Im ill today so I thought I would share this as Im bored!! So I had the chance last friday to take out a 09 SS/TC from the dealer for about a good 40 min. I was seriously considering at the time of upgrading from my 07 SS/SC and this is how I felt, remember these are my feelings and opinions.

First off after leaving the lot, the first thing I notice is that the engine doesnt show as much vacum on the boost gauge, however it is cool that it does go up to 200kpa on the high side (might see if I can use this gauge in the ss/sc). The car I drove was red with the red inserts, fully loaded minus the highrise wing. Yes, it did have the LSD as well for the 650.00 (Think that price is cheaper than it used to be.) Beyond that the car drives identical to the SS/SC, as it really should.
Seats, I have a love hate relationship w/ them, I love the way they look and the way they feel on the back, but the leg support drives me nuts. I have to also inject here that I find the ebony seats in the 05-07s to look classier, now I know they dont do nearly as nice as a job on the turns but I find them quite comfortable.
On the Road.
WOW!! This thing is noisy!!! First, under the hood the DI is very noticeable, second when driving it sounds like the road is right behind my head ( I double checked to see if the back seats were down, they were not) it is loud compared to my 07, which is whisper quiet in comparisson, after further inspection I see there is way less sound deadening material in the trunk than previous versions and also no spare tire (just the goofy inflater, lets see that fix a total blowout POS) I know, I know, lighter weight = better performance. Im just not willing to drive something that is as loud as a previous generation civic.
Performance, well for light spirited driving the car is smooth and compliant and as far as handling goes feels the same to me, (remember, Im not pushing the car) however, from tip in throttle to 3/4 throttle I find the ss/sc way more responsive thanks to the supercharger, this is not a minor difference at all, very noticeable. From the first application of the brakes through the whole time I had the car there is a difference in braking pressure, it does feel more stable and firmer, I might just have to upgrade to some baer brakes now (my brand preference)
So how does this thing go, turn off traction control, turn off stability control, turn on launch control and give r hell.....hey nice, no wheel hop here,.... Ummm lets go here, c'mon , c'mon, there we go!! The no lift shift is cool, but you need it in this car( total gimmick for the S/C car to upgrade to a WOT box if your a good shifter) the car will lose boost between shifts which dramatically slows it down, however, use the no lift shift which worked beautifully (insert superhero shifter skills here) and the car really builds a head of steam. Okay, now at speed the handling seems to be a little better, I attribute this to the extra 1/2" wide rims and wider rubber though. All else to me feels identical to my car.

Back to the dealer.

overall, I love the car, it is a Cobalt SS/TC and it does what it is supposed to do, however, I feel way better now that i have driven one, there is no way this guy is going to trade over, I feel my car is quieter and... well, easily upgradable for a fraction of the cost difference to the performance levels of handling in the SS/TC minus the active stability control.
I have also had the opportunity to race an 09 SS/TC granted it is stock and im not, but I made a mess of it, from out of the hole to 60km rolls didnt matter, no contest and I felt that when driving the new car, not as fast, def easier to get out of the whole than the ss/sc (which is what makes it 1/4 quicker et wise I feel) YES STOCK FOR STOCK THE TC SHOULD BE FASTER AND IS FASTER. I feel the sc is faster down low and the tc has it up top.
So for me, I will keep my SS/SC and upgrade where I feel is necessary perhaps wider rims and larger rubber (maybe some guys with aftermarket rims and rubber can comment on their handling improvements?) in the future, baer brakes and we will see what happens with our intake manifolds.
Mod for mod the ss/tc should and will outperform the ss/sc in dyno power shootouts, however I truly feel that when an intake becomes available that is even a 50% improvement over what we have, the ss/sc will really begin to shine all over again.
Cheers!! No matter which one you have you didnt go wrong

 

very true statement at the end...s/c or t/c both are great cars

 

Except for the 260 tq at 2,000 RPM on the LNF. The TC has a broader powerband and should be better at all RPM's

 

So you're the guy he was talking about. I was in yesterday visiting my old man, and the new car manager was chatting with me. Said a guy in silver SC came in for a test drive and had the same complaints i did. Road noise. I also found it annoyingly loud, and the sunroof also seemed to have a lot of wind noise. The tranny seemed very clunky and loud to me as well. Other than that, I feel the same as you as far as performance and comfort.

He also informed me that GM did not put a limit on stock for dealers on teh '09 TC. He currently has 16 total TC's on order, including 8 with the low rise, and 8 with high rise spoiler. And I believe he said a couple of them are white. So any of you looking to upgrade, sit tight, there are lots on the way to choose from.

 

^ i have 7 cobalt ss orders that gm pushed to november 3rd. they are obviously limiting them.

 

Sounds like you had a similar experience to what I had.

Both great cars... but I prefer the SC as a daily driver.

Great! I'm waiting for one of those to get written off so I can nab the engine for my next resto-project.

 

excellent feedback im totally looking forward to taking one for a drive and doing the same eval

 

Probably limited based on production, not demand. He said he has 16 on order. Didn't say they'd all be in tomorrow. I don't know about the US, but GM is specific to each city/dealer on order quantities based on production numbers for Canada.

 

Yes, that was me, the sales manager was asking me to do some tuning on his new truck after everything was done lol. He was also supposed to call me with a price on the TC grille and wheels.

 

I think the ss/tc requires a more precise driver to see it's true potential, which is faster than any stage 2 modded ss/sc.

 

HHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHA







Are you for realz?

 

Yep pretty tough. Foot touch gas pedal, foot press gas pedal, gas pedal touch floor

Come on. Precision?

 

do you own one? have u driven one? ya didn't think so.......

 

Oooo, the cockiness I feel from this sentence....its like breath taking!

The SS/TC has it easier dude. With launch control and all that electronic stuff you have going for you, it definitely makes it easier to work with it, It takes a better driver to get the max potential out of a ss/sc. But I'm not trying to start anything man, yeah the ss/tc is faster than a stage 2 modded ss/sc, but anything can happen...its just sad that I know that the ss/tc owners and ss/sc owners will always be butting heads and having a civil war...*sigh*

 

I have driven one... and your way off base buddy.
The car is full of band-aids that help the owner drive like a pro, when really he is anything but.

If anything, your statement should have said "I think the ss/sc requires a more precise driver to see it's true potential"

 

having only once driven an ss/sc and it was stock, i dun got much to compare to

So far in the first 400+km i've put on my ss/tc i've found u can't just mat the throttle each time, sometimes u gotta be a little easier on your way to the floor........maybe this is just because of the break in period, and i agree the ss/tc has alot of good features like ESC, TCS, LC, NLS, but the LC isn't required and the NLS, the ss/sc could have it with that WOT box. I think a custom tuned stage 2 ss/sc with meth kit would be dead even if not just ahead of the ss/tc. I'm sure a custom tune would make a stage 2 a little more aggresive.

As for a civil war........i think for awhile the ss/sc ppl will feel a little "threatened"(not everybody) there will be a little fire between ss/sc and ss/tc owners i'm sure but overall we always have some common ground, it's a cobalt, one way or another.

 

Yeah...but it doesn't.

 

pls dood, now your just showing outright jelousy, i doubt i will use my NLS very much, esspecially with my cobalt being my daily driver..........the WOT box isn't that expensive or hard to install from anything I've seen on css.net, so if u really want one, you'll get one.

 

Please get the chip off your shoulder. I have nothing to be jealous about. I had a choice to wait for the tc, or get the ss/sc, I chose the ss/sc because it was everything I wanted in a car. I don't care about NLS, its the farthest thing from my mind.

My balt is my daily driver and I HAVE to keep it under warranty. I don't think a WOT box would do that...at all. Two, I doubt I would use NLS with a WOT box, I don't mind taking my foot off the gas for a second.

My point is, yes the TC is faster than a S2 SC, I am not denying that, it would be stupid to do so with all the proof on the tc's side. But with the amount of electronic "help" the tc gets, your above statement was incorrect and very cocky. Yeah, you drive a nicer, faster car with better handling and better braking and a better interior and in my favorite color too boot....will I become a jealous ***** that obsesses himself with getting a tc? HA!

I am in no way, form or fashion jealous of you or any one else on this forum, non the less of a car. I was just pointing out a fact. Ya know my car could be turboed....but its not....my car could have better handeling...but it doesn't. I was pointing out what you have stock was all. Don't misinterpret stating of facts with jealousy.

 

I have driven the SS/TC and to my surprise i liked it as much if not more than my well modded SS/SC.
The new one has:
Better shifter
Easier clutch
Slightly more stock power than a stage 2 s/c
No destructive wheel hop even with NLS and LC used
Real nice exhaust note (helps drown out some road noise)

As HAHN is demonstrating, the new ss/tc is easily upgradable and responds insanely well to tuning and basic bolt-ons like intake/turbo-back exhaust, I/C upgrade. They hit 12.9 with these mods on DR's. how many SS/SC have hit 12.9 with that amount of money into mods?

I like it alot, but not so much that i will be eager to sell my almost paid for SS/SC and go into debt for a new turbo SS any time soon.

 

It's all about how you came off in your posts, no offence taken, not trying to start no civil war lol i ain't no leader, if i was put in charge of a war i'd lose lol hands down.

 

Yes i have driven one, for the love of god don't use precision at such low power levels.

 

I am not trying to fight here but the NLS is not needed for the SS/SC for the simple reason that boost is relative to engine speed period, shift, oh look max boost... not flow like a turbo shift, blow off valve opens, recharge intake w/ pressure now boost again. I can assure you also that yes a worked on stg2 car will beat a tc car that is stock. If you look at Rallye's car he is pretty much a stage2 with custom tune and traps 104mph with ridiculously tall slicks, that is only one example, here there is a bone stock stage 2 car trapping 100mph on larger tires as well, these are examples that are right there in the TC's level.
Without the NLS you def. slow down a little unless you can shift very good, and even then you lose boost becuase you lose flow and blow off some boost on the shift and need to pressurize the intake side again. When the TC is modded up it will be interesting to see what happens, the one I raced is coming for a tune from me soon, so we will see again.
Im not dis' ing the TC, I like it alot, just put out my opinions on it. Its a quick car w/ alot of potential.

 

Alright, no worries man, hard to tell emotions behind text. We're cool.

 

We all have to remind ourselves, there will always be something better, faster, nicer, more affordable power, ect ect, that's how it goes. I'm really glad GM has the ss/tc now so they can earn some tuner rep points against WRX's and Evo's. Everytime an ss/tc races an M3 BMW or WRX or EVO and wins, it's earning the cobalt more rep points, the next time that M3 or WRX or EVO see's another cobalt on the road they'll have more respect for it. lol, and in 5 years that respect will probably mean *** all cause something new and more powerful and more affordable will be on the market.