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The Cobalt carries with it one heavy anchor driving down expectations: the fact that its platform underpins the Saturn Ion, one of the worst cars unleashed on the public in recent years. No matter what move you make with that car - accelerate, brake, turn, or even check your speed – its reaction makes you feel like you made a mistake. The Cobalt proves that these days, likening cars from the same family too closely can be a mistake as well.
The Cobalt first impresses with its isolation abilities, swallowing most cracks and ruts well enough to make it one of the easiest riders out there. Descriptions come to mind that never would about the Ion or Cavalier: calm, controlled, composed. "Choppy" might be expected now that the back half of the car is suspended by the torsion-beam design that Volkswagen is abandoning in order to improve their cars, but the effects of lessened independence are felt only occasionally. It's also pretty quiet until wind noise creeps in on the freeway. Is the German-made Opel Astra, whose design heavily influenced the Cobalt's, the one to thank for this profound rise in standards?
Steering that so loosely corresponds to directional heading in the Saturn got a major recalibration for the Chevy. It's still pretty low on feel and the effort doesn't vary naturally (it's designed to step up or down inversely of car speed), but when you're just commuting and don't think about it, the Cobalt steers perfectly fine. Because the wheel can do nearly two full rotations in either direction, you'd think response would be slow, and Chevrolet's listed curb weight of 3,216 pounds would make the Cobalt the most slow-witted compact car out there. That must have been a website typo; the Cobalt weighs in at 2,900 pounds on everyone else's scale. The steering specs are also wrong: "2.6 turns lock to lock" should read 3.6, and the 14.7 ratio should read 16.6. Never mind the numbers and mark these words: the steering is agreeably responsive and the car doesn't feel ponderous.
There's a little body lean and a little more brake dive, but decent tire grip with the 16-inch wheel option. While the entertainment factor can't hope to approach that other German-American car, the Ford Focus (they stand at opposite ends of the steering feel spectrum, for one), the Cobalt gives up little pleasure to VW's new Jetta or the Civic/Corolla class leaders.
GM often gets blasted for using yester-decade's powertrain parts, but while the Cobalt's Ecotec engine is a Cavalier carryover, it was only born in 2002. Read the resume: 2.2 liters, twin camshafts, timing chain, 16 valves, 10:1 compression ratio, 145 horsepower, 155 pounds-feet of torque, 6,500 RPM redline, 87 octane. Those are the right numbers and that's as modern as it needs to be. The Cobalt has enough grunt to get going (no more, no less), though 24 miles per gallon is less than expected. Some have complained about the throaty engine - something I personally liked - so play back the Cobalt's soundtrack for yourself. It's safe to say noise is a bit much above 4,000 RPM, though, and going above that point always set off a dashboard buzz in our car. The parking brake light also flashed at two random times. Hmm...
Much ruckus is also made at the installation of 4-speed automatics in all mainstream GM cars. While this is an omission on the Malibu and everything on up, four gears is still par for small cars, so Chevy's off the hook. And since only Mazda and VW provide manual-shift controls, no points lost there either. More importantly, the Cobalt shifts between its gears with good judgment and no drama.
There is some cheapness in the rear drum brakes, which explain the not-stellar stopping distances and the soft pedal. But the action is smooth, not touchy or grabby, and just two inches to the right sits a perfectly calibrated gas pedal.
Here's the bottom line on this christened Chevy. Driving the Cavalier inspired you to demand your $29.99 back from Avis; driving a Cobalt might encourage a dealership visit.
Some years ago, Chevy took an Ergonomics 101 crash course and started building tolerable interiors, first seen on the 1995 Cavalier and Lumina. The presentation showed lessons learned in functionality and control logic. Since that time, they must have gone back to get their Bachelor's, because the new Cobalt now supplements the basics with some know-how in aesthetics, materials quality, and tactile appeal.
The switches, levers, and compartments have either firmly defined or well-damped motions. Our tester didn't have the cloth seats most Cobalts will, but the leather covering the steering wheel, shifter, and seat surface is of an unusually high grade, and no one cheaped out by making the fronts and sides out of vinyl. Rather, they're covered with a finely-woven cloth that also covers the roof. The important surfaces are properly padded; bang your elbow on the armrest all you like. The Sport Package's tacky white-faced gauges are offset by the tasteful use of chrome; even the fake aluminum doesn't look so bad. The sunroof switch trim piece that fell off and front windows that close at different rates (only 1,600 miles on this car's test life) struck a sour note, but otherwise, Chevrolet just set a new attention-to-detail record.
Complaints: the door locks and too-wide cupholders could use work, an interior trunk release would be nice, and when you turn off the Daytime Running Lights (which you must do on every drive), the car dings multiple times and an "AUTO LIGHTS OFF" billboard springs up in the dash, as if to say "turning off your headlights at 2 PM - are you insane?"
Though most controls were basically modeled after the Japanese way, some deserve special mention. Whereas in GM's trucks, random buttons and functions are simply sneezed onto the steering wheel spokes, the Cobalt houses all of its controls in a logical, symmetrical manner that indicates careful thought. Quite encouraging. There are a lot to memorize, but that's probably a non-issue for anyone who actually owned one. And proving that there is a God, the Saturn Ion's cyclopean center-mounted speedometer idea was given a resounding NO.
And now, all this improved interior scenery can be enjoyed without squirming. The Cavalier was infamous for flimsily-padded seats that also caused a sinking feeling, and a recent Chevy TrailBlazer I drove - a brand new 2002 design - had the most phenomenally torturous driver's seat I've ever sampled in a production vehicle. So it was quite a shock to spend four hours in a Cobalt with not a trace of damage to my skeleton. Firm padding and good shaping mean arms, legs, thighs, and backs emerge feeling refreshed. If you trade up from a Cav to a Cobalt, your chiropractor will miss you.
I give the front seat one thumb up. The other goes up when they extend the driver's cushion and add an angle adjuster for thigh support, and when they relax the intrusive head restraint that tilts noggins downward. The back seat remains a sore point, with a low-mounted bench and inadequate room for every body part. Despite the Cobalt's largish 180.3-inch body, only 96.4 cubic feet of space got allocated to the interior, making the Cobalt the only car of this size that didn't make the "compact" class cut. Yep, it's a subcompact. Again, Chevrolet casts Ford in a very favorable light, as its Focus, the master of packaging, somehow managed a whopping 12.5 extra interior cubes despite a shorter body. At least the Cobalt's back seat has two high-mounted head restraints - two more than the Cav had then or the Focus has now. Also, the Cobalt has the full side air bag package - including curtains for all - that some still fail to provide. And the government will have you know that the Cobalt crashes much safer than the Cavalier.
Chevrolet also showed attention outside the car. The expensive-feeling door handles are of the friendly-pull variety, struts suspend both the hood and trunk (unheard of except in VWs) and the trunk is a big 13.9-foot box with a cargo net.
Providing driver entertainment is a Driver Information Center that tells calculates average speed, gas mileage, miles to empty, coolant temperature, outside temperature, and tells you when to get your oil change. Pretty rare for this class. And Chevrolet followed Scion's lead in providing entertainment for all with a phatter-than-phat Pioneer stereo whose speakers pump out some of the cleanest treble and bass you'll hear at this price. Chevrolet even one-upped Scion by designing a more sensible head unit. Note that the more feature-laden stereo (MP3, RDS, auto volume control) and the Pioneer speakers are bought separately for $150 a piece. You can buy XM, too. And OnStar.
$14,190 buys the base model stickshift Cobalt, which comes with air, CD player, 15-inch wheels, and no power goodies. It's an extra $2,295 for the additions of the Cobalt LS: power windows/locks/mirrors, better front seats, map lights, floor mats, cruise control, keyless entry, alloy wheels, and antilock brakes. (Isn't it nice how ABS is standard on even the mid-level trim?) From an automatic LS, it's a final $1,425 to the automatic-only $18,760 Cobalt LT, which adds traction control, heated leather seats, leather wheel with radio controls, Pioneer stereo, and 16-inch wheels to its sedan-only body. All of those items can be added to the LS piece by piece. Unlike Saturn, Chevy doesn't charge extra for the coupe body.
Appealing to a different crowd is the Cobalt SS, armed with a smaller-but-supercharged 205-horsepower version of the Ecotec engine, a beefier 5-speed manual transmission (only), sport suspension, disc brakes, and 18-inch wheels. Leather everything (sans seat heaters) and the good stereo parts are standard on this $21,995 Dodge Neon SRT-4 challenger.
There's no Pontiac Sunfire equivalent anymore (except in Canada, where it's now called the Pursuit) and there's no Cavalier coupe or Z24. What really matters: a 2005 Cobalt LS starts $370 below a 2005 Cavalier LS. When each is optioned out the way I'd personally want - automatic, side air bags, good stereo, alloy wheels - the tab comes out to exactly $18,625 on both, but again, the Cobalt packs a bit more equipment. Charging less cash, for more stuff, on a better car? Any objections?
The MSRP advantage over competitors isn't too significant, though. A loaded-up Corolla, Civic, 3, and Focus each hover around $19K. Of course, the issue of rebates comes into play, but then, so does resale value, which by the way is more than a little bit connected. From where I stand, the Cobalt is a more accomplished car than the Ion, the Neon, the Sentra, the Forenza - maybe about level with the Elantra or Lancer - if behind all the others. In the What You See Is What You Get department, it rates mid-pack.
What you can't see are those two nagging questions that accompany any new car design, and might warrant a postpone in purchase. One is reliability, where GM's generally stabilizing quality collides with the flaws found in our test car. The other, again, is resale value, which has never been great. But all the myriad advances that took place in the Cavalier-Cobalt transition should give that number a boost, if there's any justice in the world.
While it breaks no new ground, the kind of thinking that went into this Cobalt is what can save GM.
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