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2008 Chevrolet Cobalt SS Review

2008 CHEVY COBALT SS
One Notch Short of Full Kill
By StevePurdy
TheAutoChannel.com
Detroit Bureau

I just finished spending nearly two solid hours doing hot laps on theroad course at Buttonwillow Raceway Park near Bakersfield, California andthe adrenalin is still coursing through my veins. Good thing, too. I thinkthe adrenalin is mitigating the motion sickness I was beginning to feelafter the last dozen laps without a stop. Who ever said racing is not aphysically demanding pursuit hasn’t done any, I’m sure.

Before hot lapping at Buttonwillow we spent the morning running upGranite Road into the mountains just east of Bakersfield – a nicetwisty country lane through the oil fields, then the pasture lands andfinally into a scrappy forest where a mangy, three-legged coyote watchedpatiently as we passed hoping for some road kill – a free meal, thatis. We’ve spent a good long day in the fun little Cobalt SS.

The enthusiastic team at Chevy put together a drive program to introduceus to the new SS version of the common Cobalt. This is the secondgeneration of Cobalt SS and very different from the first superchargedversion introduced in ’05 - different meaning much improved. Thesmart folks at GM, starting with product boss, Bob Lutz, Chevy generalmanager Ed Peper, and continuing through Performance Division leader, JohnHeinricy and the inspired development team, have decided that there will beno more SS badges affixed to any Chevy without substantially upgraded thegoing, stopping and turning capabilities. We saw that philosophy a couplemonths ago with the introduction of an SS version of the already fun littleHHR. You probably read about it here. Heinricy, by the way, is anaccomplished race driver and recently won a national championship in theSCCA (Sports Car Club of America) C-Showroom Stock class in a Cobalt SS inaddition to driving it to a class record (front-drive compact class) at theNürburgring.

Well, as you might surmise, the HHR SS formula has relevance here, too.HHR and Cobalt, after all, share the same vehicle architecture so itwasn’t much of a stretch to take that formula and just move it over,sort it out and continue the fun. In fact, I’m assured by thedevelopment team leader, that if we put both cars on a hoist and examinethem from below we would see little difference. Of course there are somedifferences in such things as spring rates, damper settings and a few otherdetails but you probably wouldn’t be able to identify them justlooking.

Like the HHR SS, this Cobalt SS’s handling was sorted out at themost challenging racing circuit in the world, the Nürburgring, where everymanufacturer serious about performance takes their fresh products fortesting. The philosophical goal is stated clearly by one of the developmentengineers, Matt Purdy, who grins when he reveals that they wanted a car“just one notch short of full-kill.” That is, take the fastest,most audacious automobile in the class, perhaps a Mitsubishi Evo, and make the SSjust one increment more civilized for daily use. Judging from theirNürburgring time they may have succeeded.

Let’s do a walk-around first. It looks like the common Cobalt -not one of my favorite designs, I’ll admit. But the SS is dressed upwith unique front and rear fascias, slightly lowered ride height andincreased track, special rocker molding, standard rear wing (a larger onecan be had for a few extra bucks), 18-inch twin five-spoke forged aluminumwheels, SS badging and some great, vivid colors – yellow and red arethe best, in my humble, purely subjective, opinion. Inside we immediatelynotice the multi-material sport seats with plenty of bolster and SS emblemsembroidered into the seat backs. With a tip of the hat to its stable mateSS uses the identical steering wheel as Corvette. Controls and ergonomicsare simple, conventional and clean with a special red-accented gaugecluster. I love the little boost gauge integrated into the inside of theA-pillar.

Power for Cobalt SS comes from the same source as the HHR SS, that is, awonderful little turbocharged, intercooled, direct injected, dual cam2.0-liter Ecotec 4-cylinder making 260 horsepower and 260 pound-feet oftorque. Unlike the HHR SS which has an automatic transmission option, theCobalt SS comes only in a 5-speed stick with a shorter throw, stiffershifter than the regular Cobalt.

This little engine sings as it gets past 4,500 rpm onthe way to a 6,250 red line as the rev limiter kicks in gently. We accessedit plenty today. Zero-to-60 times are published at 5.7 seconds and topspeed is a tad better than the 160-mph indicated on the speedometer. Youget all this along with 30 mpg on the highway and a 100,000-mile powertrainwarranty, thanks to steel crankshaft, forged connecting rods and othertough stuff designed into the powertrain.

Beneath the skin SS shares next to nothing with the standard Cobalt. TheFE5 suspension, developed for the HHR SS, though, makes its secondappearance here but with different spring rates, damper tuning and a fewother details. Performance-oriented Brembo fixed-caliper front brakes arestandard. On the HHR SS Brembos are an option. Rear brakes are vented discswith the usual floating caliper design. At least three functions aredesigned into the suspension and driveline to mitigate the dreadedtorque-steer usually associated with mega-horsepower front-drive cars. Withthe nice, sticky standard Continental Y-rated P225/40ZR18 high-performancesummer tires Cobalt SS tested out on the skid pad at 0.9 g – nearlyas good as the Corvette.

A couple of systems have been incorporated into the SS versions of bothCobalt and HHR to allow the less-than-professional driver perform like apro – No-Lift Shift and Launch Control.

No-Lift Shift allows us to power shift through the gears foot to thefloor without loosing turbo boost pressure. Who wants to have even a littleturbo lag taking precious milliseconds off our quarter-mile times? Thesensors and algorithms insist that shifts be executed quickly though.

Launch Control lets us get off the line from a standing start withmaximum efficiency. First we engage the system with a button on the dash,and then put the accelerator to the floor. The engine will hold at 5,100rpm. Let out the clutch decisively (don’t dump it) and you’llget just enough wheel spin to gain maximum traction on the launch.

While a few experienced performance drivers might be able to betterthese engineered systems it would be very few. With these systems engagedthe average driver, or even the newbie, can perform with the best.

Cobalt SS shows a base price of less than 23-grand andcomes with just about everything you’ll need. It will be at dealersshortly (second quarter of ’08). The only options are a sunroof, thelarger rear wing and limited slip differential. Looks like it will be lessthan 25-grand with everything possible. Soon you’ll be able to choosesome extra dress-up items for the inside like a faux-carbon fiber trimstrip across the dash or some colored trim as well as other performance anddress-up accessories. All this SS stuff will be available in the Cobalt4-door sedan in a few more months as well, probably by July of ’08.After all, in terms of marketing Cobalt SS is focused at youngsters wholove to personalize their rides and some might want to take a few pals (ormaybe a wife and kid) along.

So, back to the mountain driving and hot-lapping. I must say I’mimpressed.

The route into the mountain allowed for brisk speeds and time to assessdriving dynamics in this modestly challenging environment. The electric,power-assisted quicker-ratio steering felt predictable withbetter-than-most on-center feel as we wagged and weaved through sweeping,often blind, turns climbing into the foothills. Acceleration is thrillingcoming out of each turn even with modest turbo-lag. In spite of theperformance suspension tuning the ride is not harsh or jumpy. A softlyraucous sound could be heard coming from the rear. I’ll bet it reallysounded good from the outside. Maybe that’s what scared the mangycoyote. [Cobalt At Speed]

On the track at Buttonwillow the quickness and precision of the steeringwas even more important. The sticky tires gripped wonderfully as I pushedharder and harder with each lap. No matter how hard I pushed the SS neverbecame squirrelly or less than poised. Now remember, I’m not a racedriver. But I’ve spent considerable time on different trackspretending to be one. So, you can imagine how I loved the smell of hotrubber when I came in for a break. By the way, don’t expect long tirelife if you’re having this much fun with the car. But be sure to optfor the limited slip differential if you’re going to spend time onthe race track. If you live where the snow sometimes flies get the limitedslip differential as well and budget in a set of winter tires. You’llneed them.

The tuner-car crowd has a distinct affinity for the Japanese-builtproducts. Now let’s see what they think of this contender fromLordstown, Ohio.

© Steve Purdy, Shunpiker Productions, All Rights Reserved