Ah, than I am sorry if it came off as offensive. I don't mean wrong wheel drive as to say anything other than that FWD is a serious restriction for modifications. Especially FWD with big torque, its just the physics of the beast. The SS in stock form is good, but it is at the level where even a little more torque will be detrimental to traction. With all wheel drive, you can increase output substantially and have almost no traction problems.

If the OP wants to compare a stock X to a GM stage 1, the X will of course be much, much slower, particularly on the highway. There is a 25whp handicap for the X because the Cobalt is modded and 400+ extra pounds to lug around.

I would also place Mitsubishi's warranty service below Chevrolet in the USA, I have no idea in Canada. So in those scenarios, I can't imagine why he would want to trade. But if he upgrades the Evo as he has upgraded the SS/TC, the reward would be higher.

People are different in what they want. We started saying wrong wheel drive years and years ago when we were modding DSMs, because the GS-T guys could claim nothing over the GSX guys except that they were faster from a 50mph highway roll. I learned that the hard way, because I was one of the guys with a GS-T. The Cobalt SS is an infinitely better handling and accelerating car than the GS-T was, but its still true that there is only so much a FWD car can manage.

 

whats funny the fact that evo x's highway power sucks stock and that a stock tc balt will beat it or the fact that ralliarts are a joke?

 

It's something I'll have to consider, as none of my vehicles will ever be modded out of a warranty. I did decide to move to the EVO once I get a company vehicle as well, as after the warranty, the car will likely be heavily modded, and I am aware that the Cobalt's drivetrain cant take advantage of much more hp, neverless the 300+tq its putting out now. The AWD is important to me as of right now, its just a matter of cost of ownership, as I easily put on over 1300 km a week on my car.

 

Cost of ownership is high.

 

For the SST or just the Evo in general? I used to think it was, but I have done all of the work minus the tuning on my own car and it's not bad at all. I don't go to the dealership for their 110.00 oil changes or whatever it is... well that's just terrible and some people should just learn how to do it themselves or get a friend to do it. I don't know about the SST issues though.

 

I'm talking in general as opposed to a Honda Civic or something like that.
Gas, insurance, tires, oil changes even if you do it yourself I use Mobile 1 which is more than some no name generic dino oil, etc.. When you factor everything in I think it's an expensive (relatively) to operate car.

 

Yeah, you could say that I suppose. I have to say though, even if I owned a civic, I would still put at the VERY least Mobil 1 in it and most likely AMSoil. I would always buy the best plugs, best tires that I could afford. Now, if you want to talk about important parts breaking then yeah it might be a lot higher. I'm sure if you don't put your own clutches in for instance, it will cost 400-500.00 more, of course mine has plenty of life left

This is just me though, I try to do my research and not buy crap, but go by reviews which is the reason I bought a 500.00 TBE vs. a 1200.00 or more one.. there is just no point when they are made from the same stuff, do the same thing, and result it just about the same power at the very least.

 

It's all relative.

An X might be expensive to operate compared to a Civic...but compared to any BMW/Benz it's dirt cheap. Ever look at some BMW repair bills?

In the subject of warranty...I don't think it matters what car company you have...dealers will void warranties on modded cars. If you look over at nasioc and mazda***********, there are numerous threads about Subaru and Mazda voiding warranties. Put yourself in the car manufacturers position...if you ship out a car and someone changes a bunch of drivetrain crap around and breaks something, you wouldn't want to be in the mood to pay for it either.

 

That's like finding a needle in a haystack.

That's what they all say. The mod bug WILL bite you. If warranty is your primary concern, don't waste your money/time on the X. It took me 3 months, 20 phone calls, 5 dealer visits (40 mins away) and a lot of stress to get my engine mounts done under warranty on a 100% stock X GSR att he same dealership I bought the car in. Go figure.

 

Dont look down on the ralliarts i saw one at the drag strip making really good time. he was running like 12.5

 

A modded Ralliart will be just as fast as an Evo (in a straight line)

 

That's pretty much it.

I had a '98 Civic for 10 years. I did regular oil changes and replaced the battery once, muffler once, and brakes once. My '06 Civic has just had oil changes so far. Oil changes on Civics are cheap.

But with an Evo, even the oil changes are more expensive. At 18k miles, I'd be over $400 in engine oil changes alone if I let the dealer do it, and I just had to change the transmission, diff, and transfer case oils (all of which were expensive). My brake pads are on their last legs, and I'll need new tires next season. If you don't do your own maintenance, it will most assuredly be more expensive than the Cobalt.

Then there's the unplanned modding you'll inevitably do. "I'll keep it stock" never seems to last for long... because, well, intake/exhaust/tune and for about $1.5-2k you're up 80-90hp.

You could say that about pretty much any car.

 

I couldn't resist, the "mod-bug" got me on the 4th day I got the car..

 

LMFAO!!!!

Maintenance from a dealer will suck if you go there....

And as far as the car staying stock, that is almost everyones "famous last quote" before they start investing into suspension, brakes, power upgrades.



If you get an EVO, let write up a review on both cars.

 

yea they can be faster then a stock evo.