Just want to tell you guys how sweet your cars look especially the SS's and SS S/C's! I used to have a 99 Cavalier Z24 with some bolt-ons here and there and it looked decent but the Cobalt is pretty damn hot looking compaired to the Crapalier!
GM finally made a sport compact that really looks good and something that can spank import ass right from the factory. Starting to see some SS's pop up around here and i'm glad cuz there aren't very many domestics around here. My Fav Cobalt so far on this site is the Arrival blue one with the black rims and CF hood. I think he used to have a Cavalier and is a member on jbody.org. Keep up the good work guys and i wanna see some smaller pullies installed here! I think the M62 shaft is the same size as the M90 shaft so you guys may be able to use an M90 UD pulley?

 

Bite your tongue whippersnapper!!!! Crapalier indeed! For what the car was, the Cavalier was an excellent buy for an entry level car.
Granted the Cobalt is light years ahead of he Cavalier, but will the Cobalt be around for 23 years?
:P

Scott

 

The Cavalier was hopelessly outdated in the market place. It was crude, unrefined and old fashioned. Only reason they sold were price and incentives.

Cobalt could easily be around in 23 years as long as GM redesigns it every 4-5 years. That'll keep it fresh and competitve.

 

SorryScott, but you're a bit naive. Cavalier has only been around so long becuase it made GM very rich and they, like Toronto Maple Leafs management, have been brainwashing their loyal followers by not dumping any $$ into new chassis. As long as the car sold, GM was saving money usine 23 yr old set-ups!! I think the Delta arhitecture will be around for many more years to come and I truly believe the Cobalt is big breakthrough for GM.

 

My 1993 Cavalier Z24 has 193,000 on the original 3.1 and trans and I still can run 15.9

They were a decent car until the major depriciation that plauged the 2000 and newer models. Not to mention the 2003+ models were ugly as hell.

 

A bit naive? Um... no. I've had 7 of these cars. I have done things to these cars that were just plain evil and they still continued to run and drive without fear or hesitation. Yes, they were outdated, yes it was unrefined, yes it was crude, BUT did it deliver reliability? Yes. As for using 23 year old set-ups... the actual design of the Cavalier reaches back to 1978 with the X-body (Citation/Phoenix/Omega/Skylark). It worked. (Actually, that was the Citation ad slogan when they were released)

In 1995, the Cavalier borrowed heavily from the designs used in the last generation L and N bodies, but even though, those designs still had roots back in the seventies. Still for a 23+ year old design, my Cavalier was still competent to drive. Sure it wasn't a Camaro, but at least I could insure it and it was more fun to drive than my friends' Neon.

The point of my post was this; The Cavalier may have been outdated, but how many do you see still on the road? Exactly. Sure GM dragged its feet and should've had something to replace it in 1995, but i always felt that I got my moneys' worth out of each Cavalier I've owned... even the $100 beaters Cavaliers (1984.1985) i used for winter duty.
The Cobalt is a lesson that Ford learned back in the 80's.

I see where you guys are coming from, but I can't hate the J like that. I have had too many years of fun in them, my friends have had fun with theirs... these cars were cheap to get, cheap to drive and cheap to fix!

I will miss the Cavalier. Honestly if I didn't like the Cobalt, I would've bought a 2005 Cavalier and driven the wheels off it! Luckily, the Cobalt seems to be much better than the previous body.

Scott

 

yeah the cavaliers are what they are; cheap cars to get around in, if you dont what a reliable car that is cheap to fix and cheap on gas/insurance, then dont dont buy one. granted it isnt the prettiest crayon in the box, but it is still a car, which most people in the US need to get around.
personally, the thing i hate about cavaliers is the saftey. it (98) got poor crash test ratings; although common for most small cars, it just doesnt cut it for me. chevy didnt offer side impact airbags or any other saftey technology even in the recent models.
and yeah GM didnt want to make a new car for a while, so they just redesigned it.
they were just busy making the best trucks on the road, thats all.
the new cobalt is a gem though!

 

just what do you think your cobalt is?

teh cavalier bloodline still flows very deep into the new replacement cobalt. you can still see cavalier-esque lines and hints all throughout this new cobalt car.

 

To some extent. But the Cobalt is a CLEAR departure from the now defunt Cavalier. The marketing intent is the same as the Cavy, but the build is entirely unique.

As far as Cavy fans go, I loved my 96 Z24 and yes it was rather cheap to modify. I guess my rant is about GM taking so long to come up with a more refined design to a very successful model - the J body. I have to admit that the only reason I even considered the Cobalt over the imports was due to my good experience I had with my Z24. I will also miss the "Z" badge as well.

 

no need to bash the cavy... same class as the cobalt and most run forever and are reliable.... look at the competition through the years nothing beat the cavy in its class... lol the Neon came onto the scene and they all starting blowing head gaskets...ohh man how i miss 90's cars....

 

I wish I could find a real nice 90's Cavalier to replace mine when it dies.

 

i love my black 99 cavi Z24, runs great, great bang for the buck, never had a problem with it and its got 100k on it, with no hints of anything going to go wrong with it anytime in the near to far future. i dont care what anyone says, i think its a damn fine looking car.

 

$22,000 plus is cheap? where the hell are you comming from, beverly hills? IMO the cobalt is a bit pricier than the cavalier, especially because its an all new car.
I cant see any "cavalier-esque" lines...

 

I own a 1994 Cavailer Z24, sure it's purple but the car is a very much so reliable car. I ragged on it till the day it hit almost 200k and then the transmission burned out. I payed the money to rebuild it and the mighty 3.1 still runs to this day. I am using it currently for winter duty. The only thing I've ever had to do with this car was rebuild the trans and some general stuff (brakes, oil change etc.)

I put new Good year triple tread tires which by the way kick major ass in the winter. My cavailer was the only car to be able to get out of my apartment complex without having to dig it out when we got a foot of snow in 4 hours last year. 4x4 Big Diesel trucks couldn't get out of this ****.

I think that most people can hate on this car but I think it kicks ass. 95+ came with more mods then any car I can remember besides a Civic.

 

I don't think it was an issue of relaibility and longevity. Alot of that comes from how the owner maintains/treated the car. Its more of an issue that the Cavalier was not a contender with other compact cars (in the areas of egronomics, fit/finish, sophistication---it was an old platform that Chevy never payed much attention to) unless you jut count the bottom dollar and GMs interest rate/incentives.

 

Hey I loved my 1998 Z-24 cavalier. Ran strong with the 2.4 and 5 speed (has some bolt on mods and exhaust. With 88000 miles it still looked and drove like brand new. I got over $4000 when i sold it (only bought it for 4800 2 1/2 years ago). Yea my new SS/SC is a much nicer car but its also 5 times the price.
I home the cobalt treats me as good as the ol "J" body did.

Jeff
SS/SC and loving it

 

My Cobalt is getting built next week, I will actually miss my rusted, no locks, 135,000mi '92 Cavalier. It may be a bit of a beater ok, very much of a beater, but it's reliable, CHEAP, and to some extent fun.
I got mine for $1500 6 years ago, I drive it hard and still no major problems, it's fun to drive and work on in that it's basicaly braindead compaired to new cars, only real electronics on it is the fuel injection (TBI).
No electronic trans (it's a 3 speed auto) which has a couple times made for some interesting moments, like when it decided to shift from 3rd to 2nd at 90mph when I floored it a bit too hard.
It's a simple car to work on, I've never had it to a shop except for tires and shocks/struts, I've done radiator, water pump, belt tensioner, brakes (calipers, rotors, hoses, pads) all oil changes, trans flush fill and filter. To some these may be major, but it's only about $1000 worth of parts in 6 years on a car that was neglected for 6 years prior to me owning it.
Also having so little electronics there was no rev limiter or speed governor, and until I got my shocks and struts replaced and they lost (or broke) the links for my anti-roll bar it handled pretty good.

Ok, now I'm just starting to ramble, I'm sure I'll love my Cobalt SS/SC even more.

 

Let me know if you want to take one for a test drive sometime