2009 Chevrolet Cobalt SS Sedan

The turbocharged Cobalt SS is good. Not just not bad, but genuinely good. We took a coupe down to Virginia for our annual Lightning Lap track-fest, and it dominated its class, setting a new front-drive record and lapping VIR’s 4.2-mile Grand Course more quickly than either a Subaru WRX or a Mitsubishi Evolution MR, not to mention plenty of higher-pedigreed and far-pricier machinery, including a Honda S2000 CR and the 416-hp Lexus IS F. And now it’s available with four doors.

Like the coupe, the Cobalt SS sedan is blessed with a 2.0-liter, direct-injection, turbocharged four-cylinder stirring up 260 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque. A five-speed manual is the only transmission available. All the SS extras that come with the coupe are included on the sedan, meaning the same suspension treatment, the same Brembo front brakes, and the same body mods.

And just like the coupe, the SS sedan works remarkably well. GM is not known for small-car excellence, but if it keeps this up, it will be. A stable 0.92 g on the skidpad is outstanding for this class. At the limit, the Cobalt remains responsive and easily controlled, without sacrificing comfort and confidence on uneven roads the way the Mazdaspeed 3 does. With such excellent wheel and body control, the ride-and-handling balance demonstrates a level of expertise—dare we say passion?—Chevrolet has heretofore only achieved with the Corvette.

Primary-control feel, too, is class-leading. Often, the words “speed-sensitive electric power steering” on a spec sheet mean feedback as clear as Charlie Brown gets from his teacher, but not so in the Cobalt. It’s tight, quick, and pretty chatty. The brake pedal is easy to modulate, and the binders haul the Cobalt down from 70 mph in just 163 feet—2 feet longer than the last Evo we tested.

Mighty as the 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt SS’s performance may be, it still springs from the lowly Cobalt, so those who overlook the unique fascia and SS-specific wheels will still see a rental special, and the interior is constructed primarily of plastics cheap enough to be rejected from a Chinese toy factory; the Tata Nano probably has a fancier parking-brake lever. It’s offensive to think Chevrolet can do no better. And our taller drivers report that the SS desperately needs a telescoping steering wheel, an item several in this class include as standard equipment but one that the Cobalt doesn’t even offer as an option.

© Source: caranddriver
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