Three Months of Anticipation
09-02-2008, 09:16 AM
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Three Months of Anticipation
After months of waiting (101 days to be exact) my 09 SS finally came in.
I'd been waiting so long since the build date, i was worried something was up, but so far so good, the only thing that wasn't quite right was the boot on the shifter. Everytime I pulled on the column to get into reverse would slowly pull the boot off. There seemed to be a clip on the boot itself, once seated correctly it hasn't come up again.
Speaking of the interior, I'm thoroughly impressed. A friend of my family purchased an 08 Malibu with the UltraLux interior and seeing that car convinced me that I was making the right automobile choice. Only the seats in the Cobalt are significantly better for "aggressive" driving.
By the way, the usb jack makes a warning pop up on my iPhone 3G, but the phone seems to charge and play tunes at the same time. So if you were worried as to whether or not your phone would work if you had a 3G (which wasn't on the compatibility list): fear not. Also, the bluetooth system hasn't failed to impress. Everyone who's been in the car as I talk to it is stymied by how futuristic it is.
Since I'm babying the car until I've hit 500 miles I can only talk about the power and feel of the LNF in limited terms. What I can say without a doubt is that at 3k rpm the car manages to provide an astronomical amount of force compared to my old '95 Buick Century (Official Motto: 0-60 sometime) at full throttle. I'll report out as soon as I throw down some serious speed. Until then I can anticipate getting to floor it while being satisfied that even my current "hard" accelerations provide my passenger with chills and a sense of tunnelvision.
What I have been testing is the ludicrous handling. Since I'm trying to get some miles on the car I've been forgoing the usual lunch break for a 45min joy ride instead. Driving down to the park and bobbing and weaving with the hairpin turns and well paved roads has been hunger satisfying enough. I've only eeked out a mere .65g out of the car so far. But I can imagine trying any harder will eventually net me too many tickets.
Still, it's nice to drive a car that handles more like Gran Tursimo and less like grandpa turismo. The near lack of body roll and loss of momentum in turns makes me thankful for those butt gripping ultralux inserts and the bolstered seat back locked to my burgeoning love handles. I'm going to plot out a Friday drive to work that's guaranteed to make me late, but also guaranteed to put a big ass, goofy grin on my face.
That's what I'm loving about the car so far.
Ten Days Later:
I've had the car for a while and been driving as much as possible to get through the break in period so I can find out just how powerful the car is. I have to say, I've fallen in love with the car pretty soundly. Having purchased the car sight unseen without a test drive of an 08 I was worried that I'd love the power and dislike the fit and finish or another aspect. While I've found a couple exceptions I feel like I've been driving the car for years already, a sign that it fits me perfectly.
The only drawbacks I've found are minutae, except for one. I love the seats--the looks, the two-tone, the multiple fabrics--but after 2+ hours in them my back aches like a bitch. I might need to just wear them in a little, but I'm worried about extended trips to see family, worried for my lumbar. Other minor quibbles: navigating the iPod controls is really confusing, especially combined with twisty roads and being new at driving stick full time, and I'm still unsure what clicking the wheel's phone button will do at any given time.
I found my first scratch a couple days ago, but it seems to be the fault of the truck that brought it to the dealer, I'll hopefully get it fixed Wednesday or so, when the weather is good and I have time to waste over at the dealership (Thank God for the iPhone and CobaltSS.net)
Other than that I'm absolutley blown away by the power and quality of what is usually just another econo-car. I wish it didn't have an insurance ISO rating of 23 and the high perfomance marker, but I'm willing to sacrifice a little money to insurance to have a big ass smile on my face wherever I go and the chance to spank around some WRXs at my local autocross club.
Favorite thing about the car so far: accelerating in second gear to 4k rpm makes my passenger jump if they've never felt it before. Especially satisfying knowing two things: they previously made fun of my car choice saying it was "slow American garbage" and that I still haven't gone past 200hp
.
G-meter high score: .71 Left hander on Chagrin River Rd. near the North Chagrin Reservation. Awesome S-curve downhill, marked 15mph, did it at...um...maybe I shouldn't say...
On The Audio
I took the car out for a spirited drive for lunch. Dragging along an mp3 player a cd and some twisty roads to inspire some serious fun.
I looked at the audio from two perpectives as best I could. One perpective being that of a power junkie, having been a big car audio guy 8 years ago I know what power feels like, but there is one caveat: I'm most definately not that kind of audio person anymore. The other perspective is that of an audiophile, with the equally large caveat that I'm not enough of an audiophile to only own Bose and I've never uttered the phrase: "It would sound better on vinyl".
Power Junkie's Review: 3/10 (Most stock cars get a negative two though)
Power Junkie says: The audio has some oomph, and in blistering double bass drum slams and heavy bass hip-hop or techno there is some vibration in the seats but nothing that I true power junkie would even feel on a good day. Ultimately the system can get loud and definately doesn't sound like a stock cobalt (which is all treble in case you were curious). If you told someone you got an aftermarket system installed though they would laugh at you. If it weren't standard the price for power ratio might not be there.
Audiophile's Review: 6/10 (Which is the max score a non-Bose system can get)
Audiophile says: I had a hard time adjusting the EQ to get the right warmth out of hte speakers but found a decent balance point between the obtrusive bass rattle and shriek of the tweeters. As long as the car in off and the doors and windows are shut the sound quality is quite excellent, as long as you don't turn the valume beyond the half way point. After that point the system has a hard time remaining balanced and poised and becomes a little crunchy on high spikes in the amplitude. However, in motion the road noise makes any of these distinction less so. While I wouldn't reccomend such a setup for listening at home, in the car this is the best you can hope for from a car company.
New High Score -- Lateral G: .88!!!
More impressions and more pictures keep coming for some reason.
--------------------
Original Post
I'm totally bored at work and wanted to blow a minute. I'm just setting up this thread for when I finally receive my car. Having ordered so long ago, I'd have figured that a couple more days of waiting wouldn't hurt, but boy am I chagrined.
The car was built last Wednesday (8/27) and was on a truck Friday but due to the long weekend it wasn't driven the 30 miles to my dealership, but instead sat there all weekend. Now I'm just praying that I ever get the damned thing. (Also praying the dealer heard my plea to not have the front plate put on)
Anyways, once I get the car, I'll edit photos into this post and post impressions and whatnot. I know no one wants "Hey look at my car" thread number 186 but I figure two things: anyone like me waiting to get there car cannot, I repeat, cannot get enough pictures. And secondly, I think I'm the only 08/09 coupe buyer that got the grey/black interior. Everyone seems to have red/black or black/black.
Hopefully I'll get the call today and grab it after work. Here's to hoping I remember how to drive stick!
I'd been waiting so long since the build date, i was worried something was up, but so far so good, the only thing that wasn't quite right was the boot on the shifter. Everytime I pulled on the column to get into reverse would slowly pull the boot off. There seemed to be a clip on the boot itself, once seated correctly it hasn't come up again.
Speaking of the interior, I'm thoroughly impressed. A friend of my family purchased an 08 Malibu with the UltraLux interior and seeing that car convinced me that I was making the right automobile choice. Only the seats in the Cobalt are significantly better for "aggressive" driving.
By the way, the usb jack makes a warning pop up on my iPhone 3G, but the phone seems to charge and play tunes at the same time. So if you were worried as to whether or not your phone would work if you had a 3G (which wasn't on the compatibility list): fear not. Also, the bluetooth system hasn't failed to impress. Everyone who's been in the car as I talk to it is stymied by how futuristic it is.
Since I'm babying the car until I've hit 500 miles I can only talk about the power and feel of the LNF in limited terms. What I can say without a doubt is that at 3k rpm the car manages to provide an astronomical amount of force compared to my old '95 Buick Century (Official Motto: 0-60 sometime) at full throttle. I'll report out as soon as I throw down some serious speed. Until then I can anticipate getting to floor it while being satisfied that even my current "hard" accelerations provide my passenger with chills and a sense of tunnelvision.
What I have been testing is the ludicrous handling. Since I'm trying to get some miles on the car I've been forgoing the usual lunch break for a 45min joy ride instead. Driving down to the park and bobbing and weaving with the hairpin turns and well paved roads has been hunger satisfying enough. I've only eeked out a mere .65g out of the car so far. But I can imagine trying any harder will eventually net me too many tickets.
Still, it's nice to drive a car that handles more like Gran Tursimo and less like grandpa turismo. The near lack of body roll and loss of momentum in turns makes me thankful for those butt gripping ultralux inserts and the bolstered seat back locked to my burgeoning love handles. I'm going to plot out a Friday drive to work that's guaranteed to make me late, but also guaranteed to put a big ass, goofy grin on my face.
That's what I'm loving about the car so far.
Ten Days Later:
I've had the car for a while and been driving as much as possible to get through the break in period so I can find out just how powerful the car is. I have to say, I've fallen in love with the car pretty soundly. Having purchased the car sight unseen without a test drive of an 08 I was worried that I'd love the power and dislike the fit and finish or another aspect. While I've found a couple exceptions I feel like I've been driving the car for years already, a sign that it fits me perfectly.
The only drawbacks I've found are minutae, except for one. I love the seats--the looks, the two-tone, the multiple fabrics--but after 2+ hours in them my back aches like a bitch. I might need to just wear them in a little, but I'm worried about extended trips to see family, worried for my lumbar. Other minor quibbles: navigating the iPod controls is really confusing, especially combined with twisty roads and being new at driving stick full time, and I'm still unsure what clicking the wheel's phone button will do at any given time.
I found my first scratch a couple days ago, but it seems to be the fault of the truck that brought it to the dealer, I'll hopefully get it fixed Wednesday or so, when the weather is good and I have time to waste over at the dealership (Thank God for the iPhone and CobaltSS.net)
Other than that I'm absolutley blown away by the power and quality of what is usually just another econo-car. I wish it didn't have an insurance ISO rating of 23 and the high perfomance marker, but I'm willing to sacrifice a little money to insurance to have a big ass smile on my face wherever I go and the chance to spank around some WRXs at my local autocross club.
Favorite thing about the car so far: accelerating in second gear to 4k rpm makes my passenger jump if they've never felt it before. Especially satisfying knowing two things: they previously made fun of my car choice saying it was "slow American garbage" and that I still haven't gone past 200hp
.G-meter high score: .71 Left hander on Chagrin River Rd. near the North Chagrin Reservation. Awesome S-curve downhill, marked 15mph, did it at...um...maybe I shouldn't say...
On The Audio
I took the car out for a spirited drive for lunch. Dragging along an mp3 player a cd and some twisty roads to inspire some serious fun.
I looked at the audio from two perpectives as best I could. One perpective being that of a power junkie, having been a big car audio guy 8 years ago I know what power feels like, but there is one caveat: I'm most definately not that kind of audio person anymore. The other perspective is that of an audiophile, with the equally large caveat that I'm not enough of an audiophile to only own Bose and I've never uttered the phrase: "It would sound better on vinyl".
Power Junkie's Review: 3/10 (Most stock cars get a negative two though)
Power Junkie says: The audio has some oomph, and in blistering double bass drum slams and heavy bass hip-hop or techno there is some vibration in the seats but nothing that I true power junkie would even feel on a good day. Ultimately the system can get loud and definately doesn't sound like a stock cobalt (which is all treble in case you were curious). If you told someone you got an aftermarket system installed though they would laugh at you. If it weren't standard the price for power ratio might not be there.
Audiophile's Review: 6/10 (Which is the max score a non-Bose system can get)
Audiophile says: I had a hard time adjusting the EQ to get the right warmth out of hte speakers but found a decent balance point between the obtrusive bass rattle and shriek of the tweeters. As long as the car in off and the doors and windows are shut the sound quality is quite excellent, as long as you don't turn the valume beyond the half way point. After that point the system has a hard time remaining balanced and poised and becomes a little crunchy on high spikes in the amplitude. However, in motion the road noise makes any of these distinction less so. While I wouldn't reccomend such a setup for listening at home, in the car this is the best you can hope for from a car company.
New High Score -- Lateral G: .88!!!
More impressions and more pictures keep coming for some reason.
--------------------
Original Post
I'm totally bored at work and wanted to blow a minute. I'm just setting up this thread for when I finally receive my car. Having ordered so long ago, I'd have figured that a couple more days of waiting wouldn't hurt, but boy am I chagrined.
The car was built last Wednesday (8/27) and was on a truck Friday but due to the long weekend it wasn't driven the 30 miles to my dealership, but instead sat there all weekend. Now I'm just praying that I ever get the damned thing. (Also praying the dealer heard my plea to not have the front plate put on)
Anyways, once I get the car, I'll edit photos into this post and post impressions and whatnot. I know no one wants "Hey look at my car" thread number 186 but I figure two things: anyone like me waiting to get there car cannot, I repeat, cannot get enough pictures. And secondly, I think I'm the only 08/09 coupe buyer that got the grey/black interior. Everyone seems to have red/black or black/black.
Hopefully I'll get the call today and grab it after work. Here's to hoping I remember how to drive stick!
Last edited by kazinova; 09-16-2008 at 03:32 PM. Reason: Updated impressions.
09-03-2008, 10:16 AM
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09-03-2008, 10:33 AM
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I got a question.
When is your frist car payment due?
I was allways wondering this ****
Thanks
09-03-2008, 10:39 AM
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I haven't been told, I'm assuming you get to pick what day you want to make payments on the car. I would personally choose the 15th of the month, so that it's the exact opposite of my rent, but I guess I'll find out what day soon.
09-03-2008, 12:46 PM
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09-03-2008, 01:19 PM
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Thanks again
09-04-2008, 09:47 AM
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09-04-2008, 10:40 AM
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I haven't payed anything beyond the couple hundred the dealer wanted to put in the order. I won't start paying for the car and all of that jazz until receipt.
09-04-2008, 12:36 PM
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Did u get your car yet.
09-05-2008, 12:27 PM
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My concerns are momentarily allayed. My car is in and being detailed for pick up this evening. Prepare for a veritable orgy of pictures and blithering.
09-06-2008, 08:15 AM
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It was really hard to sleep knowing I had a whole day of driving ahead of me. If the wether breaks I'll get some good pictures today out at North Chagrin reservation.
09-06-2008, 08:30 AM
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I think when I get my car I just want it, NO DETAIL. I'm also putting on a clear bra on mine EVERYWHERE.
They can do the inside.
Well don't get that seat wet, cause when I get mine I may *** my pants
