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Sedans Chevrolet Cobalt Article Comments - 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt LS Sedan XFE Full Test
15 messages, Last post on Jun 06, 2009 at 5:47 AM
You are in the Chevrolet Cobalt Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
2009 Chevrolet Cobalt LS Sedan XFE Full Test - Bottom Line: Most small cars are moving upscale in look and feel, but the Cobalt LS XFE a throwback to that previous bare-bones tradition. (more)
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I owned a 2006 Cobalt 5 speed coupe and got 35 mpg with in on highway trips, and 33 mpg on my mostly freeway commute. It only had one defect: a rattle in the dash. I just traded in a 2008 Honda Fit on a 2009 Cobalt Sedan LS, auto transmission, ABS & protection package & spare tire. I got $1500 off in rebates, $600 off from the dealer, and $1,000 off from my GM Card. Discounts on Cobalts are now once again easy to find (for a while they were scarce due to the resurgent interest in small cars). So compared to other small cars (with the exception of the Focus) I think the Cobalt IS less expensive. I have put three tanks of gas through the new Cobalt, and have an overall average of 31.5 mpg with the automatic. Based on the mileage you are reporting, I think your test drivers are having fun with the great acceleration potential of the upgraded 2.2 engine. I'd like to see you run your test sample down to empty, refill and reset the mpg calculator, put an old-timer in it and have them drive a long freeway trip keeping the speed under 70. I think you would see more like 33-35 mpg. I got 35 mpg on my "country road" drives to Yosemite on my old Cobalt 5 speed. I'll take your word for it that the car has dicey handling at the limits. In my experience driving at "normal" aggressive urban speeds, my new Cobalt handles on ramp sweeps with more aplomb than the Fit or my other current driver, a Nissan Versa (6 speed). The tires don't seem anywhere near their limits when I take on and offramp sweeps fast, I don't notice any issues on street cornering or any squeal in parking structures. You mentioned that you have the Contis on your sample, same as on my non-XFE (since mine is an auto). These Contis are very quiet, very smooth, and as I said seem to have plenty of grip. Mind you, I'm pretty fussy, I often swap out stock tires on economy cars for Falken Ziex 512's or Kumho KH16's, but when I did this on my former Cobalt (I used the Falkens in that case) I noticed no improvement in handling, but an increase in tire noise from pavement. I disagree with your love of power windows, door locks, and mirrors. Ok, I agree with you that mirrors should all be power operated these days, to allow adjustment on the freeway and to allow swapping drivers (some drivers might ignore the adjustment, and that creates a safety issue). BUT AT LEAST the mirrors on the Cobalt are in "fixed"housings - the manual mirrors on my Echo adjusted as complete unit (hosing moved too) so they got knocked out of wack at the car wash, a real annoyance. On my former Caliber, the manual mirrors had no inside adjustment level, so you had to roll down the windows. On my former Focus, the adjustment levers were so large they got knocked out of alignment when the car wash people cleaner the interior. At least on the Cobalt, the levers are small and out of the way. Keep in mind, spoiled generation, that most of these cars are driven by ONE driver consistently and once you set the mirrors you can pretty much forget about them for months if not years. On the issue of power windows and door locks, once again, this is principally a commuter car. A single mom reduced to compact car status instead of a minivan or sport ute might not like having to manually open each door, but let me tell you, as a parent, I like it this way. Manual door locks and manual windows are reassuringly simple - easy to operate and easy to fix. No kid ever got strangled by a malfunctioning manual window. No one in an irrigation ditch ever had a problem opening a manual vs. power window. As for the door locks. I just reach across to open the rear far door so I can get my gym bag out of the back. On the Fit, I had to go through a cumbersome routine (I had power locks but no remote) to lock the drivers door but have the far door open. How about that high lip on the trunk? Like it. The floor is low relative to the lip, so when I throw my gym bag in there, it's not easy for street people to see if there was other stuff in there. On the Fit, I didn't feel safe opening the trunk at destination, either going into the gym or coming back, because the flat floor gave an easy line of sight into everything stored back there. You did nail the ride, and I think it has improved since my 2006, that or coming off the Fit and Versa I appreciate the great engineering that goes into the Cobalt. Yes, it rides like my old 2006 Impala, and that is a good thing. It's also an order of magnitude quieter than the Versa and two orders of magnitude quieter than the Fit. This is a car I could drive from SF to LA without excessive fatigue. So what are the faults you find? Biggest are the tires, easy to correct with $50 tires from Tire Rack. Next, the handling at extremes. Easy to fix with a sway bar kit from Eibach through Tire Rack. The have Hawk HPS street performance brake pads, too. Speed control? Rostra makes an aftermarket unit, and since the actual cruise control chores are handled by the ECM via the drive by wire throttle, no mechanical mods to worry about (the Rostra unit doesn't even require wiring on the cabin control unit, it uses a transponder). I am debating whether to pick up an XFE Coupe as a "sleeper" sports car. The Coupe is nice looking. But the sedan would work, too. Install from Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S tires on it (more costly than the Falkens and Kumho's I mentioned, but top rated); install the Eibach sway bars; install the Hawk HPS pads. Less than $1,000 to take full advantage of that wonderful engine and 5 speed. (If you want to go further than this, just pull the VIN for an SS off the web and swap in the struts and springs and shocks - OEM parts, even from the performance models, are wonderfully cheap). I can't believe the performance oriented world of the '60's and 70's has morphed into the anti-functional bling world of the new millenium, where its more important to have a noisy muffler than doesn't really improve power, a noisy cold air intake that hardly improves power, extreme harsh lowering springs (Eibachs come to mind, yes I tried a set twice and hated them both times), and wide ultra low profile tires, than to smartly upgrade a car like the XFE to take advantage of its potential. Yeah, I believe nothing more than tires would change its character as a daily driver, the sway bars would make it a fun canyon carver. And still preserve its utility as a commuter. What are the RPM on the XFE now that Chevy has dropped the final ratio? My 2006 had much higher RPM than my 2009 auto version. I'd like to see the engine load on the highway, I'm not averse to downshifting to 4th or even 3rd for quick passing power.... |
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Personally I'm glad GM gave me the DIC (trip computer that shows outside temperature, actual engine temperature, MPG overall, MPG short duration, two trip meters, actual tire pressure on each tire, calculates the remaining oil life; average speed since last reset; I'm glad GM gave me auto on headlamps, you quickly get spoiled by this feature; and retained power (I can finish listening to a song without leaving the ignition on or, worse yet, the engine running; and XM radio - I thought it was hype, but I'm actually thinking about subscribing; and upgraded speakers (I'm pretty darn sure the 2006 didn't sound this good, and the stock sound system doesn't have separate tweeters) (the Fit wasn't well engineered, it vibrated the door panels at low listening levels, and I always set my equalization "flat") (the sound is better than on my Versa and on my former Caliber, which both had larger speakers) (and yes, it's not just XM that sounds good, FM is crystal clear); and great AM reception and tone - not the low quality on most Japanese and German cars, where they assume AM is only there for "emergency broadcasts" and not there for sports and talk radio; and easy controls on the radio, including easy menu options, and knobs for BOTH volume and tuning, in addition to the usual buttons for fine tuning and skipping; and OnStar, with one year free subscription, this calls 911 for you if you are in a crash, no need to count on a bystander with a cell-phone or being able to reach or use your own cellphone; and 30 minutes free calling on the phone number that comes with OnStar - hands free, very wide coverage area (Yosemite, as I recall, for example) with 100 additional minutes offered for only $14.95, good for a year, good for emergency hands free use; and the option of paying more and getting turn by turn On Star navigation; So yeah, I can deal with crank windows. I never wind them down anyway, I hate the smears on the glass from old retained car wash water, I just open my door to take tickets from parking ticket spitters, and use the aircon, not the window, for cooling. |
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Replying to: KarenS (Oct 31, 2008 9:57 am) If the difference in cost between a stripped XFE and a decently equipped LT1 is important then go buy a used 08 LT1 or LT2. They are all over the place with under 10,000 miles and cost less than a new XFE with cheap seats and no power windows. I rented a Caliper in Baltimore a couple of weeks ago and it had no options at all except automatic. It was a pain winding down windows, adjusting mirrors, and having no keyless entry. I rented a Cobalt LT1 Sedan a week later in Philadelphia and it had all the basics. The lack of cruise control was a pain -I had to drive to Harrisburg - but I could live with it. In short, I have a problem with road test people determining handling by driving at various speeds among cones and trying not to hit them. People don't drive like that and I've never driven any car that didn't handle normally -even a Corvair!. Frankly I discount all road tests. I drive a car or cars myself and choose one depending on my own preferences. One problem with the Cobalt and other cars I've owned -like my 06 Impala - is the short seat. After a couple of hours your thighs hurt because they have no support under them. You try and scrunch back in the seat and there is no place to go. Road test people rarely do long term tests and never mention this. My Cadillac is fine. You can drive for days without any discomfort . Another problem is the relatively small trunk opening. It is annoying to have to load large boxes through the door. There is plenty of room but lousy access. I think that the road test was biased. The off the cuff photo of the window crank pointed to the tester's annoyance because basic equipment was lacking and that colored the review. You get what you pay for.
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Replying to: dispencer2 (Nov 08, 2008 1:14 pm)
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Replying to: powderkegg (Nov 08, 2008 6:35 pm)
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Either Edmund's car was screwed up, or they don't know how to drive. I just returned an '08 LS Auto 2.2 Cobalt Coupe that I had rented and drove 800 miles. I flogged the heck out of the car, including 400 miles at over 80mph on I-70 in western CO and UT, and I got 34mpg. Actual measurement, not using the on dash display. I am for the most part a foreign car guy, but I was very impressed by the Cobalt. If GM could get the cheesiness out of the hard plastic on the dash, and give it some seats worth sitting in, this would be a viable alternative. Especially if they come into the 21st Century and put actual brakes on the rear axle. So close, and yet so far. |
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Replying to: dispencer2 (Nov 09, 2008 1:57 pm) I couldn't disagree more, but that'd be off-topic. I suggest those interested in replacement tires check out somewhere such as tire-rack to see the differences.
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Replying to: thegraduate (Nov 25, 2008 12:45 pm) Consumer Reports is much more reliable, though they don't report on nearly as many tires as tire rack. |
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| If Edmunds actually did their research then they would have known that you can get the XFE in a 1LT package with power windows, locks, cruise, keyless entry, and upgraded cloth seats. | |
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Replying to: thegraduate (Nov 25, 2008 12:45 pm)
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