After looking for another Neon SRT4, I managed to find this 2009 Cobalt SS/TC. I'd never considered buying a Cobalt prior to this, I didn't hate them or anything, just never really thought about them. This one was very clean and well kept, and I was tired of searching and searching for Neon's just for them to be trashed when I showed up.

I looked at the Cobalt and drove it. I was still unsure if I really wanted to jump into a new-ish platform (ecotec). After watching a few ZZP vids, and reading through a few threads here, I decided to buy it. To justify the purchase, I had to use it as a daily/commuter since it's much cheaper on gas than my "daily" Ram.

Originally, I was just going to drive the car, maybe hit the track once or twice, and then probably sell it and continue looking for a Neon. After a week or so, I decided I could at least do a GMS1 tune (or similar) and leave everything else stock. Then I saw the ZZP black friday sales, and the discount on the intercooler and charge pipe kit was enough to make me buy it. I paired it with an intake. A week or two later I caved and ordered a Megan Racing downpipe. Then shortly after that came across a brand new Magnaflow cat-back exhaust for 1/3 the cost of retail. I even managed to pick up some black housed headlights.

The car already had 3 bar map sensors (but not tuned for them), and ZZP lowering springs, which I think are a 0.75" drop in the front and 1.25" in the rear. They ride pretty stiff for how high they still sit. I don't think I'm going to go with coilovers or anything, but who knows.

Here are some pics of when I first picked it up.









I didn't hate the black wheels, but I prefer the OEM silver look. Found some and picked them up.





Most of the parts, waiting for Spring so I could install them.



Random pic showing it's true winter beater status.

 

Awesome! You will enjoy the cobalt a lot! I haven't sold mine after owning it for almost 10 years!

 

Spring finally came this past weekend, and I had an opportunity to install everything. It went fairly well, I thought I would have to fight rusty bolts, especially with the exhaust, but I didn't. I wouldn't be surprised if this car was modded before and placed back to stock. It looks like the exhaust had been off before, and there was a bolt missing for the upper charge pipe. It would make sense as to why it had 3 bar map sensors already too. I'm not worried, the car runs and drives great regardless, and I've put about 5,000 km since I bought it in November. I just need to arrange for a tune now.

I bought some universal honeycomb grille for the intercooler. The car didn't come with the factory one, and as much as I like the intercooler showing, part of me also likes it hidden.

 

Looks good man. Any other plans for it so far?

 

Nothing much now, next is a tune. I need to pick up some tires, and swap out the brake fluid. Hopefully all goes well and the car doesn't need anything this summer.

 

Nice find! What's the KMs on it?

 

Nice car! Yeah the Rams arent the best on gas milage . My 12 Hemi Ram is getting 18-20 hwy and 14-16 city. What is funny is my Hemi Charger Gets 21 city and 29-30 hwy.

 

I needed at least 2 tires for the Cobalt, and taking into consideration that this is a daily driver first, and some spirited driving and a few track days second, I bought 4 Indy 500's in 225/40. I find they have a ton of grip for a 300+ tw tire, and don't have any issues in Spril/Fall (cold or wet). They're also the most affordable "name brand" for the performance.



The calipers were looking pretty rough, so I ended up hitting them with some black caliper spray paint. Added some Brembo stickers, and then finished them with a caliper clear coat. They turned out well, and much better than before of course. Took a minute to clean and lube the pads and pins.





I have a tune booked for later this week, so hoping all goes well. I did order and receive a set of NGK 6509's, as recommended by my tuner. He said to gap them 0.030-0.032".

 

Looks good!

 

Caliper paint turned out really well. I'm glad my girlfriend can paint... because my stuff always ends up looking like a Kindergartener did it.

And the Indy 500's are a great compromise. I've had a handful of friends that do track days, but also commute a lot of miles, and they've all absolutely loved them. I did the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric3's (comparable in specs/stats) on a car a couple years ago because TireRack had a big discount on them at the time I was buying them (Summer 2018). Also really good tires. Don't be afraid to make them squeal - they're very noisy before they reach their limit.

 

light coats let it dry between coats, and then go heavier. Rushing it never turns out right.

 

Yep, that's usually my problem. I've honestly gotten better in recent years - but her stuff turns out looking better than mine, so I just have her do it. Patience isn't something I do well.

I bought her a paint gun for when I/we redo the GTI.

 

Painting is tedious. I hate having to redo it.

 

The car was street tuned a few weeks ago, by Matt @ "Taylor Tuning Solutions" through Player3 Performance and HP tuners. Car runs and drives smooth, and pulls well. Set it up to hold 15 psi in 1st, 23 in 2nd, and 26 in the rest. Matt estimates about 320whp 340ft-lbs, but when we're in less of a lockdown here, I'll get it on a dyno to see.

I didn't realize how laggy these stock turbos were. I figured small turbo would be instant spool, but between shifts the lag is brutal. I guess when i compare it to my Neon and Caliber, this turbo is smaller, and pushes more psi, so it seems to fall off faster and then takes longer to build back up. The car still rips and I'm happy with it.

Had a light knocking on and off in the front. Figured it might be a control arm or maybe the trans mount or something. Put it in the air and found out a common problem with these cars. The cage nut for the LCA/frame is blown out and just spins. It's not tight enough to keep it perfectly in there, so that's where the knocking comes from. Looked up the ways to deal with it, and I'm not sure what I'll do or when I'll do it. With tracks shut down, I'm not overly concerned right now. I also have stuff to do on my V, my Ram, and my gf's car, as well as the house.



Random pic, I genuinely love this budget combo.



Cleaned up and painted the rear calipers to match. My ebrake stopped holding a couple weeks ago, on inclinces. I tightened the cable up front, checked, cleaned, and oiled the lever on the caliper. Pads have tons of life, and the caliper isn't seized. I guess all that's left is a stretched cable? Another thing I don't care enough to fix right now, it'll be added to the list.



While I had it up, the muffler alignment has been driving me crazy. I took this damn thing off 5 times, and still couldn't get it any better. I adjusted the section over the axle in every way I could, nothing. Managed to level it to almost perfect, then I just said screw it and threw some zipties to hold it centre.





We've had pretty shitty weather all of April, so it's slowed down progress on all the things I need to do.

Picked up some oil filters, a pad clip since one is missing somehow, and an oil pressure switch/sensor. Mine blinked the other day, so I'm assuming the switch is bad or needs to be cleaned up. Praying at least haha. Bought a new OEM one since they're cheap.

 

Good progress Man. Car looks really good. I'm actually probably going to go with player3performance myself once I get my supercharger kit installed on my car. Overall how was your experience with player3? Also yeah you'll definitely need a new cage nut. I went through the same issue last year when I replaced my steering rack. You can get new cage nuts from Rockauto by the way since I see your from Ontario.

 

Nice update, I'm a little surprised at the comment about turbo lag between shifts. How quickly are you rebuilding full boost post shift?

 

I was thinking the same thing. I've gotten my stock turbo to spool ridiculously fast with HP Tuners, and I had to slow it back down so that it wasn't so instantaneous

 

Yeah, to echo the others, sounds like you might need some work on that tune... you shouldn't have any real lag after a shift.

A few ways to go about it.

1. You can stick a screwdriver in there in between the cage and the nut and try torqueing that way.
2. You can just knock the cage off (might need an air hammer) and then stick a wrench in there on it. This is what I did. A little bit of a PITA on the driver's side.
3. Do number 2 to remove the stock crap, and then use a nyloc nut in it's place. Still a PITA on the driver's side.
4. Do number 2 and replace with a new caged nut (can order from CED). I did this on my latest rebuild. Not sure that it's all that effective.

It's a terrible design.

 

In response to the lag, I think it would just be my personal assumption, based on what other people have said prior to me buying this car. It's been a few years, but I feel like my Caliber SRT4 spooled up quicker. Just like a butt dyno, it means nothing. The car's been running strong, and pulling on a few local cars with ease. I'm not worried about having anything looked at. Now that I've had it tuned for 6 weeks, I'm used to how it feels, and don't notice lag like the first few pulls.

The cage nut isn't a huge issue now, just on the list for the future. No rush since tracks are currently closed, and it drives fine as it sits now. I don't think whatever pads are on this car will make it through a track night anyways, they suck. I assume they're some cheap oem replacement pads. Lots of life left to them, they're not old, but just don't have any bite. I'll most likely order some better ones eventually. Switching back and forth from my V, weighing 900-1000 lbs more, is wild. The V stops immediately, but I leave the track pads in it, since it doesn't see any daily driving.

 

If you can pick up some OE pads, they are pretty good; Ferodo somethings. I used to know the model. I know most of my track friends always stuck with OE pads on the LNF for that reason.

I've always preferred Hawk pads for their hard initial bite.

 

26 psi on the K04? Damn

 

Near the end of May, I clayed, polished, and waxed the Cobalt. Looking back, I really should have cut the hood, it's still pretty bad (in my opinion), but I may do it another time.









Once again, I'll forever love this combo.



Finally got out to the track, and I absolutely love this car. The first session, I was pretty upset and hated it. But by the 3rd time out (I do 5 laps per session), I figured out how the car wants to be driven. Fighting the torque steer was pretty annoying, but I figured out the sweet spots to come out of corners strong, but still fast.

The brakes were the biggest set back, as I didn't address them prior to going out. I couldn't brake too late, and after 4 laps, they needed a break. The stock struts with the ZZP springs actually felt really good, and I have no desire right now to change them. I did order some front pads the next day, and I already have high temp fluid waiting to go it. I was hesitant at first, as I listed the car for sale and I don't want to put anymore money into it if it's going to sell.





I picked up an engine for my V1, and have a plan for it and that car. It requires a budget I don't have, and selling the Cobalt would fund it. I have the car listed, for about 3 weeks now, no real bites. If it sells, I'll miss it for sure, but if it doesn't sell for what I want, then I'm going to keep enjoying it.

 

Car looks good! You might look into the adams or chemical guys line of stuff for paint correction. I just did this to my ram as it was bad. I then used adams ceramic coating and man the shine is awesome!

 

I have a few CG products, but I hate their compounds and polishes. I still use their P40 quick detailer, it's definitely my favourite, and I like their VRP for interior dressing. I also liked their Jetseal and Pete's 53 wax combo, but now that they've doubled the price on it, I probably won't buy it again.

I really like the Sonax line up of compounds and polishes. I have a bottle of their "Cutmax" for heavier spots, paired with a heavy cutting pad, it's great. The EX 04-06 with a green pad is a really nice 1 stage minor correction and polish. Aside from the hood, the Cobalt didn't need more than this.

 

CG has so much stuff out there it is really hard to navigate. I still use their speed detailer, their leather line, and I like their hyper coat for the interior. VRP is awesome as well! I use it on my faded black trim on my Ram. For under the hood or wheel wells I like bare bones. As far as waxes go, I really only like there polishes the V line and banana wax for quick things. I do like butter wax too. I have moved over to Adams as I really like their ceramic line. I use the graphene detailer, graphene tire shine, and I did their ceramic coating on all three of our vehicles. I have heard good things about Sonax, it was just one of those I didn't want to spend 50 bucks to be disappointed.