SS/SC Vs. Evo IX

[BullDog71ss]

Well, that was a kick ass way to spend 2 1/2 hours and 3 gallons of fuel!

Met up with Rob (Evo owner) and his brother tonight for the much anticipated run that we've been planning. Man, I'll tell you what, even with awd that thing can scoot on the highway with that reflash. I'll give you guys the jist of what happend, then you'll see the rest when the vid comes out.

First run was on the highway. We started out around 60 mph (bout 3500 rpm for the SS), he motions that he'll honk us off and I agree. Third beep and we're off. We stay side by side for a moment, then when the Evo gains a bit of boost he shoots ahead and put his rear bumper at my front, but then he has to shift out to 4th gear while I'm still a good 1500 rpm away from thinking about a shift. He sits there for a few more moments untill I have to shift, then he gets another leap on me and gradually pulls away to about 2 1/2-3 1/2 lengths when we shut down. His speed was about 130-135 while mine was around 125-130 when we shut them down. So from 60-130 mph he put a good 3 lengths or so, from what my passenger said he good guesstimate. Not too bad for a mostly stockish Slobalt I'd have to say. We did quite a few more highway runs with mostly the same result, but I'll leave those for the vid as to not beat a dead Cobalt...err, horse.


After the highway runs we hopped on to an extremely empty surface street to continue our antics. Now we're traveling at about 40 mph (4500 rpm, 2nd gear for the SS) which puts me in a much better spot in my powerband. Three more beeps from his horn and we're at it again. Same kind of results as the highway run with him pulling a bit at first, then me gaining a bit with my taller gearing. Then he'd pull away a bit more. From 40-115 or so he had about 1-1 1/2 cars on me or so.

The really cool part about the slower runs is that I could hear his car much better than the noisey highway. That thing sounded like no other car I've ever heard, no exhaust burble, no hint of anything having to do with pistons at all. The only sound emited from the Evo's exhaust system was and exact replica of a 747 taxiing down a runway, getting ready to take off. VERY cool sound coming from that car. The videos should capture this fairly nicely.

Well, I'll cut it short there, as the videos will do a much better job at telling you guys how are night of fun unfolded. It should be ready within the next 12-24 hours or so.

On a side note, mad props to the Evo...and Rob, I don't think all you got at the dealership was a tune dude. I think they snuck in a jet turbine of some sort while you weren't looking man, cause there's no way anything powered by pistons could make all that racket that yours does

[carrrnuttt]

Nice. Too bad I live so far away, or I would've went. Have Eric put up those vids as soon as possible.

Seems you've somewhat vindicated your car's strength.

Also, did Eric run his Cobalt SS too? It would be a fair assessment of just how fast a really stock Cobalt SS is, against your "stockish" one.

I know he tells me that yours pulls on his easy, which makes me wonder if GM replaced your old motor with an extra-strong one.

What...no runs from a stop?

[BullDog71ss]

Originally Posted by carrrnuttt

Nice. Too bad I live so far away, or I would've went. Have Eric put up those vids as soon as possible.

Seems you've somewhat vindicated your car's strength.

Also, did Eric run his Cobalt SS too? It would be a fair assessment of just how fast a really stock Cobalt SS is, against your "stockish" one.

I know he tells me that yours pulls on his easy, which makes me wonder if GM replaced your old motor with an extra-strong one.

What...no runs from a stop?

Nope, sadly we did not get any runs in with Eric's SS. Although, that wouldnt be a bad idea to do in the near future for comparison's sake.
As for all the roll racing...we did pull up to one red light and I did infact offer Rob a run from a dig. But Rob declined as to not be horribly embarrassed by the insane launching capabilities of a FWD car.... Actually he declined because his car is pretty new and he doesnt wanna beat up on it much just yet. Which was fine by me because mine is having some issues with the front end at the moment and I need to have that taken care of before I thrash on it some more.

This wasn't really the comparison that we were really needing for the origional arguement..."can an SS pull on an stock evo 8 from a roll"...but, it was one hell of a way to spend a night, while also getting my g/f pissed at me for not answering the phone.


Thanks Rob!

[209 SRT]

so you have a new motor in that thing already....

[BullDog71ss]

Originally Posted by 209 SRT

so you have a new motor in that thing already....

Yes, yes I do.

[BlackGT2000]

What happened to the first one? Sorry I am sure you said it already plenty of times.

[BullDog71ss]

Originally Posted by BlackGT2000

What happened to the first one? Sorry I am sure you said it already plenty of times.

Got into an accident that cracked the radiator, GM took the car to repair, GM monkeys drove the car without coolant for 12 miles. End of story for old block, GM replaces with new crate motor + free 60,000 mile warrenty on new block.

[clawhammer]

Sounds about right. Just what i'd expect

[BullDog71ss]

Originally Posted by clawhammer

Sounds about right. Just what i'd expect

Yeah, I figured about the same as well. But, it's not nearly as bad as I thought it might have been. I was fairly surprised at how well the Cobalt did.

[Musashi3000GT]

wow, you still gotta give mad props to the Cobalt for hanging with a modded evo so well though.

[qr25sentra]

did the new motor feel stronger than the previous? sounds like u have a factory freak...nice

[BlackGT2000]

Thats pretty cool that they fixed it without a problem after they broke it. At least they weren't dicks and try to blame it on your accident or something. Thanks General

[BullDog71ss]

Originally Posted by Musashi3000GT

wow, you still gotta give mad props to the Cobalt for hanging with a modded evo so well though.

Thanks man. I was very pleased with how the car did lastnight, now I can't wait for GM's staged kits. Supposedly it makes the car an animal compared to stock form, so we'll just have to wait an see.

Originally Posted by qr25sentra

did the new motor feel stronger than the previous? sounds like u have a factory freak...nice

Yes it dide, but I think that could be due more to the fact that it was much colder out when I got the car back. It was away from me for a little over a month. FI does so much better in cold weather. Also I almost never used anything but 87 octane in the old one because gas was insane during the summer.

[BullDog71ss]

Originally Posted by BlackGT2000

Thats pretty cool that they fixed it without a problem after they broke it. At least they weren't dicks and try to blame it on your accident or something. Thanks General

Heh, they really didn't have a choice in the matter. Progressive saw to that...great insurance company in my oppinion.

[Steiner]

Hey Bulldog thanks for posting. Your SS seems quicker than the average SS. Based on how things went down with a slightly modded Evo IX on the freeway, I'm thinking it's possible for your Cobalt SS to keep up or pull on a stock 2003/2004 Evo VIII on the freeway. The '03 and '04 models put down about 235whp, the '05 models put down about 250whp, and now the new '06 Evo IX is apparently putting down over 260whp.

That Cobalt SS is no joke and I'd have a tough time taking an SRT-4 over it considering the comparable power and the Cobalt's better handling. However one thing about Evos that people tend to forget...and I'm always bringing this up on the BMW forums because M3's are geared for the autobahn...is they're designed to be very quick from 0-100mph. The final gear in the '03 and '04 is more or less a cruising gear. The MR model than was introduced in '05 came with a 6 speed, but it was still geared uber low. The new Evo IX, believe it or not, is geared even LOWER than the Evo VIII. It's one reason that the Evo IX feels quicker than the Evo VIII driving around town in 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear. The other reason it feels faster is that, quite honestly, it is a faster car.

Can't wait for the vids! Thanks for posting even though you didn't win. Not everybody would have the maturity to do that.