Bye Bye Aztek, it's been fun......my new ride is.....

[daves87rs]

Yep, got a car seat in the back of mine.....

[regfootball]

it's a lot easier pulling the kid in and out in the cobalt because the rear door gets wider at the higher part of the door. i used to curse hellfire on my mitsubishi diamante because the door (window) got much smaller towards the top and it restricted access. PLus it was frameless glass which was an ear slicer. getting the kid in and out of the cobalt so far is alright aside from a typically low seat. now i remember all the reasons why we got the higher riding suv before....there may be a tucson in our future.....

didn't realize the clutch was quite THIS stiff . a small car like this does not need a man clutch.....

Edited May 5, 2010 by regfootball

[ocnblu]

lolwut... after driving numerous pickup trucks with manuels, i found the Cobalt clutch to be like pie.

[regfootball]

it's just stiffer than some other compacts. it's not no truck clutch that's fer sure.

[A Horse With No Name]

Actually prefer the increased clutch feel in a Cobalt.

[Cory Wolfe]

I haven't driven a manual equipped Cobalt, but stiffer = better. That statement can be used for many, many things and is always true.

Good luck with the new Cobalt, Reg. Be glad you didn't get the slushbox.

[Z-06]

Stiff clutch is essentially not a bad thing. I have never driven the lesser Cobalts other than the 2.0 SS (both Turbo and Super) and I thought the clutch effort although heavier than the TSX was on par with my 2002 Z-06 and the 330i. I personally prefer stiffer clutch lets as it lets you calibrate with better precision, which a clutch with lighter effort cannot.

[regfootball]

Cobalt is quiet and cruises nicely at 65-75 mph. its about 2500-2700 rpm in 5th. A 6th gear would be ok I can see how the Cruze will benefit from that. But it's not needed in the Cobalt really.

Very quiet at road speeds for a compact. Any 'booming' noise in the engine stops early on. Cobalt would be a good road car. The Focus is fairly quiet too, I recall from having a couple of 08 Focus as repair loaners back a bit ago. But the Cobalt's engine is more gutsy pretty much through the whole range.

I'd pick the Cobalt's interior too, with a couple reservations. The Focus has more storage and some better cupholders. The radio display on the focus is more convenient too. But I love the CObalts gauges, and the leather wrap steering wheel is DE-LISH. The Focus' steering wheel is yuck. The cobalt's is the perfect size. Overall, the Cobalt has ergonomic issues, stuff doesn't always quite fall to hand, or stuff like the radio and climate control are low. I wish I could get the seat higher and the armrest up a bit too. The cupholders and storage are a disaster but for an econocar you can make do. The Cruze had better be vastly improved in the little niceties.

So far I haven't found anything to nit pick on the seats. They seem ok firm, and nice American wide. They are shaped generically. I get wind noise at the windshield, I think you notice it more because other parts of the car are quiet. I suppose if it had thicker glass and stuff less of that wind noise would be apparent.

On asphalt, the Hankook Optimo tires are pretty silent. Not very loud on concrete either.

The biggest interior flaw is just the cheap plastic. THe actual door panels the design is pretty nice. Its 00 Passat era door panels, which just need good materials.

Had trunk issues yesterday. The seat release handles in the trunk kept me from snaking the stroller into the trunk. The trunk consumes the whole stroller but i can't get it in there because of the small and inconvenient trunk opening. A trip to Sears and 40 bucks bought me a closeout stroller that's not so bulky and folds down a bit easier so that should slide in there ok.

The bluetooth works well. It's not sophisticated, but answering calls is a breeze. I have to see if it will store my phone book so i don't have to tell it what number to dial.

Debating if i should upgrade the speakers. Crutchfield is closing out some Eclipse speakers for 50/pr that would fit. Front panel comes off ok from what i can tell but the rear speakers are a bit hairy to get at. Not sure if I want to deal with that.

[daves87rs]

Upgrade the speakers. They don't seem to last to last long.....granted in my case, I can probably blame the previous owner....

[regfootball]

Stiff clutch is essentially not a bad thing. I have never driven the lesser Cobalts other than the 2.0 SS (both Turbo and Super) and I thought the clutch effort although heavier than the TSX was on par with my 2002 Z-06 and the 330i. I personally prefer stiffer clutch lets as it lets you calibrate with better precision, which a clutch with lighter effort cannot.

yeah but i shredded my left knee in high school and never got it properly fixed.......damn thing hurts in traffic.......

i was reveling in how quiet the cobalt is again today. 70 mph on asphalt.....super quiet for a small car. too bad the speakers are so so......

the leather wrap steering wheel is perfect........except for that ugly airbag cover.......

[pow]

Congrats on the new ride. It seems like you do a lot of highway miles, and the five-speed Cobalt was designed for that. How's the MPG so far?

[regfootball]

I'll prob do the first fill soon. this weekend was extended in town and rural driving will all four of us on board = weight. that really exposes the liability of a small underpowered car.

the computer was saying 29.5 avg. keep in mind that is mostly city, and about half that with 400-500 pounds of stuff in the car.

the room in the car is not an issue when it's just me. Trying to fit four of us and gear in the car really exposes how fairly useless and uncomfortable small cars are for family transport. As a commuter, this car would be great.

i test drove an automatic HHR this weekend. I am pretty glad now I did not get an HHR, especially an automatic. Driving a Cobalt for awhile will make me aspire to work harder to escape automotive purgatory.

[A Horse With No Name]

When you escape it...say this after me...sports car/muscle car... Camaro...Mustang...Miata....370Z...WRX...GTO...Firebird...Corvette...

[CanadianBacon94]

When you escape it...say this after me...sports car/muscle car... Camaro...Mustang...Miata....370Z...WRX...GTO...Firebird...Corvette...

Solstice?

[regfootball]

When you escape it...say this after me...sports car/muscle car... Camaro...Mustang...Miata....370Z...WRX...GTO...Firebird...Corvette...

SHO would make the most sense for me. or an EcoBoost Flex.

Regal and LaCrosse too.

Will never be able to afford it. oh well.

Next car will still have to be something affordable like a basic Sonata or Tucson, or a new Elantra. Or a three year old Taurus. Maybe a Cruze or a new Focus.

first fill was 27.3 mpg, but i stuffed the tank with about 3/4 of a gallon extra gas, so i think that skewed it a bit. The number should even out to the better after the next fill. I think 30 mpg primary city driving is possible once it breaks in, and i am not hauling 500 pounds all the time. Taking a trip with it next weekend. I am expecting 35 mpg although i notice the mpg drops off at about 65 mph. Only deterrent on the trip will be the aforementioned 500 pounds of stuff.

Edited May 10, 2010 by regfootball

[daves87rs]

yeah but i shredded my left knee in high school and never got it properly fixed.......damn thing hurts in traffic.......

i was reveling in how quiet the cobalt is again today. 70 mph on asphalt.....super quiet for a small car. too bad the speakers are so so......

the leather wrap steering wheel is perfect........except for that ugly airbag cover.......

Yep....

[Cory Wolfe]

First fill was 27.3 mpg, but i stuffed the tank with about 3/4 of a gallon extra gas, so i think that skewed it a bit. The number should even out to the better after the next fill. I think 30 mpg primary city driving is possible once it breaks in, and i am not hauling 500 pounds all the time. Taking a trip with it next weekend. I am expecting 35 mpg although i notice the mpg drops off at about 65 mph. Only deterrent on the trip will be the aforementioned 500 pounds of stuff.

I've found that 50-60 is the sweet spot for gas mileage in these cars. Atleast with the auto.

[daves87rs]

Mine is sitting at 25mpg, but it is all city at the moment. On a recent trip it hit 31....

[regfootball]

what is involved to debadge the cobalt and turn it into a pontiac? steering wheel cover, front clip obviously. I wouldnt mess with the gauges. I really love the G5 taillights.

[vonVeezelsnider]

what is involved to debadge the cobalt and turn it into a pontiac? steering wheel cover, front clip obviously. I wouldnt mess with the gauges. I really love the G5 taillights.

Don't forget the Satin-Nickel interior trim (different from the Cobalt you have). Also you'll notice the G5 had a different cloth pattern insert than the Cobalt.

G5 coupe taillights won't fit a Cobalt/G5 sedan... and it isn't legal to drive with them anyway since they don't have integrated backup lights.

if you want an idear of what it would look like (from a former Canuck only G5 Sedan owner), I'll re post a couple pics here of my old G5 (which I incidentally like better than the Cobalt that replaced it).

Basically

1) Front Bumper

2) Center Caps for Alloys

3) Center Steering Wheel logo which can be pried off a junkyard car, just clips in IIRC

4) Rear Pontiac Badging

5) Satin Nickel interior trim pieces

6) Obviously a Pontiac key

[daves87rs]

It's too bad that they never brought the sedan here....

[regfootball]

are the cobalt sedan taillights the same as the G5's? As for the front clip, is it just a grille insert or the whole bumper?

The satin nickel trim and seat cloth aren't really a big deal. Getting the arrowhead on the steering wheel might be fun. Obviously the trunk badging needs to be different.

Primarily I'd be interested in getting rid of the dorky front grille of the cobalt for some twin kidneys.

[regfootball]

more random observations.

still loving the steering wheel. thumbs fit nicely on the 9 and 3 spokes. the leather feels great. actually now wishing the wheel was a bit larger but really its no big deal and perfect size for a small car.

ergonomics and confort convenience are the cars achilles. window switches and mirror switches are in the right spot and I love the big readable gauges (Focus can you hear me). Stalks are good too. But even with the seat up all the way, I can't get in a sweet spot on this car. Maybe that is the issue, but I have the seat up to max high and its still lower than i want. Set the way i like, the dash is too low, the armrest is too low. Most certainly the radio is in a tolerable spot but the climate control and cupholders are the backbreakers. Climate controls are too low and can be blocked by travel mugs and bottles in the cupholders. Fan switch is too small. Cupholders won't securely hold much more than a 12 oz. can reliably. No door cupholders. Parking brake is obscured by the armrest.

me understanding the cobalt was inexpensive and is an older design......so its all stuff i can live with. Knowing the Cruze fixes a lot of this helps.

Love the steering wheel cruise and audio controls. Cruise control in particular so much easier than the Ford units with the rocker switches.

Car is definitely a good cruiser, but does indeed seem happier when the mph is closer to 60 than 70. Instant mpg confirms better at the lower speed too. Engine seems to be breaking in and getting more spunky. The ecotec is happy at any rpm range and just goes about its business. It's not thrashy. Likes rpm. Unfortunate the Cobalt never got a 6 speed auto or 6 speed manual. I would guess a refined 6 speed auto kicking down in traffic or in freeway passing when gas is applied would really make great use of the very flexible engine. Love driving a stick but admit the automatics kick down much faster when doing high speed freeway passing.

The car 69'ed me .....'instant average' of 69 mpg a couple times. lotsa 99's too.

Car feels much more responsive with just me in the car vs. 4 of us. No surprise, just that it is entirely noticeable and appreciated. Steering even gets some occasional life and feel / feedback once in a while.

Me wonders how some 17's or 18's with some wider tires would feel on this car. The 16's still feel a bit squishy. I know, they are just Hankooks.

Haven't fully tested the brakes yet. Hate seeing drums back there. I know, they are cheap.

Wife likes the car. She's foiled my plan; part of the plan was to buy a car she wouldn't like to drive so i could drive it more. Bugs me that she's taken it to work all week. I guess its payback for her not driving it at all the first week.

200 miles and gas gauge is right at half. I overstuffed the tank last fill so its probably through a bit more than half a tank. Wife loves how it sips gas. Too bad part of that is offset by a little higher insurance costs.

Glad I didn't get the HHR even though it would have been more useful. We have crossover fatigue. I like being in a 'car' and not another vehicle that feels taller than it does wide. A little remorse since it seems HHR rebates are more this month but still the Cobalt feels like a good purchase.

Edited May 13, 2010 by regfootball

[vonVeezelsnider]

are the cobalt sedan taillights the same as the G5's? As for the front clip, is it just a grille insert or the whole bumper?

The satin nickel trim and seat cloth aren't really a big deal. Getting the arrowhead on the steering wheel might be fun. Obviously the trunk badging needs to be different.

Primarily I'd be interested in getting rid of the dorky front grille of the cobalt for some twin kidneys.

It's not the insert, it's the whole bumper. The insert looks like it's not one piece but rather tacked on but in reality it's all one piece.

The sedan taillights are the same.

[regfootball]

gosh, all that work for a little EXCITEMENT?

[Robert Hall]

To really confuse people, instead of Pontiac badging, try Buick badging...the grille would be a challenge, though.

[Z-06]

gosh, all that work for a little EXCITEMENT?

EXCITEMENT!!!!! is costly.

[regfootball]

To really confuse people, instead of Pontiac badging, try Buick badging...the grille would be a challenge, though.

NOW you are ON to something. Are you sure there isn't a Chinese model of the Cobalt that was badged a Buick?

What would I call it? Skylark? Century?

If i want to do the Pontiac thing though, I am going to need to seriously tack on some ribbed cladding on the sides, too.

If I turned it into a Buick I would need to put baby blue leather in it.

Edited May 13, 2010 by regfootball

[Robert Hall]

NOW you are ON to something. Are you sure there isn't a Chinese model of the Cobalt that was badged a Buick?

What would I call it? Skylark? Century?

If i want to do the Pontiac thing though, I am going to need to seriously tack on some ribbed cladding on the sides, too.

In China they have the Excelle and Sail, Excelle was previously a Daewoo rebadge and the Sail an Opel Corsa, I think.

Maybe call it Skyhawk..find some badging from the '80s era ones. Maybe a grille from a '90s A-body Century could work w/ some creative cutting..

[regfootball]

While driving a Cobalt, Karl Stracke, GM vice president of global vehicle engineering, was blunt: "Look at this car, it's horrible. How did this get through so many people."

From The Detroit News: http://detroitnews.com/article/20100513/AUTO01/5130376/1148/auto01/GM-officials-take-time-to-Cruze#ixzz0nqCyXnVi

which leads me to Adam Sandler's quote in the Wedding Singer....."that information would have been useful to me YESTERDAY"........

[ocnblu]

Why am I starting to question reg's motivation here?

My Cobalt was fine. Peppy, fun to drive with the manual. One warranty repair in 18k miles does not a bad car make.

[regfootball]

Blu, its a good car. I'm just pickin fun at a couple things. One, that GM's lead engineer just NOW is bringing up any self deprication on the car, conveniently when its successor (which they are promoting at a PR event) is on the horizon. Where was he 6 years ago to render that judgment? I am more picking fun at GM's dysfunction than the car itself. The Cruze is just another compact, it doesn't have much of a power advantage over the Cobalt, from what i can tell, the most quanitifiable improvements so far the Cruze has is 3 more inches of hip and shoulder room, a couple inches of rear legroom, wider wheelbase and track, and a couple more feet in the trunk. There is not much else it seems that they are doing that will make the Cruze light years beyond a Cobalt for daily driving. So in that regard i am sure it is just engineered PR theater for the top GM engineer guy to be that distraught at the cobalt when he should have known how it sized up years ago. Or maybe GM's head staff IS that clueless and doesn't even evaluate their own products before they release them?......

Two, Chevy's are nice but I still would have preferred something with a Pontiac badge. Poking fun at the notion that in order to make it a 'real Pontiac', that I would have to add some tack ons. Reality is it would be fun to have a unique car, a 'Cobalt' with the G5 grille.

Reality is for me it's a bridge car, something to keep transportation cost down for awhile. If i were just driving it myself I might keep it longer term, but fairly often there will be 2,3,4 of us in the car. It's a bit small for us long term. In the meantime I am sure it will be a great car. I like a lot of things about it. It would just be fun to do some things like Pontiac it to make it unique since there are so many cobalts out there.

But really so far, I am liking it. Aside from the ergonomic and comfort / covenience shortcomings..which all cars have to some degree....it really has good power for a small car.

[ocnblu]

Thanks fer splainin', Lucy.

[regfootball]

yeah, its more a dig at the hypocrisy of the GM engineer more than anything. I am like, 'aren't you responsible for putting out such an apparently sh1tty car'?

[Robert Hall]

yeah, its more a dig at the hypocrisy of the GM engineer more than anything. I am like, 'aren't you responsible for putting out such an apparently sh1tty car'?

They can finger point and blame the bean counters... or point to history--when did GM ever make a really competitive world class compact or subcompact car? They've always been mediocre to average at best...

[regfootball]

29.40 culuative mpg in over 1100 miles so far.

I'd say that 60% of it though with 4 people a loaded trunk....that's with about 600 pounds of stuff.

it's breaking in.

600 miles this weekend loaded to the gills. lotsa power for an economy car. surprising guts on the roads. mpg drops off rapidly after 70. 55-65 mph is really the best for optimal FE. 75mpg+ they really should have had a 6th gear. A six speed auto would be perfect in this car, since high speed passing requires manual downshift, where the automatic would just kick down and gut it out.

a 1.8 turbo with about 185 hp would be just about right in a car like this or the cruze mated to a six or 8 speed auto.

Edited May 17, 2010 by regfootball

[Cory Wolfe]

After having a weekend of spirited driving... I keep thinking, this car wouldn't be so bad if you hunkered it down with a much stiffer suspension, strut and track bars, bigger brakes with discs out back, more low end power, and never put such a poor transmission in it in the first place. The auto kills anything good about this car. Naysayers be damned; It's a complete slouch in every possible way. Reg and others can appreciate so much more with the manual transmission.

[regfootball]

After having a weekend of spirited driving... I keep thinking, this car wouldn't be so bad if you hunkered it down with a much stiffer suspension, strut and track bars, bigger brakes with discs out back, more low end power, and never put such a poor transmission in it in the first place. The auto kills anything good about this car. Naysayers be damned; It's a complete slouch in every possible way. Reg and others can appreciate so much more with the manual transmission.

i have the stick. i coulda got a new holdover 09 SS sedan as there was a couple available, but it woulda been 6-7 grand more. I was thinking though in order to really use the nice motor to the maximum, if it had a state of the art 6 speed it would be a good deal.

Cruze gets the 6 speed, but doesn't even have the power output of the Cobalt.

Edited May 17, 2010 by regfootball

[mustang84]

Congrats on the Cobalt Bob! I just discovered this thread...been kinda busy lately. You said you got in it Iowa...where from?

[regfootball]

bought it here from a dealer in Mpls but they got it via a dealer trade with one of their networked dealers in IA. I might have the info. I will go back through my email and find out.

[regfootball]

most likely waterloo, cedar falls, or cedar rapids I am guessing.

[regfootball]

ah f-ck, i should have got the SS>.........

i bet the SS is a hoot.........

[regfootball]

After having a weekend of spirited driving... I keep thinking, this car wouldn't be so bad if you hunkered it down with a much stiffer suspension, strut and track bars, bigger brakes with discs out back, more low end power, and never put such a poor transmission in it in the first place. The auto kills anything good about this car. Naysayers be damned; It's a complete slouch in every possible way. Reg and others can appreciate so much more with the manual transmission.

IOW, an SS.

6-7 grand extra and i coulda had an SS.....FK

[daves87rs]

SS!

[Z-06]

IOW, an SS.

6-7 grand extra and i coulda had an SS.....FK

How much was the dealer asking for the SS?

I want one - it is such a blast to drive.

[regfootball]

How much was the dealer asking for the SS?

I want one - it is such a blast to drive.

09 SS turbo sedan. MSRP was 26,300 I think or close to it. I'll go back and look that up.

I had i think 3000 cobalt rebate, 1000 GMAC rebate, and 1000 Pontiac rebate. they had a dealer discount of like 2000 I think. On top of that I had like 2800 GM card dollars.

so i think i had it figured out that i would still be on the hook for like 16,500 or something like that. Which, for the SS cobalt, would be a great deal, especially considering the resale. But in my current situation, i couldn't justify the extra almost 7 grand i would have had to spend just for the turbo, and then have to strip the summer tires off it right away and put all seasons on or get snows. The extra sales tax and additional set of tires (unless i did a take off trade) would have been a net difference of like 8 grand. that started to put me up into some territory where something besides a cobalt would have made a lot more sense as a family car. And the SS lacks the armrest.

My car has over 2k miles on it now. One thing i have going on right now that kinda bugs me is when decelerating in upper gears with no gas, i get a really bad gear whine. i know gears whine....but its just too audible. On aspect of the car that I am not sure is fixable, and is most definitely an NVH issue.

It's odd because it cruises so quietly when the throttle is on. Especially when the cruise is set.

When I trade or sell this thing to get a cruze, i am thinking i will get an automatic next time. Sticks are fun when you have a sports car or a car with power. The Cobalt has more power than most econocars. But more power and 6 gears with a better clutch and shifter would make it more fulfilling to drive. And the automatics now with six speeds and quicker shifting are lessening the gap of performance and mpg.

Don't get me wrong, on say a Cobalt SS, you gotta get the stick.

Edited May 29, 2010 by regfootball

[Z-06]

That is one heck of a deal. Did you use all of your GM Card money? I have like $3500 and my wife has about $2000 and we would not mind extinguishing that amount.

The SS TC comes only in stick. As far as the whine goes, try heel-toe action while down-shifting. Raise the RPM to 100-200 RPM above the place where you expect the lower gear will be just before the down-shift.

[regfootball]

yeah, I have still have the orignal card so there were no redemption limits.

[daves87rs]

SS or nothing......

[pow]

which leads me to Adam Sandler's quote in the Wedding Singer....."that information would have been useful to me YESTERDAY"........

It's funny cos GM said the same thing about the Cavalier when the Cobalt was being released. They said they learned from the past (and the ION) to a whole new ballgame.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/car/04q3/2005_chevrolet_cobalt-first_drive_review