i own a 08 cobalt ls with a stock 2.2 what can i do to it to keep up with an Subru STI?
please tell me all the things that i can do to it in general too please.

 

No offense, but unless you do some MAJOR mods, your not going to be able to hang with one. Us SS/SC guys have a hard enough time hanging with them...AWD FTW.

 

Sell your Cobalt and wait for the turbo charged version. Or better yet get a Mitsu Evo 10.

 

im in the military so i have money to spend but where to start?

 

keep up with an STI? Well considering my friend with a regular wrx just ran an 8.7 at the 1/8 mile today and my best run was a 10.1 and the cobalt ss we were with was like 9.2, i would say blow your car up, collect the insurance money and then buy another car with easier potential

 

Air Intake, then exhaust manifold, then exhaust system, then intake manifold, then suspension(preferably coil overs). I dunno what else dude. You should have waited for the turbo cobalt because you're about as slow as my 03 Ion.

 

still no answer where do i start

 

lawz!! Start at the intake. Get a CAI or you're wasting your money.

 

Branden who do u know that has an STI??

 

Cai?

 

nos and lots of it is the easiest way i can think of

 

eric i work with him

 

Cold air intake

 

Seriously, if you want to do this, where to start would be up to you. You could attempt to HEAVILY HEAVILY mod your engine (Twin turbo if possible), or buy a LSJ and turbo that, or try to find a LNF and drop that in and mod it. All of these options are going to cost BIG BIG bucks and LOTS of hours of work, leaving you without a car for months at a time while the work is being done. Also, you will need some sort of tuning, and HP Tuners only supports the LSJ at this moment (that I'm aware of). So I really hope your pockets are deep and you don't mind losing money on the deal, because it would seriously be easier if you started with a LNF IMO.

 

just buy a turbo kit and full exhaust and some nitrous then u shud be able to stick with a stock sti

 

so what the fatest that i can get this too with this engine?

 

Thats because for your goal it is going to cost you more than you spent to get your car from the stealership new. If you want a serious answer tho for decent power (no your not going to be beating sti's with this set up but..) internals and turbo, or CAI, FULL exhaust (don't use the lsj stuff, get after market!) tuning, spray and 2.4 intake mani.

 

Don't buy an intake. Go straight to a Turbo setup. Garrett make a setup for most 2.2L's, not sure if they work with 08's. Your pretty much screwed on tuning as well, because your car is so new. They are just now prefecting 07 tunes. You also need forged internals so you don't blow your motor or throw a piston through the hood. After that your going to need a Full exhasut with, headers, downpipe, and turboback. Then get a sweet custom tune, or do it yourself with hptuners, if it's even avialble for 08's (doubt it). Get an intercooler for the turbo if it doesnt include it. Buy bigger injectors and max out your boost. Then lighten your care by about 100 pounds ( take out spare, maybe back seats). If you want to take a risk you can also get a shot of Nitrous to assure you can keep up, but also mostl ikely blow your motor while your at it. Then you need to pray to god that you can beat a STI by a nose.

Turbo:
http://www.aptuning.net/Chevy_Cobalt...turbo%20gt.htm

 

There is nothing you can do to your car to make it faster than an STI.

I really hate these ******* threads.

 

start with some massively beafed up internals...and then a big ass turboed kit!!!

 

wtf im tired of this "it can't be done" bullshit. isn't there a mod around here that can stop this ****?

2.2's are getting tuning, which means options are increasing that much more. the l61, from everything i've read etc can be built to massive amounts of power daily driven. now that tuning is working it's way for the 2.2's people with the money and ***** to do block and head builds and/or turbo/sc applications can do so.

why in the **** would an individual do an engine swap to another ecotec when for the same money they could build their ecotec to be MUCH more capable than the top manufacturer release?

 

like everyone else said, custom turbo kit, forged internals, tune, lotta money and time, u can beat anything u want lol

 

The only way you are going to get your 08 LS to be faster then a STI is to turbo it, new pistons would be a good idea, definately going to need new rims and tires, and a tune. All those things may get you close, but even then with all that work you are still probably going to have a hard time trying to beat an STI.

As other people suggested, your best option would be to sell the LS and buy a new car (a vette should do it) then you can probably beat an STI. Even a Cobalt SS/SC with some decent mods is going to have trouble keeping up with an STI especially if the STI is modded which most of them have at least some kind of mod - exhaust or something - done to them.

Yes, a 2.2 can be made to run lots of power - it is the same motor as the LSJ. The difference is that the LSJ has already been built to handle a certain amount of power and the L61 is not. It is going to cost probably in the upward amount of $8000+ dollors to get a L61 to the point where it will hang with an STI and that is if you do alot of the work yourself. If you pay a shop to do it you can probably double that amount. New pistons, new rods, new cam, new crank, new intake manifold, full exhaust + turbo, new springs and valves, rims + tires, and a tune. It would probably be a good idea to lower the car a bit as well.

So, can it be done - Yes. Is it cost effective - No. If you want to build your car just to say "look my LS cobalt is faster then your STI" then go for it... nobody can tell you how to spend your money. Everyone is just trying to say it is going to cost alot of money. You could go buy an old 1991 ford festive and make it fast... if you wanted to spend $10,000 + dollors on it... but then the question is "why"?

 

My boy swapped a harley v-twin in a festiva and that bitch flew... the engine bay looked wierd though.

 

cranks good to 600hp in the cobalt...nuff said...pistons/rods/valves/porting and turbo kit...i wanna see sumone push the limits of a cobalt...