Ok. About a week ago, I sold my 1997 Camaro 3.8 V6 for $2600, it had a carbon fiber hood and black rims with a custom pearl orange paint job(dads a custom painter so it was free lol), sold it extremely cheap bc i had 3 tickets and bc im only 16, they were going to take away my license, so i needed the money to take a drivers class to drop one of the tickets so i would get to keep my license.

anyways, thursday i bought a 07 Cobalt 2.2 LT Automatic, wish it was manual but i had to take what i could get, seeing as my dads too old for a manual and my mom just doesnt know anything about cars. On with my question, as of now, i am paying $262 a month for my car, along with $800 a year for insurance(already paid a whole year in advance) so now, i have around $1200 sitting in my bank account. Im looking for something that can compete but doesnt hurt my wallet. I know some stuff about mechanical work but not much, but i know bodywork and paintwork inside out in my sleep bc dads a painter.

I guess my question is what do some of yall consider the cheapest way to gain the most HP? or the most out of our cobalt? any advice is appreciated.

EDIT: and also, if anyone knows a site that sells totaled cars, please post, looking for a few different ones.

 

I would suggest with your ticket background and your paint access, buy rims and a body kit.

 

First thing are obviously Intake and Exhuast

For intake you can go for the $50 ebay all the way up to the expensive name brand

Exhaust are the same. You can start with a cheap one and spend the limit.

For the automatic you would have fun with the B &M Shiftplus. It will make it fun to drive.
This is only like $40 so great starter.

Then move to headers and down pipes. Most companies make them or get one off an SS/SC. Read some threads to see what everyone likes.

After that you will have to get crafty. Check into the 2.4L intake manifold. and hopefully tuning will be here shortly

Best of luck man. Enjoy this site. Through the good and bad.

 

sell it.....

 

buy a mountain bike

 

honestly, save your money. its not worth it.

 

Thanx to all, i really dont want to sell it, even if it cant perform well in races or its not worth it, i would still like to add visuals to it for shows.

 

wow these people have had some rough weekends. Don't listen. Love your new car. Some men drive high end cars and some drive low end cars, but we can still have big swinging dicks either way.

 

Get a Geo call it good! Or quit speeding!


16 3 speeding tickets, license about to get pulled yet your worried about races.... MORON!

 

...He is 16 with 3 tickets already, and almost lost his license... He doesn't really need to be looking for ways to make it faster does he?

 

ok, just to clarify so stuff up about the tickets, only one was my fault. i live in memphis, and if any of you know any of you live here, then you should know about some of the jackass cops we have. the only that was my fault they got me doing 78 in a 60, careless mistake, just not paying attention. the other two, i was turning a corner and cop pulls me over and trys to tell me i was going 80 something around a corner, and the other one, i wasnt even doing anything, i was in a parking lot and cop drove up and asked if i was a drug dealer and i said no, he asked to search my car, i said no, he said why? i said bc he has no warrant, he then gave me a ticket bc i supposedly had a blown taillight, that was working! but i will admit to one of the tickets.
oh btw - i only race with friends on private property that one of my friends dads own. nothing serious.

 

I still say 18's, springs, and the Gravana INGS body kit

 

Put your $1200 in the bank, go to college, get a good job and then buy a car with a better starting point....

Or you could just TURBO it !!!

 

wheels, springs, tint, put an obnoxious stereo in it and be a typical 16 year old!

 

rims/tires, springs to start... don't want more tickets.
Those are the 2 things that really make the LTs look so much better.

 

trust me, save it. you will not regret it. i promise....

 

Reign is giving you the best advice kid. You need all show and no go. Listen to what reigns saying its gonna pay off in the end.

As far as the people with the comments saying "sell it" and it is not worth it. They can GTFO. They obviously bought their car just for the fun of it and have on interest in modding cars from the bottom up and making it to their liking.

you say that like you regret your 2.2...that sucks.

Better starting point. I wish i still had my beta swapped LC2 2000 hyundai accent to let you see. Talk about a car with NO starting point and where it ended up. Its not about having a starting point its about putting in the work.

 

New exhaust hands down. Gm designed our cars with a few psi of back pressure (restrictive exhaust) to help with emissions. Replace it all with something else.

 

as of now im thinking im either going to 1) customize it for shows or 2) save my money and my paychecks for when i turn 18, sell the car and im able to buy whatever other car is going to be out at the time, bc i was really want a stick shift. idk, its no rush though.

 

nope, i love my car. im saying it cuz he is 16... be smart with your money, build up a nice little savings/nest egg, and then you can play around a little bit.

you have the rest of your life to buy nice cars and make them go fast. if you save a lil bit more now, it will only make things easier down the road.

 

ya thats one of the options im thinking about. btw - it may sound like a noob question, but ive serached, but is there a real big difference between the LT and LS??

 

no, some interior trim and options. I think the lower grill is different and thats about it

 

save your money and buy a clue.
buy 2, and give your parents one while your at it.

 

Ouch rough advice.

In the words of Ricky Bobby

"I wanna go Fast"

If you are having second thoughts then don't do it.
Otherwise mod away.

Learn to no regret stuff so much. Makes things easier. Live and learn.

 

ha ya. ive made up my mind, im going to keep my 07 LT. i started thinking, how many 16 yr olds have a brand new cobalt? im kinda lucky in a way. an i love it, i really do. ive got my whole life to try and get a manual. when i turn 19 and have this car paid off, there will be some mods done to it, and ill think about what i can do then.

and to all the people that are going to keep telling me to trade in for an ss, im not retarded. i tried to get an ss, i couldnt for certain reasons. im pretty sure if everyone that has purchased a cobalt could be GIVEN the money and able to go back in time, most would purchase an ss but for certain reasons they didnt, their choice. we non ss cobalts dont care to hear "trade in for an ss" in every single thread, and im not pointing any fingers, just saying.