Hey everyone I am from the Toledo OH area and bought a 2009 Black Cobalt SS. The first thing the dealer told me was to join this forum to find out more info about what people do to there cars and get any questions answered. I just got the car on Friday and never knew how to drive a stick but have a crotch rocket and figured the whole manual concept out pretty easily... I think... I learned on my own with the help of some YouTube videos but I need more help. Ill create a new forum for the questions I have including, Shifting Points, ways to not blow out anything important, and what mods I can do that will make my SS faster. Thanks and I hope this Forum is the real deal and will help me become a better driver.

 

Welcome aboard! U will b able to find answers to most of ur questions if u just look. A lot of good info here. Best thing with mods is decide a power goal and then build around that

 

welcome to the show!! we demand pics!!

 

Welcome to the site.

 

What section would I look for the shifting gears in?

 

 

When you shift is a personal preference. Shift around 2,500-3,000 RPM when driving normally. When getting on it I hear you shift at 5,800 RPM but I will let someone else chime in with that response. To make it faster you can do the basic bolt-ons and a tune. You could get the GM stage 1 tune if you want to keep warranty.

 

That's about when I shift but from 1st to 2nd I feel that 2500 to 3000 is a little high and i feel i will blow something out? Maybe I just feel weird about it because i am new to it. Also sometimes when i shift from 1st to 2nd the car jerks lot and feels like the whole front end is going to fall out... Is that because I am not giving enough acceleration? I heard there is a point with the clutch that once you start going and the car is slowly going let the clutch out. But every time I do that I stall the car. Y does that happen?

 

What basic bolt ons would I need to get? I do not know that much about cars so bare with me... Or does the stage 1 tune come with all that?

 

I agree on the shifting at 2500-3000 range. much smoother than shifting at a lower rpm.
learn to drive the car stock imo. then look into bolt ons. you might be surprised at how it runs already.

Dave

 

Thanks Dave I will do that and I will learn to shift at higher RPMS instead of being a girl and shifting low.

 

You'll get the hang of driving stick. I learned on mine and caught on right away.

 

Riding the clutch is alright to an extent. You have to ride the clutch to make a smooth shift. Don't worry if you burn out the clutch because you are learning. Clutches can be replaced. Basic bolt-ons are:

- Intake
- Downpipe
- Exhaust, not really needed on the TC but that's a personal preference.
- Then a custom HP tune or a Trifecta tune.

With an intake and a downpipe you should easily see 300 whp and like 350-360 wtrq with a tune.

 

I learned to drive mine by picking it up in Tennessee and driving back Cali lol

Welcome op. the car takes well from performance mods. Once you having driving down pat, intake tune and dp or even gms1 should be good until you decide u need more

 

Downpipe and tune it! now!

 

^ lol at your sig man.

 

Hell ya man. My old sig got removed so this is definitely a good way to show who I got tuned by.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S4 using CobaltSS

 

Welcome!

 

From a dead stop am I suppose to rev it up to 2500-3000 or only when changing from higher gears then 1?

 

You want to upshift around those RPMS.

 

Welcome to the site man!

 

Okay so I am doing it right then?

 

^Most likely. Chances are that you are overthinking how to drive a manual car. Just do what feels right to you. As long as it doesn't sound like your really revving the engine out when "Sunday driving" you are doing great then. Practice makes perfect.

Also, every car has a different clutch feel. Even if it is another Cobalt. I've worked at dealerships and I taught myself how to drive a manual. I didn't have to wear out my own clutch. Lol

 

Also note you drive a direct injection engine now, so slightly higher rpms are needed to help prevent coking of the intake valves. So keep her in 4th till you hit 65mph, driving in gear between 2500-3000rpm will not be bad for your engine, trying to accelerate in 5th from 55 is hard on it