Loading ...2009 Chevrolet Cobalt / Cobalt SS - Review
What’s new, highlights, and safety info for the 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt.
Introduction
The Cobalt might not be the best small car on sale in America, but a combination of good value and excellent gas mileage—37 mpg on the highway for LS and LT XFE models—has ensured that the car is selling well, although it still trails the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, and Ford Focus in overall sales.
The Cobalt is offered in coupe and sedan body styles, with two different engines. The base powerplant is a 2.2-liter, inline four-cylinder engine that produces 155 hp, an increase of 7 hp over the 2008 model, thanks to the addition of variable valve timing. The SS coupe and sedan use a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four that produces a whopping 260 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque. The SS has a five-speed manual transmission—this is also standard on LS and LT models, although they offer an optional four-speed automatic, a transmission type unavailable on the SS.
Verdict
The Cobalt was introduced as a 2005 model, and looks nice enough, but suffers from a drab, cheap-seeming interior and somewhat unrefined engines. Plus, a four-speed automatic transmission seems like ancient technology nowadays.
However, the latest revisions to the XFE models (see below) promise even better fuel economy than the ’08 XFE returned; city driving remains at 25 mpg, but highway mileage has improved from 36 to 37 mpg.
Full Story Via CarandDriver.com
Filed under: Cars, Transportation
