New Competition from Chevy?

Have you guys seen the info on the new Chevy Cobalt slated to come out this fall? A lot of you probably have, but I'm not too big on the domestic compact scene so I only just read about it in Maxim yesterday. Looks like Chevy might have finally come out with a compact that can give us a run for our money. The "sport package" is pretty weak - mostly just cosmetic shit like spoiler and rims - but they all come standard with a twin-cam, 170 hp engine.

It's still American, so I have my doubts about its durability and comfort, but it might have potential. Gonna see a lot of Cavaliers in the used car lots next year.

http://www.gm.com/automotive/vehicle_shopping/quickfacts/pdf/05Chevy_Cobalt.pdf

i could only geuss what the price is

How interesting...I am originally from Youngstown (Where GM Lordstown is) where they are gonna be building the new Cobalts.

There is also going to be a decked out supercharged version with over 200 HP. The base model price with the DOHC 170hp motor is gonna be in the $15k-$16k range, the super charged one somewhere in the neighborhood of $18k. A friend of mine at GM tells me that the platform is awesome, very sturdy and made for handling and low end acceleration - the main purpose of the Cobalt is basically to market to the 18-25 year old Sport Compact scene providing low end torque and acceleration for dragging that is often missed in other cars available for the scene (despite a few Nissan's - just generally speaking)

Basically, GM is tired of everyone making fun of Cavaliers and getting their asses handed to them regularly by Honda, Toyota, and Nissan in the sport compact scene, hence, the lower cost, comparable performing, and different really only in low end torque machines.

as far as reliablility, they are likely to have the 10 year, 100k mile warrantee like Hyundai offers, because GM has the money and will need to compete with those kinds of claims.

Not to mention, did you guys know that Saturn (a GM company) is using - or is planning to use - Honda motors in some of their cars - so GM then has access to Honda engine engineering....how convienant.
DOHC w/ 170 HP sounds awfully familiar...hmmmm b16 and b18....

at least, them's the rumors round the town where 80% of the population has something to do with the Cobalt being made.

18k for the SS seems pretty reasonable, too - about even with most similar high-end compacts these days. When I bought mine new it was around 16k, and that was 7 years ago... and I have a D16, so when it was stock it wasn't even close to the stock performance of the Cobalt.

the car is fucking ugly. and 170hp is not fast.

gay.

170hp is not fast.

gay.

Faster than most stock civics. 170 hp is for the low-end ones. So compare that to a 2004 DX Civic or something, not against a turboed b16 swap, or even an Si.
Plus, since it's Chevy, there will most likely be a good amount of quality mods fairly quickly. Most of my Chevy experience is with trucks, but in that department at least, the companies that make Chevy mods don't fuck around. Since this is their new baby, they'll probably take the same kind of interest in aftermarket performance parts.
170hp is a damn good starting point for a cheap compact.
I won't be trading in my Civic anytime soon, but I'm looking forward to racing a few of these things.

Faster than most stock civics. 170 hp is for the low-end ones. So compare that to a 2004 DX Civic or something, not against a turboed b16 swap, or even an Si.
Plus, since it's Chevy, there will most likely be a good amount of quality mods fairly quickly. Most of my Chevy experience is with trucks, but in that department at least, the companies that make Chevy mods don't fuck around. Since this is their new baby, they'll probably take the same kind of interest in aftermarket performance parts.
170hp is a damn good starting point for a cheap compact.
I won't be trading in my Civic anytime soon, but I'm looking forward to racing a few of these things.
There's no 04 DX, it's called a VP. Anyway, I'd rather have a tC.

Competition is always good, brings the best out of companies. Maybe Honda will start making their cars faster and cheaper now that there are all these American made sport compacts with turbos and superchargers coming out. Good for Chevy, but I'll still stick with my Honda.

I'll still stick with my Honda.

Goes without saying.

If Chevy is the first company to make flying cars, I might give them another chance. But they've lost me to the Japanese for as long as cars have wheels.

And, yes, the TC is nice, too. The more fast little cars there are out there, the more interesting green lights get. Speaking of which, it's time to break out of this cubicle prison and go tear up the weekend. See you guys on Monday.

There's no 04 DX, it's called a VP. Anyway, I'd rather have a tC.
Damn straight, tC's are goin to kick that cavalier *cough, cough*, I mean colbalt out of the water faster than anything. Just wish honda would do something with the civic to make it compete. K's being standard would rock.

Not to mention, did you guys know that Saturn (a GM company) is using - or is planning to use - Honda motors in some of their cars - so GM then has access to Honda engine engineering....how convienant.
DOHC w/ 170 HP sounds awfully familiar...hmmmm b16 and b18....

at least, them's the rumors round the town where 80% of the population has something to do with the Cobalt being made.

W T F
Well.. damn....i didin't see this one coming.

The Saturn Vue is (or will be) using Honda engines. I read and heard that in a few places (one of them being AF). And apparently Honda bought some trannies from GM as well.
Edit: Here are some links about it: http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3165/is_2002_August_1/ai_90091372
http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=16&article_id=7783
http://waw.wardsauto.com/ar/auto_engines/index.htm

Ha ha ha that second one is great. I love the byline: GM Breaks Down and Buys a Honda.

Who'da thunk it?

In the end, the Cobalt is still a Chevy. I'll take an underpowered, RELIABLE Honda over a more powerful problem child like a Chevy any day of the week. The Corvette is the only thing Chevy makes that's wrth buying.

The Corvette is the only thing Chevy makes that's wrth buying.

Yup. Oh and the prism when they made that. :grinno:

Yup. Oh and the prism when they made that. :grinno:

The prism's where all Toyota! Actually, the whole geo brand in the early 90's where all really good vehicles. I had a storm which was made by Isuzu.

Anyone who wants real value for a small car should be interested in the Chevrolet Prizm. The Prizm is simply a sensible car that provides reasonable performance and no-worry ownership without depleting the retirement savings. Typical Prizm buyers don't buy cars to impress others, but this is a most impressive vehicle.This 4-door sedan would be a great buy just because of the 110-horsepower, 1.8L Toyota engineMy friend actually flipped his prizm (geo) and it rolled right back over couple of dents and windows broke , but it still went on driving for 2 more years lol

Chevy could build 200hp compacts and sell them for $12k new, but Honda will still outsell them simply because they are Hondas. Nuff said.

Well, Honda IS the car that sells itself.

Awesome sig, btw, ricochet!