Malibu as a rental. I found it took driving a "normal" car to realize just how aggressively I drive my SS. When I drive my car, it doesn't feel to me like I'm driving it hard or fast. I'll take a certain corner at 40km/h, I'll brake a certain way...accelerate just "moderately." Now if I try to drive that Malibu the same way I drive my SS, the tires squeal off the lights at times, the car doesn't shift til 4000rpm or higher, going around that same corner at 40 results in the tires making noise and the car rolling so badly that it feels like it's going to tip over...

One thing you gotta love about the low performance cars is you get wicked fuel mileage even bagging it! I've been averaging about 29-30mph driving it pretty damn hard!

Now I realize that rental I got is not exactly sporty in ANY way, but I've now come to the understanding why it seems like everyone else is driving slower than me. Everything you do in the SS feels normal, but in a lower trim car would seem excessive.

Anyone else ever feel like this when you go from your car to a lesser performing vehicle?

 

yeah man same thing with my s.c everytime i cant drive her i have to drive a truck or a van.

 

Heh, I had to live in Oceanside, CA for a month for work and they gave me this massive GMC 2500 series van to drive around the whole time. It was like a mini bus, I'm pretty sure I didn't even have the right class drivers license to drive it, lol.

When I got home and took my SS out for the first time and got on it...I about **** my pants. It was ridiculous after driving that free candy van for a month.

 

yeah, i was just thinking the same thing the other day...lol

 

My 2nd Vehicle is a 5ton Hino. And those only have one speed anyways. LoL. So no matter what I go from the balt to the sluggish big bulky slow ass truck, everyday.

 

I always take hiway offramps too fast when I'm driving my worktruck for the first time each day after driving my cobalt to work.

 

When my dealership gave me a rental, it was a blurple 4 dr Cobalt ls.
But since it hadn't been washed...ever, it looked completely purple. Slow and ridiculous looking.

 

I know what you mean... every time I took my 'balt in to the dealer and had a rental, the cars just seem so blah. Well, the HHR was the funnest rental I've had... made me consider getting the HHR SS.

 

I think the same thing every time I get out of my heads/cam Firebird Formula and get in my cobalt SS.

 

That is how I feel when i get into my 2.2 ecotec malibu that I have for a work car.

 

My wifes 08 malibu 3.6L feels like a fat pig after driving my car lol. Stock they make close to the same horsepower stock .....except the Bu is 6-700 lbs fatter. The nice thing about the malibu is how quiet it is, you feel very few bumps and it's so quiet you have to check and make sure it's still running. The Bu will chirp 2nd if you shift it at the right time thou 8)

Exactly.......fast is all relative to the fastest car you've driven . Fast to me is 11.70's @ 121 cause thats the fastest i've ever driven. To some people thats slow ...to others thats pretty fast. I rode in a 10.30@ 132 car and i thought that was insane.

 

the free candy van

 

when my car was in the shop... they gave me the chevy mini van......... yeah that thing was slow as *****.. i felt like a soccer mom.. haha

i had a 05 malibu before the cobalt... and yeah now that i look at it that car was very quiet, and i kinda do take some corners fast in the ss...

 

Now the worst is when I get out of the Firebird and get in my 1990 Toyota 4x4 on 33's with a 118 hp 22re.

In order of fastest to slowest of what we own now:

Heads/Cam 2000 Firebird Formula
2008 Trifecta tuned Cobalt SS
2008 Mazdaspeed 3 GT
1990 Toyota pickup 4x4

I think a prius is faster than the truck lol.

 

I just bought a 4I ford escape as my DD and winter car....try going from that to a SS.... after 2 weeks I went back to the SS the other day and stalled it 3 times getting out of the drive way hahah.

 

I notice a BIG difference between my SS and my moms 2008 tahoe. Its sooo slow and feels like your driving a monster truck.

and this is what they gave me to drive for my rental car..




Longest 5 days of my life, I appreciated my car 100000 times more when i get her back!

 

ugh my escape barely hits 60mph at the end of a on ramp....damn 4000lbs car with a 150hp engine and 4x4 :P

 

Well the only other vehicle I really drive is my dad's 300c..and yeah..it's got a Hemi. I honestly drive his car much harder than I drive mine on the rare occasions I do drive it...that thing loves to kick the back end out for being a 12 ton oil tanker of a car.

 

/thread


although i can relate to the OP 100%...........it is just as eye opening getting in the cobalt after my z

im like crap, i need more power damnit.

 

im driving a V6 mustang for the past 2 weeks while my car is down, and holy hell i miss my car so bad. i literally almost fall asleep on long drives at night in this car. its just so boring. get sick of CD's. its just not fun driving at all. My cobalt is windows down, exhaust roaring, BOV blowing out, sunroof open. Just such a fun car to drive. everything else just seems to suck ass

 

My SS is my lesser performing vehicle.

 

ya tell me about it.... i WILL be driving a hyundai accent......ALL winter long. now how fun is that gonna be

 

Drove my ZR2 sonoma for the first time in 2 weeks today. Not only did it feel extremely slow i kept trying to push in a clutch that's not there. Even worse than that after a long day at work driving a fork lift i try to back up using my trun signal.

 

I kind of enjoy driving my malibu. But it's a different kind of fun. Sort of like driving a boat, it swishes from side to side floating all over the road, and when you turn the wheel you have to wait a second before the car actually turns.

 

Yeah ...I actually like my wifes malibu , it's a change of pace . The 6 speed tap shifter makes it a little more fun . I wish the exhaust was just a little louder cause it does sound good for a V6. Road and track went 14.6@97 mph with one , and I have a couple kills with it lol. One being a 2.4 cobalt SS heeh