2008 Cobalt Ss Top Speed
- #3
Despite it looking like a somewhat sporty version of a generic compact car, these things are wicked fast. Able to do 0-60 in the mid 5-second range, a top speed of 160mph, and a 8:20 Nurburgring time, for only $24,900 new. Almost like a successor to the Oldsmobile Calais W41 or even the Dodge Neon SRT4. Ultimately, it still is a Chevy Cobalt with sportier wheels and a bodykit, and it says something that there' hardly any stock ones left. Uncool it is then.
- #5
After Chevrolet uglied up the Chevrolet Cavalier substantially in 2003 or so, it felt like that 21st Century Cavalier had to go. So here comes the Cobalt. And really, I always thought the Cobalt was a Cool car. Only game I remember having this car was when I rented "Need for Speed: Pro Street." It has modest design and modest performance, but it is not boring. Me finding this Cobalt boring would bump this down to "Meh" or lower. So that's my final call- Cool. You have to really convince me to change my mind to change my pick to Sub-Zero.
- #6
This was back when Chevrolet was in plastic hell. It's a riced up Colbalt and those cars are dreary enough already. Easy SU.
- #16
It's a Cobalt. The car you got when you couldn't even get credit approval for a Sentra. The SS was a legitimate performance car, and a solid follow-up to the Neon SRT-4 after Chrysler torpedoed it; but it's a Cobalt.
It could be worse though, if you couldn't be approved for a Cobalt, you'd get a Caliber.
- #17
Like a Vauxhall(Opel) Astra 'H' VXR(OPC) - but looks like its from a generation earlier. Uncool.
- #20
You recall wrong. Regardless of whether Chevy should have had their opening salvo against the Neon SRT-4 be the turbocharged version of the SS in the first place, the Caliber SRT-4 was a pig.
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- #21
@LMSCorvetteGT2 The Neon SRT4's claim to fame was being insanely quick for what it was. 0-60 in 5.3 seconds for a 230hp FWD sedan that's not even that lightweight is a pretty impressive feat. The Caliber SRT4, technically the Neon SRT4's successor, was over half a second slower than the Neon despite having over 50 more horsepower and only being marginally heavier. The World I4 being as clunky of an engine as it is is likely part of the reason. I assert that the Cobalt SS Turbocharged is the spiritual Neon SRT-4 successor because it is also a quick, sporty, and cheap FWD compact, but slightly faster and more refined too.
- #22
@LMSCorvetteGT2 The Neon SRT4's claim to fame was being insanely quick for what it was. 0-60 in 5.3 seconds for a 230hp FWD sedan that's not even that lightweight is a pretty impressive feat. The Caliber SRT4, technically the Neon SRT4's successor, was over half a second slower than the Neon despite having over 50 more horsepower and only being marginally heavier. The World I4 being as clunky of an engine as it is is likely part of the reason. I assert that the Cobalt SS Turbocharged is the spiritual Neon SRT-4 successor because it is also a quick, sporty, and cheap FWD compact, but slightly faster and more refined too.
Again it isn't since it was released alongside the original SRT4, competed and did poorly.
Dodge also offered the ability for buyers to purchase staging upgrades that were full warranty, the neon started at 230 but ended up with power at 260 and some claims suggesting Dodge underated the performance numbers. These upgrades produced bigger numbers than that of the base in both models.
This explains a lot of the great performance figures for what you got, when in reality they were somewhat skewed. Caliber being 300 more pounds with 25 horsepower more doesn't bode well for figures outright. Yet still competed safely with the Cobalt SS turbo. Car and driver did a detailed break down of the Caliber and it's refinement as well, to indicate a different SRT4 but one offering good performance still. And a decent hand off from the last version in the neon.
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- #23
Again it isn't since it was released alongside the original SRT4, competed and did poorly.
It was released alongside the Neon SRT-4, it drove a lot better with comparable handling to the Neon SRT-4 while being slower (but still not giving up much of anything to the later Caliber), and then the Neon SRT-4 was gone almost immediately. It competed well in contemporary reviews, with raw performance favoring the Neon and most other things being better in the Cobalt.
Whining about how it can't be a successor because it was briefly sold at the same time before being sold for another four years after that (with a six month break for a model changeove) is so pedantic that it amounts to meaningless white noise.
Dodge also offered the ability for buyers to purchase staging upgrades that were full warranty
So did GM.
Yet still competed safely with the Cobalt SS turbo
No it didn't. The Caliber was a pig. It was a slower car than the Neon SRT-4 and the Cobalt SS turbo, and was marginally faster than the original Cobalt SS. It drove like a truck with its fake LSD and piles of torque steer and tall body and bad ride control. It wasn't in the timezone of popularity of the other two or the competing cars from other brands even in a segment that was waning. The secret was out about it immediately after launch that it was a worse car across the board than the car it was replacing (just like the regular Caliber was), and despite all the great sales and hype that the Neon version had and the super cheap price the Caliber model started at was immediately dead in the water.
The Cobalt SS Turbo, in comparison, was a much improved version of a car that the car rags already at least liked, and was sold for several years after Dodge immediately cancelled the Caliber SRT-4. Connect the dots yourself.
Car and driver did a detailed break down of the Caliber and it's refinement as well, to indicate a different SRT4 but one offering good performance still. And a decent hand off from the last version in the neon.
Car and Driver also did a detailed breakdown of the Cobalt SS and raved extensively about it being an across the board improvement from the original car. And kept testing it repeatedly. And brought it to their Lightning Lap events and heaped praise on it there. And kept putting it in comparison tests. Like one where they said this about the Caliber:
What these cars don't share is torque steer, something that makes the Caliber SRT4 nearly undrivable at full tilt but is pretty well eliminated by suspension and power-steering tuning in the Cobalt SS. And the Dodge features neither launch control nor no-lift shifting.
And this other one:
In contrast, the Dodge Caliber SRT4's high center of gravity, persistent body motions, and understeer made it a challenge to make the most of its 285 turbocharged horses. Not helping the cause was an open front differential that resulted in one tire spinning madly whenever the engine was sucking in boost. Lapping the Dodge was an exercise in managing understeer; no other vehicle abused its front tires as sadistically as the Caliber.
This sentiment was matched by the other rags of the time, some which even called the Cobalt class leading and didn't even bother putting the Caliber in comparison tests.
But yeah, the Caliber "competed safely with the Cobalt SS Turbo."
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- #25
The Caliber SS Turbo, in comparison,
Hold up... Dodge made a Caliber SS Turbo? Never knew of that one before.
- #28
Kind of a shame what happened to that segment of cars.
Well, to be fair half of them are still around at least. It's really only Mitsubishi and the domestic brands that pulled out of the segment completely/permanently; and Ford at least was in it until they discontinued everything that wasn't a pickup truck a couple years ago. The WRX is still available. GTI is still available. Civic Si is still available, and is at least a competitive offering in the segment now when it hadn't been for over a decade. Mazda just reintroduced a hot version of the 3. Now there's an offerings from Hyundai in the segment, too. None of them are as fast as the Neon SRT-4/Cobalt SS turbo for the same price as those were (Veloster is close), but all cars are more expensive now than they were a decade ago; and I suspect even a plane jane modern GTI is probably nearly as fast as those two were back then around a track.
And while they are significantly slower, you also have the BreezFrees twins to choose from for that price range; which is a segment that had been more or less empty since the 90s.
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- #30
The American brands have abandoned sedans/coupes/hatchbacks altogether so the chance of any of the Big Three coming out with a sporty compact anytime soon is 0%.
Source: https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/gtp-cool-wall-2008-2010-chevrolet-cobalt-ss-turbocharged.397269/
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