ok guys, i've got a question. i'm still stuck here on guam for about 9 more months, then i get to come back to the states!

anyways, all this hype was made about the new cobalt ss and noone here has one. there isn't one on island. now today i decided to see if there was a forum up and running yet, and to my surprise there is a very good one. www.cobaltss.net

anyways, i didn't know they made an ss n/a and an ss s/c. that's interesting. when i saw that i figured the n/a ss would be stupid. but to my surprise, it's a totally different engine. try 2.4 instead of the 2.0 that comes in the ss s/c. i was like whoa. and i looked at some of the quarter mile times people were running and a lot of them are in the low 15s. like 15.2 to be exact. they are rated at like 171hp and 163ft/lb of torque.

now i know we would be killed by the s/c ss but has anyone raced the n/a ss? just curious as to how the RA would hold up to it. they seem to be pretty fast. very impressive times at least.

brad

 

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As you know, the strenght of the RA is in the overall package: power and handling. But with such similar numbers as far as power is concerned, I guess it's a question of the respective weights of the cars.

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any time the numbers are close its going to depend purely on the driver. I would also say it depends on who tested the SS as a low 15 second car. if it was car and driver, then i would say it should be a straight up race banking on the drivers ability.

 

Funny you mention this... I ran a stock red one a few weeks back (headed to a local car meet). After I won, I pull into the local spot and park. Told my friends... than guess who pulls up, haha. Yeah, cool guy... I ask to run again on camera, but he said nah, he has subs and his g/f was in the car.

There quick thou. I honestly thought it was s/c version... but totally forgot the s/c has that hideous wing on it,

 

I've only driven the LT... my girlfriend has one... and that is slow... it feels light but weighs 2800 lbs... and I've driven the ION Redline... that was a pretty quick car and is supposed to be similiar to the S/C SS... but the N/A SS is supposed to be a pretty quick car also...

 

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Okay, so now we know that the N/A SS weighs the same as the base RA (without S&S). That means that they should be pretty evenly matched to start with...

I think I'm with NonEvo on this one... the driver probably does most of the difference.

BTW: How much does it sell for? Is it more expensive than the RA? Does it come with all the goodies? Anyway, it probably can't out-handle the RA... I know for a fact that it's a twisting beam rear axle.

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If it drives like the LT than the handling sucks at any speed over 40... but the responsiveness around the city is really good... I believe the N/A SS is around 18-19K depending on options... I could be wrong on the price... the S/C goes for around 23K I think...

 

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There's no mention of ABS in the description of the SS on the GM site... let alone any hint of EBD. That's a deal breaker right there. Plus the N/A SS is listed 2000$CAN over the price of the RA (so about 1700$US). That's lame... you really have to like the look of the car (which I find rather bland) to buy this over the RA.

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Okay, found it:

Anti-lock brakes (ABS) - 4-wheel


Still, no EBD...

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It's no performance car... the S/C SS is a good straight line car... the interior is nice... my girlfriend's LT has heated leather, a pioneer 7 speaker system, sunroof, and a few other little gadgets... but again it's no performance car...

 

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It's more like a Mazda 3 kinda car then?

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^^Exactly... I've driven both and they are very close... they both dazzle you with accessories... I like driving it around cause it gets much better gas mileage... she's getting about 28 mpg in the city and she is a pretty spirited driver...

 

well, i'm glad to hear arithmetic beat one. that's another performance oriented car taken by a RA in the same class in my book. when i say class i mean other big 4 cylinders,(ser spec-v, tc, mazda3, cobalt ss n/a, etc). just wondering about how bad did you beat him? and was he stock? i don't think they have the same suspension as the s/c ss. on the gm site, it says tuned sport suspension while the s/c ss says performance handling suspension. so they probably aren't that great in the twisties or anything. that's another plus for the RA. i don't know why some people discriminate against the RA so badly. it seems to be the all around best car in it's class to me.

 

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Yeah... I'm kinda discouraged at this point. I mean, I tought things over for about 3 to 4 months before I finally got the RA. I decided it was the best package for the money... while other cars in the price range were slightly better for some things and slightly worst in others. And also, most of them were a bit more expensive when equipped with the same options (for those companies who actually could come up with all the features).

I knew the Spec-V was a bit faster, the Mazda 3 a bit more comfortable (and had these neat auto-wipers, but who really cares?) or that the Toyota XRS existed (what a ridiculously outgunned contender)... but the RA seemed the best deal of the bunch then, and I'm amazed that 2 years on it still is.

Now, if most people could understand that...

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yup, sounds like we have another car to join the competition. It is good to hear Arithemetic beating one.