Saturn Ion Redline and Chevy Cobalt SS

[BirdOfPrey01]

They were made to compete with the neon srt-4 and ford focus.

From what i'v heard, these cars could have been something special.

But again GM waters down their cars with piss poor performance.

From what i'v heard, the saturn ion redline would probably be in srt-4 territory if they...

Changed changed the gearing
Did not have fuel cutoff at 5600 rpm

This is very sad, a 200 horsepower, 200 ft pound torque supercharged 4 cylinder engine with a car weight of 2900 pounds is pulling a mid 15 second pass at its best.

What I cannot understand is where GM is comming from...

They create a sporty type car, but they ruin all hope of it being quick by putting highway gearing on it with a horrid rev limited and lots of extra weight.

They expect this to compete with the srt-4? Hah, it won't even compete with the v6 f-body if they still were manufactured.

I'm hearing the same about the cobalt... same problems that the saturn ion has.... its friggin SLOW! Can't even compare them to a DSM or Srt-4.


Why does Gm shy away from turbocharger technology?

I underastand the roots supercharger is cheaper to manufacture but hell, you get what you pay for. And i sure as hell would never pay 20 thousand and more for a saturn or cobalt when you can buy a srt-4 for the same price and make a 13 second pass. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[vanbibber]

you would think that we would be used to this by now wouldnt you?

as of late i think james put it best GM=Crap

they need to get it together. at least pontiac is making strides. not on the 4 banger level though.

[1fstSS]

car and driver clocked the new cobalt SS in at 14.6, do a pully swap on it and yoiur in the 13's, a few more minor bolt-ons and your dippin mid to low 13's. the cobalt SS has potential!!

[RedFrk13]

Originally posted by 1fstSS:
car and driver clocked the new cobalt SS in at 14.6, do a pully swap on it and yoiur in the 13's, a few more minor bolt-ons and your dippin mid to low 13's. the cobalt SS has potential!!

Yes, I read that article. 14.6 @ 98 sounds like great time to me. V6 fbodys can only dream of hitting 98 from the factory. I also read an article about how it outhandles almost any car including the vette(not Z06). I think the car has great potential, maybe not as much as the SRT4, but im sure it will kill it in reliability. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[3.4 slow to go]

but haven't you heard.....fwd is crap, so why bother???? :rolleyes:

[KBeezy]

actually Ion RLs have been pullin high 14s in the mid-high 90s. SS Cobalts have been tested to pull 14.6's trapping in the high 90s..

SS Cobalts are faster in slalom testing than a Z51 (handling/suspension package) C6 Corvette.... Fact...


Ion RedLine's 5spd is a higher torque capacity version of the NA 5spd they use in those cars. The SS 5spd is a totally different getrag 5spd they share with sports cars over in Europe.

[99v6cam]

Not too familiar with the Ion redline specs but it doesn't seem too bad. The Cobalt seems very good except for stock boost being already at 12 or 14psi (something right around there). Makes me feeel like the motor doesn't have much potential if it needs 12 pounds of boost to make 205hp...

[cassie]

I think it's a good thing. I personally don't want everyone zooming around the roads at excessively high speeds.

If you want to make a car fast, make it a racecar, don't make cheap compact cars that are only really made to get you from point a to point b fast, it's really quite dumb. Once again, these cars which are bought by the masses (mostly young people) and don't need to be the kind of cars that are built excessively fast.

[WishIHad$$$]

Yeah with a mid-high 90's mph trap and mid 14 second passes, I don't think that's too bad at all. Better than most of the V6fbodies here on this site. The car actually has closer to 200WHP. I'd take it over the SRT-4, the Cobalt has a better interior and is a new model, probably a lot better built than the Pikachu-On-Wheels Neon fagmobile.

[00firebird]

i actually dont mind the cobalt, if i wanted to buy a really cheap point A to B car, the cobalt would be it. but the firebird is just too damn sexy to let go for anything but a vette/viper ;) .

[RedFrk13]

Originally posted by 99v6cam:
Not too familiar with the Ion redline specs but it doesn't seem too bad. The Cobalt seems very good except for stock boost being already at 12 or 14psi (something right around there). Makes me feeel like the motor doesn't have much potential if it needs 12 pounds of boost to make 205hp...

I think the SRT-4 runs around 12 psi also. The Mitsu EVO runs 19 psi. The SS only has m62, im sure there will be a kit for an m90 and also a turbo kit in the future. [img]smile.gif[/img]

I am really impressed with the cobolt ss. It seems like a great car for 20k and I would take it over an srt4. It might not be as fast in the 1/4, but it outhandles it and I just dont trust chrysler. [img]smile.gif[/img]

I dont know why GM stop using turbos. I think the last production car/truck they had with a turbo was the Typhoon is 93. They have been doing well with the supercharger, but I would rather see the turbos come back so they can dominate like they did when they used them.

[V8 Killer]

I'd buy the Cobalt...

[5SpeedBird]

Why didn't Gm keep using Turbo 3.8s in the 3rd gen??? Cause GM has to do everything different. Doesn't matter that they have proven performing power plants. They will not use anything but what is designed at GM corp offices.

GM sucks in many way now that its all CORP. We had much better cars when each brand had its own mind to use.

[GreenDragon]

I think Gm was bought out by HONDA Secretly ,Just to make us suffer ;)

[WickEdSix9838]

a 14.6@98 MPH? 98MPH proves its got a ton of potential. By that MPH its got enough power to run 13's with the stock motor. I wouldnt say thats too bad.