What are the top mods I should do to my stock Cobalt?
 

Hey guys, I'm a new-ish member on here, and I just acquired quite a bit of cash that I am looking to put into my Cobalt SS/NA. Backstory of the car, she bought it in 2006 at a dealership in Indiana, and babied the car all her life. It only has 52k miles, and everything is stock.. I got the car a little over a year ago after she passed away, and its a great car. Im looking to do some stuff to it, where should I start? By the way, I'm 17 years old so Im still learning how to do stuff, this is going to be my car that will lead me into my career as a Mechanical engineer, and my first ever project car.

This is what I was thinking about doing in order
1 Raceland Coilovers
2 Eaton Supercharger (Maybe a K04 TC??)
3 Meghan Racing Full Catback
4 Brembos?? Car LE5 doesnt come with them.

Thanks!

I'd personally do the following:

At 17 I'd say save your money. But I'm old and went down the same path as you.

But here's option 2.

1. Supercharger setup from an 05-07 SS including an intake. Easier/cheaper to purchase and tune than Turbo setup.
2. Not Megan Catback, Maybe ZZP or something with resonator.
3. Power Rear Sway Bar
4. Power YYZ Springs
5. Powell Spherical Control Arm Bushings and possibly upgraded Control Arms.
6. I wouldn't do the Brembo Kit. You need hub spacers and wheel spacers. Just find better rotors and pads. Only do the kit if you look to track or autoX.

Even for most autoX the Brembo kit isn't going to improve your times much. Brakes don't get that hot for 1 minute intervals at a time. I'm still running drums in the back and they don't even fade lol.

umrdyldo is spot on though for a very well setup and balanced car. Might look into swapping in the struts from a TC Cobalt to compliment the YYZ springs though with only 52k miles the struts on the car already are probably fine.

Any sense on spending a grand or so on new wheels? The LE5 wheels look horrific to me, and I want to go with a car that resembles Scythe_Snake's, (https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/pict...d-list-263582/) appearance wise. I really love the way the exterior of his car looks, and I already have the SS/TC spoiler and the headlights he has as well... Should I go down the same path and get OZRacing wheels??

@jdbaugh1 @umrdyldo

Wheels are up to you. There are a few reasons to upgrade though.

1. Appearance obviously
2. Bigger wheels to fit bigger brakes
3. Finding lighter wheels for better acceleration.
4. Wider wheels for wider tires

You can find LNF wheels for $4-600 if you want to get a cheaper set. Tires get quite expensive on the 18s though. I wouldn't go above 18s. You will lose performance and the cost gets out of hand quickly.

How about these? https://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Whee...n-Supercharged


Paired with Pirelli P Zeros?? I think those would be nice, and possibly would be beneficial? They're 18s..

As far as tire selection what all conditions do you drive in? Do you prioritize longevity, grip, or want a balance in between?

I live in Kansas City, Missouri.. and I will for at least 4 more years... Im going to school for mechanical engineering, so Im staying local to cut down on cost of room and board. We have some snow, some ice, but not too bad. I think this year the most ice we got was 1 inch, and my car was pretty good in that with the Cooper tires it has, and the most snow we got was maybe 1.5-2 inches.. so not much at all. Im looking for tires to be grippy, because even with a 2.4L NA I already have some wheelspin with 90% tread left on my tires. Im also thinking about making a switch to RWD car, and selling off my cobalt and equinox... I was thinking maybe dropping 5k + the money I get from my 2 cars into a Lexus IS300, Mercedes C300, or a BMW 325i, 328i, or 335i. Opinions on that idea as well?

Financially, at 17, i would not go with a high end Lexus or Mercedes unless you have a huge amount of savings. Proper Maintenace on those cars costs way more than owning a Cobalt and Equinox.

I went through engineering school. Came out with about $40k in debt. I would keep the Cobalt until school is over then get a good job followed by the car you want.

You could also take the $5k and invest it and try to double it before school is out. If you want to be happy, one of the best things to do is to remain financially stable. It makes life a hell of a lot easier.

QFE

When something breaks on a German car you'll need a loan to get it fixed. Don't do that in college.

If you're doing ME school right, you won't have any time to care how fast or cool your car is. Just get through it with the least amount of debt possible. I worked and went to school (also had a tuition "scholarship" via my stepdad) and didn't have any loans after. My Integra got me around, mostly because I didn't swap any "performance" parts onto it and tried to rice it out. Rewarded myself by buying the Cobalt SS after I got a real job.

Also, college kids with their beater cars aren't going to care when they fling their door open into yours. Your car will probably be broken into on campus, and you'll pay $500/semester for that privilege.

Hook me up with your Broker....

:thumb:

If he had that money in the stock market last year he would have made over 20%.

Who saves money at 17? Every check of mine went into my 66 GTO

my 401k is loving life these days.

my company's stock doubled last year. still waiting for reality to set in.

Was thinking about buying this as a car to work on, so I can stay busy and see if I actually want to do mechanical engineering. I would MUCH rather spend 5k on a car to see if I like Mech Engineering, rather than 40k in tuition to switch my major. What do you think about this 335i? I'd still have the Cobalt (with 50k miles) + I have a car I can put work into and learn about mechanics. I'd say learning on a german car would put me in a good position to know about every other car since they're so damn compact???
https://kansascity.craigslist.org/ct...522556228.html

fiddling with your car is nothing like mechanical engineering. you will like mechanical engineering if you like physics and math. if you want to work on cars for a living, go to a trade school. i don't mean to sound egotistical, just want you to know what you're getting into. There are some ME's that go work for car companies, but honestly it's hard to do and pretty rare. There was one person in my undergrad class that went to work for Honda. That may be different if you go to school in Michigan.

I took one class during college that helps with my car (ICE engines). It helps know the why of everything, but otherwise there is absolutely no correlation. In fact, of all the 100 or so engineers I work with, I can count on my hands those that are "car guys." Most take their cars to the shop.

OTOH, if you like physics and math, and are good at them, by all means go for it! If you're lucky you can do Baja or Formula SAE for your senior project.

RE: the beemer. I didn't look at the car, but my previous response about needing a loan to fix it absolutely applies. Esp for a 335. They have ridiculously expensive parts, and German manufacturers require more special tools than any other country's manufacturers. If it's like my VW, you'd need an expensive computer cable just to work on the brakes.

Now I opened the ad. Run away from the car. It has "money pit" written all over it, and a rebuilt title means you'll never get your money back when you sell it. The last thing you want going to college is a money pit.

Yeah I know they have little to no correlation, but I like math and I physics seems interesting (I haven't taken a physics class in High school and I graduate in 3 months, so I'll figure that out soon).. But mechanics (in general) seem interesting to me. My grandfather was a mechanical engineer for general motors, but passed away about a year ago.. I was reading through his stuff downstairs and the stuff he did sounds fun and interesting. I think it would be nice to follow in his footsteps.

I mean I'd still have my Cobalt, which only has 50k miles.. I thought this would be a fun car to work on and learn about engine mechanics in depth with a cheaper/newer BMW. I know it has a rebuilt title, and I wasn't really looking to sell it. If I got him down to around the $4250-$4500 mark, I was thinking that would leave me some leeway for parts, and since I have a job and work 30-35 hours a week, I could be able to save money for parts and still be able to afford the costs of my balt, insurance, and other spending. In Missouri, they honor this thing called A+ which guarantees me any 2 years of community college for FREE. No strings attached, as long as I do 50 hours of community service. Im going to take that up, and I am going to go to Missouri University (Mizzou) to be in their mech engineering program, which is one of the top in the nation. Any recommendations on cheap cars I might be able to flip and learn about? Or should I just continue to watch Engineering Explained on YouTube?

If you want a car purely to tinker with, get an older Honda. Parts aren't badly expensive, there's a PLETHORA of aftermarket stuff available, and you don't need hardly any special tools. Actually, pretty much anything Japanese or domestic. The older, the better. I'm dismantling a 1991 Miata with a socket set and screwdrivers. An older F-body would also be a great car for that. You could put a few grand into an LT1 camaro and blow the doors off that 335.

I second the buy a honda.

There's where it gets rough for me. Im not a fan of hardly any 90s cars, and I especially HATE the 4th gen camaros. The only car I'd consider would be 90s BMW (E36), and my mom sold her 1994 BMW 318i with 130k miles for 2.5k which upset me. I don't know what it is, but I'm not a huge fan of these 80s and 90s cars, which wouldnt give me motivation to finish the project. Maybe I should try getting something off of Zilvia.net?


Yeah im a picky ass dude.. lol

Basically you want diamonds on an amethyst budget.