Chevrolet Cobalt

npgmbr

LOL that reminds me. Someone sent me a list of product disclaimers a few years back. It was pretty funny although I don't know if any of them were true.

But heres something funny. About 9 years ago I lived on a military base in Jacksonville, NC. I worked in the Battalion Adjutants office so I got to see the list of Marines & Sailors arrested by local police. Well it was discovered that two Marines from my unit had been arresed.

Well it was not the fact that they were arrested that shocked us but more what they were arrested for. See, these two guys lived in the room right next to mine and we had a shared bathroom so every weekend at least one if not both would be sick from drinking too much.

Well, astonishing as it was, these guys (drunk as hell) decided to drive off base climb a city water tower open the door and jump in for a late night swim.

I wonder, if the city of Jacksonville had placed disclaimers on the tower ........... would those guys still had gone in. LOL

dan165

About the same as Cavalier less the $4000 in incenitves.

http://www.canadiandriver.com/news/040901-2.htm

btrfly

Hey Dan, u get around here:) Ok, so should I wait to see this car considering how much I LOVE my cavalier or just get a hyundai elantra? Is there really much difference? I'm a bit nervous about first year cars. I just want to see a cobalt but from reading here, seems I have to wait till oct 18th? That's when they'll be on the lots?

theo2709

I'd be a bit nervous about the Cobalt as well. GM hasn't really had much experience offering really premium features in their cars, especially at such a low price.

utgmcguy

I'm new to this but when reading some of the last few messages I wanted to say I have seen 2 car haulers full of Cobalts! I go to the University of Toledo in Ohio and when driving home this weekend two car haulers full of Cobalts passed me going the other way on the Ohio turnpike. They were headed West, I assumed going to Michigan somewhere. They look like really nice cars and FINALLY a stock GM car to compete with those honda civics, toyotas corollas, mitsubushi eclipses etc...

tommc

See the Cobalt stickers at roughly $3000 more than the Cavvy, and for sure there will be no rebates for the near future so looking at a $7000 premium for it. Seems to be GMs new plan of operation, reskin and name change, big price upgrade. Maybe it will work, time will tell.

johnclineii

But...the Cobalt is a heck of a lot more than a reskin of the Cavalier. It is a totally different car. It does start with a C, but that's just about ALL it shares with Cavalier.

bigdaddycoats

Saw a red SS supercharged coupe this morning. It had manufacturer plates with a Pikes Peak sticker. Looked very sharp.

Kirstie_H

This discussion is now located on the Sedans board, where Pat will be your host.

dan165

Are the Cobalts out now?

wander

Awhile back Chevy's web site said that the Cobalt could have a 2.4 liter engine. Now it seems that the only engines are a 2.2 and 2.0. Was I seeing things?

dan165

2.4L is delayed.

2.0 and 2.2 are all there will be at launch.

cutemorganite

I just looked on the Chevy website and saw that if you placed an order for a Cobalt by 10-18-04, they would add certain things, like a sunroof, XM Radio, or a spoiler at no extra charge. I think that is really cool. I am not interested in buying one, but I wish Mazda had those kind of incentives when I bought my Mazda6.

bporter1

Does anyone know when the Cobalt will be arriving in dealerships? Is it there now? I am really anxious to see what this car looks like both in and out. Also how does it stack up to the Civic, and Corolla? Anyway I was just wondering.

jpryba

Well, I guess they started production this past Monday. I live in Columbus, Ohio (and Lordstown is about 160 miles away), so I bet we'll see some in the next week or two, but a few might have made their way into town already.

I'm going out and about today with a friend of mine to look at some new cars, so we'll stop by a Chevrolet dealership or two to see if they have one.

vanman1

My buddy wants a Cobalt coupe. He said the dealer told him they will start trickling in over the last 2 weeks of November but not in big numbers till around Christmas.

e2helper

So initial vehicles should be getting out to dealers next week

mdaffron

I'm not a regular here but I buy cars in the Cobalt's segment, so I have read about the Cobalt.

I thought the Cobalt was supposed to replace the Cavalier for the 2005 MY. But I saw a glitzy commercial on TV last night advertising the 2005 Cavaliers.

What gives? Is the Cobalt not coming out until 2006 now, or is the 2005 Cavalier going to be out only a month or two before being replaced by the 2005 Cobalt? If the latter is true, it makes me wonder why GM bothered with a 2005 MY Cavalier at all.

Meade

alpha01

For the domestic manufacturers to run two offerings, and outgoing and a newly introduced replacement, concurrently. This is for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which has to do with sales to fleets (which GM will use the 2005 Cavalier for, as opposed to the new Cobalt- an effort to improve depreciation on the Cobalt), and the production of the vehicle/ parts sourcing issues- which tie into GM's handling of the UAW.

The Cobalt is a 2005 model and will be in dealerships en masse by mid December, from all accounts I've read- and that is confirmed by the above posts.

Likely, GM has added some quality controls- a great thing on ground-up new model, so the wait is fine. And for bargain hunters who can deal with a deplorable vehicle (except for the excellent Ecotec engine), the BASE rebate on non-value package Cavaliers is now $5000. Thats before GM card incentives, employee programs, etc.

~alpha

mdaffron

We bought a '95 Cavalier new, but could only stomach its $600, every-10,000-mile head-gasket changes four times. For such a cute (well, when the design was new) little inexpensive car, its "leak of the month" habits, which began at the ripe old age of 25,000 miles, sure got expensive. Ecotec? Ecojoke.

Meade

ateixeira

Was that even an Ecotec engine, though?

I don't think the Ecotec has been around since 1995. Has it?

-juice

alpha01

That wasnt the Ecotec. The Ecotec is a flexible, reliable engine from everything Ive driven and read.

In '95, the Cavalier engines were the old 2.2L (notorious for its head gasket issues) or the Quad 4 derviative (2.4L Twin Cam, I believe).

~alpha

bporter1

You are right on. The 95 Cavalier had the old 2.2L ohv engine. I know everyone knows which engine I am talking about if you hear one accelerate from a stop. Very droning exhaust sound, kind of like some of the rice burners with the large tailpipe. The Cavalier also used the 2.4L ohc engine which was a Quad Four that was updated a little.

pat

I'm sure no offense was intended, but the thing is that "rice" terms arose from an offensive ethnic slur - as such, the Town Hall prefers that those kinds of terms not be used in posted messages.

Thanks for your understanding.

ateixeira

I remember GM "tuned" those exhausts, almost sounds like they were gargling with water.

Quad 4 was the DOHC 16 valve model, Quad OHC was the name used for the SOHC version.

Any how, I don't think we can extrapolate reliability data for the Ecotec based on an engine from two generations ago.

-juice

bigdaddycoats

Anyone see one in person yet? Drive one? Local dealers do not have any as of yet.

ronbo10

The mpg listed on GM buy power.com for the Cobalt (30/46 city/highway) must have been in liters (Canadian market?). EPA website (http://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/E-CHEVROLET-Cobalt-05.htm) lists it as 24/32 for the 4 speed auto. The same website lists the Chevy Malibu 4 Cylinder (exact same power train as the Cobalt)as 24/35. Not sure what would account for the disparity...
I'm hoping the 2.4 liter gets at least equally good mileage, if not better (with variable valve timing and all).

johnclineii

Canadian fuel economy is measured in liters used per 100 kilometers...NOT in miles per liter.

So, that ain't the answer...

dan165

John is right L/100km is what they use here. Could be imperial gallons though. Sounds like a simple error, 24/35 sounds right and pretty decent I must add. Has GM improved the efficiency of the Ecotec because that seems higher than the Cavalier?

ronbo10

I'm not sure if there has been any substantive change to the Ecotec for 2005. I posted over in the Malibu discussion that I found on EPA's website that the 2004 Malibu 4 cylinder was listed as 24/34, 2005 as 24/35. 1 mpg could be accounted for in variability from one powertrain to the next, I'd guess. But the same powertrain coming in at 24/32 in the Cobalt still has me scratching my head. It seems to me the Cobalt has electric power steering just as does the Malibu, so that shouldn't be a factor. But as you say, I'd take 24/35 these days- I'm lucky to get 26 mpg overall in my VW VR-6 powered Golf.

ateixeira

Probably a taller final drive in the Malibu. Gearing could easily explain that.

I bet Cobalt has quicker passing from 50-70 (without shifting).

-juice

ronbo10

I imagine you're right- I tried to find the final drive ratio on the Cobalt website but with no luck. If that is in fact the case, then the car could definitely benefit from a 5 speed auto (I wonder if the Ford/GM joint 6-speed auto will be available on the lower end?). That 3 mpg difference equates to an almost 10 percent difference- that's a pretty big deal! Now that you mention it, that's about the same difference between the G6 GT and the Malibu 6 cylinder (29 vs. 32). The G6 has the shorter gearing (same as the Maxx, I understand).

bigdaddycoats

manual - 3.58:1
auto - 3.63:1

Malibu

2.2 - 3.63:1
3.5 - 3.05:1

vanman1

There was no Ecotec in 1995. That was an old iron duke. The Ecotec is a very modern and reliabile motor.

ateixeira

Iron Dukes used to catch fire in Fieros, remember that? Then GM put on a bigger oil filter to increase oil capacity (LOL).

The Ecotec is worlds better.

So the final drive on the 'bu is the same for the automatic Ecotec, perhaps it comes down to the overdrive gear ratio.

-juice

bporter1

Pat Host,
Sorry for the comment in my post about high perfomance Japanese cars. I did not mean to offend anyone.
On another note, I have not seen one yet, but I wonder when thet will be available for sale, if they are not already.

pat

I'm sure you didn't -- that's something many people don't know - don't worry about it.

vanman1

http://www.canadiandriver.com/testdrives/05cobalt.htm

beach15

Here's some pics of both a silver base sedan and a LS sedan:
http://www.nncp.com/Chevy/N15343_1.html
http://www.nncp.com/Chevy/N15342_1.html

vanman1

Not liking the spoiler. Otherwise they are nice looking cars. Probably look even better in a black or dark blue.

bigdaddycoats

http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgazette/news/driving/story- .html?id=dbc43bb0-09d3-47d8-98cd-6ccdaa089c54&page=2

bigdaddycoats

Local dealer just unloaded two Cobalts today. One was blue and the other red. Very nice looking vehicles. I may take a look at them closer this weekend.

joe3891

the pictures showing the rear suspension on the Cobalt is the same as the 94 Cavalier, I chuckled, instead of going forward they went backward.

ateixeira

That's not necessarily bad. In the 90s we saw a *LOT* of cost cutting.

If they are adding back content, that's fine.

I bet some Civic and RSX owners would KILL to trade the struts in for the old double wish bones. Sentra SE-R owners would probably prefer to dump the torsion beam, also.

-juice

vanman1

I could care less if there was a wooden stick back there, so long as it works well. Not everthing the Cavalier had was bad.

joe3891

the 94 Cavalier had the cheap Chapman Beam rear suspension, about as low tech as you can get.

 >>bet some Civic and RSX owners would KILL to trade the struts in for the old double wish bones. Sentra SE-R owners would probably prefer to dump the torsion beam, also.<<

bigdaddycoats

http://www.auto123.com/en/info/news/roadtest,view,Pontiac.spy?art- id=32612#

dan165

Great review. GM finally has a competitive small car. Perhaps market share will follow!

bporter1

That review almost sounds too good to be true, man I really hope the Cobalt is at least most of that. The fact that the Pursuit was mentioned as more refined than a Corolla is saying something.
Maybe GM is finally getting it right. It also may be due to fact the Toyota may become the number one car company in the world in a few years. That is something that GM does not want to lose. I can't wait to see a Cobalt in person.

rose4

Has anyone actually bought a Cobalt yet? I'm looking to trade my Cavalier for one next year but haven't yet drove the Cobalt. How is the interior styling, ride quality, etc. compared to the Cav? Pricing...are they going to offer any rebates more than $2000? Reliability...any problems yet..or anticipated?