If you combine sales of the Chevrolet Cobalt and Pontiac G5 together, only the Honda Civic outsold them in Canada during the 2008 calendar year. Yet the automotive press keeps ranking the Cobalt at the bottom of the compact-car crowd. Could it be that auto writers are completely devoid of common sense, or does this Chevy fulfill compact sedan buyers' needs? It might be a little of both.
Actually, one thing that helps a lot is GM's ad campaigns that emphasize the Cobalt's low finance rates. As this is being written, this Chevy can be financed at 0% for up to 72 months. Pay cash, and you get a rebate between $3,100 and $4,000 depending on the model. GM is also offering free maintenance for 3 years and free OnStar and XM radio for 2 years.
Low fuel consumption
The 2.2-litre engine in the Cobalt develops 155 horses and 150 lb-ft of torque. That's more ponies than the base engines in every compact sedan except the 170-hp Subaru Impreza and VW Jetta, which costs thousands more. Overall, it's an unexciting unit that gets the job done without fuss.
Unexciting here means that you don't really feel all that power underneath your right foot. Still, zero to 100 km/h takes 9.0 seconds, which isn't bad. The car's steering is pretty communicative, though, and the comfortable ride is one of the Cobalt's strongest points.
For XFE duty, the transmission gets a lower final drive ratio, which means slightly slower acceleration but lower revs at equal speed, and low-rolling resistance tires. GM claims 13-percent better consumption around town and 8 percent better on the highway. However, the winter tires on our test car eliminate part of the expected improvement.
Our result is an average of 7.4 L/100 km, which we think is pretty good for an engine of this size. The XFE mods seem to pay off around town, where the engine is happy to chug along at just 1,200 rpm. At 100 km/h, the tach is showing 2,200 rpm, and non-XFE Cobalt owners in Auto123.com's forum report the same numbers.
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| The Cobalt is a sympathetic car that offers a comfortable ride, decent interior space and good fuel economy. |
Actually, one thing that helps a lot is GM's ad campaigns that emphasize the Cobalt's low finance rates. As this is being written, this Chevy can be financed at 0% for up to 72 months. Pay cash, and you get a rebate between $3,100 and $4,000 depending on the model. GM is also offering free maintenance for 3 years and free OnStar and XM radio for 2 years.
Low fuel consumption
The 2.2-litre engine in the Cobalt develops 155 horses and 150 lb-ft of torque. That's more ponies than the base engines in every compact sedan except the 170-hp Subaru Impreza and VW Jetta, which costs thousands more. Overall, it's an unexciting unit that gets the job done without fuss.
Unexciting here means that you don't really feel all that power underneath your right foot. Still, zero to 100 km/h takes 9.0 seconds, which isn't bad. The car's steering is pretty communicative, though, and the comfortable ride is one of the Cobalt's strongest points.
For XFE duty, the transmission gets a lower final drive ratio, which means slightly slower acceleration but lower revs at equal speed, and low-rolling resistance tires. GM claims 13-percent better consumption around town and 8 percent better on the highway. However, the winter tires on our test car eliminate part of the expected improvement.
Our result is an average of 7.4 L/100 km, which we think is pretty good for an engine of this size. The XFE mods seem to pay off around town, where the engine is happy to chug along at just 1,200 rpm. At 100 km/h, the tach is showing 2,200 rpm, and non-XFE Cobalt owners in Auto123.com's forum report the same numbers.
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| The 2.2-litre engine in the Cobalt develops 155 horses and 150 lb-ft of torque. |