Been a while.. bonneville ousted.. enter cobalt ss

[JBMark33]

I have been pretty much absent from the forum for quite a while. A lot of things have been going on in my life. Had a big breakup with my girlfriend of 4 years, and found out a couple months later, my girlfriend from middle school/high school broke up with her boyfriend of 4 years and we started talking again.. none the less we have been together for 2 years now with plans to get married after I graduate from college next spring. Also, my parents are muddling through a divorce and drawing lines in the sand. Needless to say, I had just been doing what the bonneville needed, at the time and haven't done any modifications beyond what's already been done. Recently, I had to replace a evap. vent valve, new fuel pump, and I ended up breaking a coil spring so I had to replace both loaded strut assemblies up front to keep the car from sitting crooked. Got an alignment after that. It has brand new Fuzion HRi tires on the alloy rims and I just ran the Firestone Winterforces studded on 16" steelies for the winter. Inspection is due next week and I found out that my frame had a very large rust hole in the frame right under the driver's seat. I thought the car was done for, so I went after my friend's cobalt ss. He just found out he's going to have his third child, and the car seat was already tough to get into the backseat with.. so he ended up selling it to me. Ended up being able to fix the bonneville for $265 for some welding work with chip guard. Oh well, I am having a lot of fun in the Cobalt. Getting better mileage.. avg is 25.5 mpg's on 93 pump gas with 75% of my driving being highway and 25% city/short distance driving on winter blend fuel. The bonneville was getting 20 - 21 mpgs.

KBB says $13,300 and I got it for $11,500...$12,300 after tax/title. Comes with 16" Steelies that have Blizzaks on them. It just got inspected and just got new rear brakes. The summer rims have new Hankook, z-rated summers on the stock 18's. This car is so smooth and quiet on the highway, it's almost unreal. The amount of power I have in every gear, is just outstanding.


Sunburst Orange Metallic
Supercharged 2.0 L Ecotec
runs on premium
weight = 2,991 lbs
Boost gage on pillar
5 speed manual
205 hp
200 lb-ft
18" rims
0-60 in 6.63 seconds
1/4 mile in 15.02 seconds
Limited slip differential
Recaro racing seats
7 Speaker Pioneer System (w/ built in 10" sub)
actually seats 5 (uncomfortably), 4 is snug and comfy
sun roof
rear seats fold down 60-40

Stock Dyno:


max: 208 hp


Factory Installed: Stage II
GM Performance 3" Catback exhaust
Larger fuel injectors
Smaller supercharger pulley
Computer Re-Map
Pushing 250hp

Just installed a 3" K&N air filter and opened up the airbox which is already in the wheel well.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGvuYVsU2do

[vogie01]

Nice rig!! My neighbor has the exact same car in black. Haven't got to drive it.....yet. How do you like the tires on the Cobalt wheels? They have been bugging me to help them find tires, but hard to find good ones that are not expensive as all hell.

[JBMark33]

Right now, I have brand new Hankook's waiting on my 18's.. but they were about $225/corner.

For my next set of tires, I am looking at these.. quite a bit cheaper:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... percharged

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... percharged

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... percharged

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... percharged

[vogie01]

The tread patterns on the all except the Kumo's look really aggressive. Not a fan of Kumo's at all. Just took a set of Kumo's off my Mom's Accent that came on it when she bought it brand new. They were horrible in the rain, and snow.

[00Beast]

Nice looking little rocket you got there!!

I def. can't recommend Kumho tires to anyone after my poor experience w/ them. My Yoko's are holding out well, but not great in snow. General usually makes a good tire too. Just my $.02.

[willwren]

Funny how tires go. My Kumho's have been great in rain, snow, and ice on the SLEeper.

[BonneMe]

Can't blame brands of tires from one model you weren't satisfied with.

You've got snow tires, That car needs a sportier set of tires than what you have listed!

[JBMark33]

I am trying to decide whether I should sell my Blizzaks and get either General Altimax Arctic's or the Firestone Winterforces. Not sure about studs either. The bonneville went through anything when I had the studded Winterforces on it. But I also enjoy not having the louder road noise too. Not sure yet.

It certainly seems that of the studless snow tires, the Blizzaks certainly do the best:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqvS0gOemr0

Almost hands down, the General Altimax Arctics seem to do best (even without studs):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaIfx_IV0vU

[00Beast]

I love the Altimax Arctic's on our GXP, and want to get a set for my SSEi.

However, unless you're really unhappy w/ your Blizzaks, I don't think it's a great idea to swap to something else. Just my $.02.

[JBMark33]

I'm not totally unhappy with them. I do live in the woods, with a gravel driveway that has a decent hill on it. The paved roads around where I live are higher elevation and often are covered with packed snow and ice. I have been able to go through deeper snow on paved and un-paved roads without any issues, but I have also slid significantly on ice-covered roads, especially in turning.

[PRD2BDF]

If you have the means, fine, swap but if you don't feel like spending money, don't.

Nice Cobalt, I don't care what anyone else says but I think Cobalt SS(s or es?) are nice cars.

The Saab gets about 28-29 MPG 80% highway on crappy winter blend 93. It's turbocharged though.

[JBMark33]

What year and model is your Saab? What size and cylinder configuration is your engine?

[00Beast]

I think the only real way to get ice traction is to use studs. I didn't put many miles on our GXP this winter, but the few I did I had no problem on slick surfaces. You can probably re-coup most your costs by selling the Blizzaks, so yeah, i say go for it.

[PRD2BDF]

The info is under my avatar.

It's a 2005 Saab 9-3 Arc. It's the 2.0L 4cylinder. From what I understand, our blocks are identical but the intake/method of forced induction is different.

[petraman]

Hey Stranger! I've been trying to look for your car around campus, but I haven't seen it yet... I didn't know about the stuff going on around you, I guess that's why I haven't seen much of you lately... Hopefully I'll see you around more, how's the MET classes going?

[repinS]

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... percharged

I would SO get those Hankook for the GXP if they came in 235/50/18. Very impressive tire, great in the wet and an excellent value for the money. As for your snows, if those Blizzaks (WS-50, WS-60, or WS-70?) have good tread on them, you will probably find that you won't gain anything at all by switching to the General Altimax Arctic or Firestone Winterforce if you don't stud them. The Blizzaks shine on ice and probably have a little bit better road manners than the other two, but in deep snow you might find that the General or Firestone is better.

If you will be studding tires (not legal where I am), have a look at the Hankook W409 i*Pike. They are studdable and have a VERY similar tread pattern to the General Altimax Arctic, yet are a bit cheaper - at least in Canada. I'm VERY happy with the set I have in 215/60/17, the skinny size makes the GXP almost invincible in the snow... at the compromise of highway stability and general squirm when cornering. I had the Generals in 215/60/16 on the SSEi last year, and performance is very similar between the two.

[2000CadillacSTS]

Very nice. I LOVE Sunburst Orange.