well, up until this point, I have always hated cobalts and thought they were the ugliest cars on the road. However lately, I've given their looks a chance and decided I do like them.

So, my current car is a 2004 Mazda 3 hatchback with plenty of your average mods, intake, exhaust, rear sway, lowering springs etc...

stock, the car handled pretty good, but ever since I put on a larger RSB and got the car dropped on Mazdaspeed Accessory springs, the car hugs the road like a dream.

Only prob, car is just so freaking slow. LOL. I mean its faster than your regular civic or just about any other car in its class, but still...

I'm currently applying to grad school and if I get in, I might be able to get a new car (new to me). I'm already a Mazda fanboy so the Mazdaspeed3 is an obvious contestant. I also thought about a SRT4 Neon. I've always loved them. But just now recently, I started considering the cobalt ss turbocharged.

I've read about them in caranddriver and motortrend and they speak very highly of the cars performance and capability. No so much about the looks or interior though.



Anyway, I'd love to get some opinions from you guys on the car. How does it handle? How fast is it? Hows the fit and finish? Gas mileage? Reliabilty? Mod friendly? etc etc etc



thanks ahead

 

- Probably the best handling FWD car on the market
- C&D ran 13.9 @ 102, 5.5 to 60
- Fit and finish and reliabilty can be labeled as... the low point. Enough said. But this isn't a car you buy for its world class interior.
- I think it's rated at 22/30... you can get even better than that probably
- Car is responding well to mods, limited to 260 tq while stock though because of a learndown feature

What I know as a non-turbo owner. The guys will tell you more about that power limitation and the tune required to remove it.

 

learndown feature while stock? what you mean?


I guess your talking about needing tuning for mods to be worth while correct?

 

I believe bolt-ons can be added, but the engine's computer limits torque to 260 by default, so their power will not be realized until said feature is removed. At this point I'll wait for someone who actually owns the car to chime in.

 

ahhh gotcha.


so what do you have? SS/NA? what do you think about ur car? hows handling, acceleration?

 

Yeah SS 2.4. Good starter car, pretty good braking (same as supercharged car). This motor (while stock) falls on its face down low but wakes up fairly nicely with the VVT up higher, almost feels quicker than the 150 whp it is. Suspension mods are needed to have anything that handles respectably... and better seats. The turbocharged car's seats hold ya pretty nicely though I've sat in them.

 

is the SS/TC a 5spd or 6spd? you think it would be a hard car to learn manual on?

I mean, I know how to drive one, just haven't had an opportunity to do it.