First and foremost I would like to thank the CSS Community for such a wonderful resource for all Cobalt owners out there, especially me. I would consider myself a tuner type personally but the potential that the cars have is astounding. Aggressive looks, superb handling, surprising acceleration from a 2.4 4-Cylinder, amazingly smooth ride. I bought my car used at 33,600 miles from a used car lot near Fort Campbell, Kentucky. I'm currently active duty and serving overseas in Afghanistan. After a brief trip home mid November for emergency leave and roughly 40,000 miles driven after the first time I took the car out for a test drive I am a true fan of the Cobalt.

When I sat in my 2008 Cobalt Sport Coupe (White) and completely stock I was surprised just how well it felt around me. The instrument cluster was techy and crisp. The amenities I had were awesome and I felt like the first time I had a vehicle worth tuning. I will admit though that I bought the car out of necessity and availability. The moment I saw the car on the lot, I was instantly intrigued. I financed it (Still paying on it) only 3 hours after I took the test drive. Well now after 2 years of driving the vehicle the car is only now showing signs of wear and tear. Thanks to the CSS Community though, the issues that are popping up are inherent faults with the Cobalt and easily remedied. Had it not been for this site, I would have never found out about the Controller Arm Bushings and Sway Bar end links causing that god awfully annoying rattle in the front suspension. I would have never known that the rotors that were factory installed had been recalled and I wouldn't have known about the steering shaft possibly needing to be replaced. Sadly I do not believe any of those things are covered by the 100,000 mile powertrain warranty but I'm thankful that they won't cost me nearly as much as a transmission.

I used the vehicle for a daily driver after getting married and moving 55 miles outside of post (Limitations for soldiers living off post is 60 miles) so my daily drive was 2 hours total. In those 4 months I put nearly 20,000 miles on my car. The commute to that house out in Dover, TN was fun as hell to say the least. Out in the country and typically away from police, I pushed my little 4 banger as hard as I could bear. Every weekend biker clubs from surrounding counties would come out and ride the "Dragon's Tail" as they come to call it. I was curious one day on the way home and counted each turn, 177 turns on the final 10 miles of my commute. It ended with a gravel drive-way way down a country road. I was hooked.

Taking hairpin lefts into 4 apex chicanes at 90-100 mph without touching the brake gets my adrenaline going and my focus in tune. Sadly we had to move from that residence due to the cost of maintenance, cleaning and fuel costs for the commute. We now live on post where I have seen maybe 4 tuned SS Cobalts and a handful of the standard trim 06-09's with nothing to set them apart except color.

When moving on post, I decided that it was time to get my feet wet with tuning. Unfortunately, timing was not good enough and finances came before fun. After spending a year in Afghanistan and struggling with the thought of trading it in for a Hyundai Genesis V6 306HP RWD and the new Chevy Cruze, I'm glad to say that I'm keeping my Cobalt and making it into the toy I want to make it without making it a novelty item.
I have some questions for the community and would love to have some feedback on some choices I want to make but want to be as educated as possible.

Suspension
I've flirted with the idea of dropping the vehicle because the rear end just sits way too high on 17's to have that aggressive tuner stance I want. I realized that I wouldn't just buy any aftermarket kit for lowering it and decided on the Eibach Sportline Series drop springs.

I am seriously considering purchasing and installing the Eibach Proline series on my SC but I'm curious how that is going to affect my available options for wheels and tires? Is the Proline series something I should do out of the gate or is the Sportline series (1.5/1.4) better suited for more options in tires and wheels? My tire choice for dimensions are roughly 235/40R18 x 8-9.

That being said, Proline series going to limit my option for 235/40R18 x 8s? Or is the Sportline series more in tune with my desires?

With upgrading my shocks to lower the vehicle which type / manufacturer of strut should I pursue to install with the new suspension?

Should I wait to replace the Sway bar end links (Rattle) and Controller Arm Bushings until I upgarde this suspension since both replacements will require alignments?

I haven't even thought about sport exhaust and I have no idea where to start. I'm not looking for something super loud and abnoxious but something that sounds better than the 2.5" exhaust tip that does more suck than blow...

Is there a cold air intake system that will work specifically for the Cobalt Engine bay? Its pretty cramped being inline 4 side mounted transmission?

Is putting a new chip in worth it? Will there be enough of a performance gain for the price on my SC?

I would love to boost it but I'm afraid cost outweighs advantages on a Front WD?

Is the Brembo Brake pads/rotors/caliper upgrade worth paying a dealership bookoo bucks to install it to avoid voiding the power train warranty?

Thanks again ahead of time on these questions and I appreciate any constructive input on the subject!

 

I stopped here, cause I was confused on what car you actually have. Please clarify. Then you mentioned having a SC. Does that mean Sport Coupe, or Supercharged? I'm lost here.

 

Sport Coupe. And its a 2.4L 4 Cylinder My mistake!

Is that not the correct abbreviation for it the Sport Coupe trim?

 

Well, the Sport has a 2.4L. The SS has the 2.0L Turbo. And on this site, we call the 05-07 SS's with the supercharger SS/SC, or just SC. But yea, if it's the Sport, it has a 2.4.

 

But, to answer some questions. There are alot of cold air intakes for the 2.4. Most popular being the GM. And it's wont void any warrenty. The pretty much all other companies that make CAIs make them.

Chip? Hope you don't mean the Ebay chip. Worthless. Please dont.

Boost? DOOOOO IIIITTTT! Cheapest route, finding a used SC setup from a SS/SC. Most people sell everything needed to boost the 2.4 all together. For less then 2000$ I say its worth it forsure. Or you can Turbo it. Little more expensive, but fun.

 

Stop where your at.Get rid of it for a better platform.Since you love your Cobalt(non SS) I assume you haven't driven too many quality cars,(No offense) There are dozens of better cars out there to modify than a run of the mill cheap econo car from GM.At the very least start with an SS.

 

Wow, party pooper here

 

Just being honest.

 

But I would look into getting an SS Or boosting the Sport. It makes it 301489756239048569823476589324657896345 times more enjoyable.

 

Will supercharging or boosting it give the sport platform a better edge than the SS just on the 2.4L vs 2.0L matchup?

 

No. Not unless you built it from the inside. But that includes ripping it apart. It can't handle the same amount of boost. It wasn't built for it like the 2.0

 

buddy of mine just said the same thing. Without replacing pistons, rings, gaskets, exhaust, etc I would blow the engine within 6 months. He suggests doing the small things for the 20-30hp gains from CAI, Exhaust, etc.

 

Yep,you need to start with a different car.Intake, exhaust,tune= about 800 dollars and maybe 20hp at the wheels.

 

ultimately,what do you want out of a car?Is getting a different car feasable?

 

You can bolt on a SC. If you run it at around 10psi, you will be fine.

 

Yes he can,but in his original post he mentioned full suspension,Brembos,more power,end links,etc....I still think he would be many monies ahead if he ot a used T/C.15k should buy you a decent one with low miles and mods if you look.

 

what unit are you with, im also currenlty deployed with 3-187

 

I'm just answering his questions about the boosting. Get off ma-nuts

 

Hey I hear ya,I just don't want to see the guy dump a ton of money into his car and have it not be what he wants it to be,and in the end just get rid of it for something else.I have done it a few times before I discovered the interwebs,and people who could offer advice and tell me not to do it.Oh and I like being on your nuts,they're very nice.

 

Uhhh, you just took this to a whole new level of queer.

But OP, he does have a very good point. Not only about my nuts, but about the car. Its great as a DD, but if you want to mod, I'd suggest something else. But if boosting isn't a high priority, then you should be fine with it. Lower it, rock it

 

1-187th RC-South FSC. Have you seen that Yellow Balt in 3rd BCT area before we deployed. The stance from the lowering kit is awesome and I want to replicate it.

 

New car isn't feasible. Depreciation and Financing is a MOTHER ****er. I wish I could just turn it in for an SS.

I'm not looking for "race track/weekend toy". This is my DD and I want it to be unique. I'm very serious about Suspension, CAI, Wheels/Tires, Exhaust, Appearance mods. If I was to draw a budget for those things I'm knocking on about 2500 available funds. Give or take 250 wiggle room.

Ultimately, I want to drop it on 18 SS Rims, resurface the wheels and black powder coat. There is WAAY too much white on this car and its already too hard to keep clean. I want a little "pushed back in the seat" without having to completely rebuild the system. Which is another reason I can't really boost anything because I'm still covered under the power-train warranty.

My wife just said once I drop it, She's not driving it anymore. I had fun on that 177 turn stretch so much she refused to allow me to drive it when she was in the car with me... I guess being pushed into the corner of the seat doing 90 was too much for her ahahahaha.

In all seriousness, my first purchase is going to be suspension + wheels and tires. I figure thats going to run me about 1200-1400 for parts. Probably another 600 in labor plus the cost of the sway bar end links and controller arm bushings. I want to get the appearance stuff out of the way and break that in before I put anything else crazy in.

Any opinions about the drop kit I should use? I would love the proline but will I have to bend the fenders for the proline series on the SS cobalt rims?