OK so I have had my cobalt SS a little over a month now. I will say I love this car, and it blow's away anything else I have ever driven.

The car is so fast and when you looking to have fun its very easy to do in this car. Looks great, gets lots of attention, and I think in the sub 21,000 dollar range, it really is up there for one of the best econo sport cars in the market.

This is my first stick car, and I have had many people try to teach me how to drive it but I have adopted my own style and have a few questions in regards to that.

1.) when I am on a hill I usually find the sweet spot in the clutch and use it to hold me in place. Is this normal use of a clutch or should I not be doing that?

2.) sometimes when I am about to come to a complete stop but the light turns green (usually going about 5 MPH) I will often times shift into second instead of first, but the car
bogs down really bad, I am wondering if this is normal wear or if this is bad?

3.) when racing at a track or what ever is it OK to go to redline and shift? I have a habbit of doing this and have hit the rev limiter once or twice. I wouldnt think this would be so bad because GM has a upgrade that increases your redline, but I thought I would double check.

THe only thing I dislike about my new car (which I think is less the car's fault and more my inexperience with a stick) is when you are laying back in chill mode, or are really tired shifting becomes a bit of a chore. Just thought I would mention that as a hate, as well as the stupid blind spot, and the horrible ability to go over a bump without feeling it hehe.

Also I was just minding my own business when I see this 30-40 year old guy with a lady in the pass side roll up beside me in a Crysler 300. We are sitting at a light, and a state police man is about 50 feet up in a parking lot. I was gonna run him anyway but when the light turned green he didnt take off and neither did I. I went real slow into first, and shifted into second and made it to about 4G's before I saw him punch it, we where next to eachother and he poped about half a car on me before I reacted and floored it. I shifted into 3rd and am very very slowly pulling on the guy. I wont say where we left off at but it was much faster then I had expected and I was about a car ahead of this guy. we got to the next light and he wouldnt look over at me so i was like what ever, when it turned green he went into ricer flyby mode and called it a day. anyway I looked on the back of his car and saw no hemi stickers. I was curious to see waht kinda of HP that thing put out but to my surprise there are 3 engines that I could find.

a 190 HP, 190 TQ

a 250 HP, 250 TQ

a 340 HP, 390 TQ


The car weighs about 4000 lbs. It was also an automatic. I did a little research and se the big v8 car runs

2005 Chrysler 300C 5.6 14.1

I dont know if this is the one I raced or if I raced the 250 HP one. I so hope it was the big daddy, but I thought I would seek a second opinion. My brother is talking about eating chargers for breakfast, so I thought I would seek guidance else ware. I didnt play with him from a launch, so I am thinking maybe a lot of their 0-60 and 1/4 time is their launch since they are RWD and there is also an AWD version. If that is the case is it possible for me to take him from a roll?

Lastly I ordered an AEM drycharger and am going to attempt to install it this weekend. Is aw a How to for something but I dont think it covered some of the things I am looking for. I was hoping someone could give me a few directions on what to do to put it in? My brother has already taken his car apart basically the same way I will need to to put it in, but I am interested in getting a bit more whine and was told about cutting some holes or something in the airbox in order to do this? Can someone show me how/what to cut the wholes with, and where this should be done? Also is this bad for the car, is it going to allow more dirt to get inside? I havent seen any of the cobalt yet, so maybe some of you who are more familar can mentally prepare me for what needs to be done, and maybe provide a few pictures or something incase I get stuck? I also bought a set of Uneek's HID's and will be installing them as soon as I get them as well. I went 6000k.

Anyway IM done typing an essay. for those of you brave enough to have read through all that, thank you and let me know what ever answers or anything you can provide.

thanks!

 

1. This is very bad for your clutch. Don't do this. Use your e-brake to hold you in place until you can start on a hill.
2. First is a short gear on the Cobalt. If you are traveling very slowly then it is ok to shift into first but you will need to slip it in or rev match. You can get away with creeping in 2nd but you'll bog if you don't keep an eye on your rpm's
3. Debatable, but shifting at redline is ok for spirited driving.

 

I C, OK so no more holding myself in place with the clutch. IM glad to get an answer now then many miles down the road when it may have lead to a problem or something.

I can usually just hold the brake down, and when the light turns green IM pretty quick at coming off the break and giving it gas where if I move back at all its very minimal if at all. Usually on big hills though I give it a lot of gas, usually around 2-3 K, just to make sure I dont stall out on the hill and to make sure I dont roll back and hit the asshat who pulled too close to my bumper.

 

1) dont do this my sugestion is to just practice everyone stalls on a hill when they learn and i still do everyonce in awhile when someone pulls up to close on me and i get nervous.

2) should matter just try and match the revs and it should be a problem.

3) thats what the rev limiter is for feel free to redline shift just dont sit on redline

 

1. Bad
2. If your bogging the you are giving too much gas. 1 or 2 is OK to start off in a role 5+mph. 1 is for up hill or faster take offs. 2nd is for slowing going back up to speed, down hill role starts. Just do not give too much gas and you will not bog.
3. Go to redline but do not hit rev limiter. Not bad but make 1/4 time slower. A good driver will shift right before the rev limiter.

Stick driving dose get tiering. Try this: Go higher rpm in first and then go directly to 4th. Saves you from having to go to 2,3. Just remember to not give too much gas when you hit 4th or you will bog. I do this all of the time.

 

yeah #1 is bad. you deffinately burn out your clutch if you keep doing that a lot. i knew a girl who did that all the time and her clutch was shot after the first 8 months of having the car.

 

Does it hurt to put the car in first in anticipation of the light turning green and having your foot all the way down on the clutch? So clutch completely dis-engaged but your holding it all the way down instead of being out of gear?

Anyone read further into my main post?

 

you can keep it in gear like that at a light, but disengaging your clutch only half way like you said you were doing before isn't so good for your clutch. and about that aem drycharger, i've read of guys cutting holes in it but i've never actually seen what it looks like and how they do it.

 

"Does it hurt to put the car in first in anticipation of the light turning green and having your foot all the way down on the clutch? So clutch completely dis-engaged but your holding it all the way down instead of being out of gear?"

Huh ???

 

You should keep it in neutral until you are ready to go. If you think the light is about to change, then it's fine to keep it in first with the clutch pressed in.

 

It was like 4 in the morning so cut me a little slack

anyway I meant when I am sitting at a light I will put the car in first and be holding the clutch all teh way down. I may sit like this for 10 seconds and sometimes even into the minutes. I just hold the clutch all the way down while waiting for a green, rather then have my foot all the way off and the car completely out of gear. I was wondering if that was a problem?

 

It still will cause wear on the throw out bearing. You should sit with the car in neutral until you are ready to go.

Like I said above, if you expect the light to change within a few seconds it's fine to leave it in gear.

 

Yes, like MarcS just said. I try to not hold the clutch down in gear longer that 30 seconds.