The Cavalier killer
10-30-2004, 09:32 AM
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The Cavalier killer
From: Toronto Star
Oct 30, 2004
JIM KENZIE
SHANNONVILLE, Ont.—We used to bemoan the fact that European small cars were so much better than domestically-built ones.
The excuse was value. North Americans demanded so much more cubic volume of car for the dollar that European cars big enough to succeed were too expensive. So while we got cars with similar names — Cavalier being the best example — they were nowhere near as good.
That started to change with various "world cars" from the companies, actually in the early '80s; then with more recent models like Ford's Focus.
Now, speaking of Cavalier, here is the 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt, destined to replace the well-past-its-best-buy-date Cavalier, which ends its days as a 2005 model that's soon to disappear from the lots.
Cobalt is based on GM's global Delta compact car architecture, which actually debuted last year on the Saturn Ion, and is also used by GM Europe's outstanding new Opel/Vauxhall Astra.
Cobalt will be available in sedan and notchback coupe body styles, each in, eventually, four trim levels.
The base models start at $15,495. The LS versions — expected to be the big sellers — are $19,795, while the LT sedan is $22,995, and the SS Supercharged coupe $24,995.
The SS coupe and sedan debut next year as 2006 models.
Chevy is billing Cobalt as a "premium'' small car, leaving the lower end of the market to the Korean-built Aveo.
It looks the part from the outside, with handsome proportions, wheels big enough to fill the wheel wells even on the lower trim levels, and chrome accents and door handles on the LT.
The theme continues inside. Cobalt may have the best-quality interior of any GM car at anywhere near this price. Soft-touch materials, decent hard plastics, nice fabrics — and it's all screwed together well. My two testers were pre-production cars, but they didn't need that disclaimer as an excuse.
There's lots of room in the front seats. The up-level LT has a pivoting armrest, which shares a problem with the VW Jetta: When it's down, it's hard to access the pull-up handbrake.
There are cupholders, cubby bins and storage pockets all over the place — even a trough on the centre console for pens.
The rear seat is okay, although adult knees will be a bit elevated. There is some room under the front seats for rear-seat riders' toes.
The trunk is spacious and well shaped. The rear seat back split-folds, but you can only access the release catches from the trunk — presumably, a security issue.
The premium image is let down when you fire up the car — powertrain refinement isn't up to Honda or Mazda levels yet. The loaded automatic LT suffered from a variety of whiny, whirry noises from the transmission — I'm guessing torque converter.
The five-speed manual on the LT clearly needed some adjustment because it was difficult to engage the three gears in the rear half of the gate — second, fourth and reverse.
The engine generates good performance, though, both off-the-line and in the mid-range. It gets a little loud and coarse as revs rise, but at highway speeds, it's comfortably relaxed: 100 km/h translates into 2,300 rpm in the five-speed, 2,100 with the autobox.
The engine tends to hang up between shifts on the manual, and in the automatic; the car seemed happy to run on its own with no throttle at around 35 km/h. Another needed adjustment? Or is this something to do with emissions?
The ride is good, and the solid structure is evident by the things you don't hear and feel: no shake, no twist, no rattles. The steering doesn't have a great deal of feel or feedback, but the assist level is about right and it's consistent throughout the engine speed range.
The car feels nimble in the corners, so if there is a drawback to staying with the old torsion beam rear suspension, it won't be evident to most Cobalt owners.
The Delta platform is exceptionally stiff, measuring a world-class (i.e., high) level of 27 hertz in bending. As we've noted many times, a stout body shell returns benefits in ride, handling, safety and quality.
GM has stuck with the MacStrut front suspension and torsion-beam rear axle set-up, pretty much invented by the VW Golf/Rabbit in the mid-'70s. Most of the competitors — Focus, Civic, Mazda3, next-generation Golf — have gone to a more expensive fully independent rear, which should pay off in better ride and handling, not to mention improved luggage space, because that design can usually be made more compact.
We'll see.
Brakes are disc front/drum rear on all but the SS Supercharged coupe, which gets four-wheel discs. ABS is standard on all but the base trim level. Steering is rack and pinion, with electric power assist.
Two engines from the Ecotech family will be offered at launch, both with twin chain-driven overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder and aluminum block and head. The 2.2 litre, already in several GM cars, produces 145 horsepower at 5,600 rpm and 155 lb.-ft. of torque at 4,000 rpm.
It is fitted to all models except the SS Supercharged coupe, which gets a 2.0-litre Ecotech with an Eaton helical Rootes-type supercharger, to generate 205 hp at 5,600 rpm and 200 lb.-ft. at 4,400 rpm.
The SS versions will get a new 2.4-litre Ecotech.
A five-speed Getrag manual is standard on all but the LT sedan, which gets a four-speed automatic. That's an option on all but the Supercharged coupe, which uses a unique close-ratio five-speed manual.
The safety story includes five three-point seatbelts, LATCH child seat anchors, dual-stage front airbags and available side curtain airbags. The government crash tests haven't been completed yet, but GM internal measurements lead them to expect double five-star for driver and front passenger.
Equipment levels are high; a CD player, a real litmus test for young buyers, is standard across the board. Air conditioning likewise on all but the base trim level.
For those who want to downsize but not down-equip, Cobalt even offers such things as leather upholstery, heated seats and a killer MP3-compatible Pioneer sound system with trunk-mounted sub-woofer — stuff that is largely unheard of as factory fit in the small-car segment.
Doug Parks, vehicle chief engineer for Cobalt, says he thinks his car is superior to any competitive small car, foreign or domestic, and specifically mentions Honda Civic, Ford Focus and Toyota Corolla as being in his gunsights.
He didn't mention Mazda3, perhaps for good reason — it isn't Canada's reigning Car of the Year for nothing.
I don't think Cobalt exactly puts any of those cars on the trailer, but it is at least competitive on most attributes, ranks among the best for interior quality, but still lags in mechanical refinement — long an issue with domestic small cars.
I'm sure it was no coincidence that Chevy introduced the low-priced Aveo a year before Cobalt, so the market would be cushioned for the big price leap between the outgoing Cavalier — as low as $12,000 — to a comparably equipped Cobalt, which would be some four to five grand more expensive — this in a market segment where prospects have been known to walk away over two hundred bucks.
It's a bit of a gamble, but Cobalt seems well-armed to take on the challenge.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
wheels@thestar.ca
jim@jimkenzie.com
Oct 30, 2004
JIM KENZIE
SHANNONVILLE, Ont.—We used to bemoan the fact that European small cars were so much better than domestically-built ones.
The excuse was value. North Americans demanded so much more cubic volume of car for the dollar that European cars big enough to succeed were too expensive. So while we got cars with similar names — Cavalier being the best example — they were nowhere near as good.
That started to change with various "world cars" from the companies, actually in the early '80s; then with more recent models like Ford's Focus.
Now, speaking of Cavalier, here is the 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt, destined to replace the well-past-its-best-buy-date Cavalier, which ends its days as a 2005 model that's soon to disappear from the lots.
Cobalt is based on GM's global Delta compact car architecture, which actually debuted last year on the Saturn Ion, and is also used by GM Europe's outstanding new Opel/Vauxhall Astra.
Cobalt will be available in sedan and notchback coupe body styles, each in, eventually, four trim levels.
The base models start at $15,495. The LS versions — expected to be the big sellers — are $19,795, while the LT sedan is $22,995, and the SS Supercharged coupe $24,995.
The SS coupe and sedan debut next year as 2006 models.
Chevy is billing Cobalt as a "premium'' small car, leaving the lower end of the market to the Korean-built Aveo.
It looks the part from the outside, with handsome proportions, wheels big enough to fill the wheel wells even on the lower trim levels, and chrome accents and door handles on the LT.
The theme continues inside. Cobalt may have the best-quality interior of any GM car at anywhere near this price. Soft-touch materials, decent hard plastics, nice fabrics — and it's all screwed together well. My two testers were pre-production cars, but they didn't need that disclaimer as an excuse.
There's lots of room in the front seats. The up-level LT has a pivoting armrest, which shares a problem with the VW Jetta: When it's down, it's hard to access the pull-up handbrake.
There are cupholders, cubby bins and storage pockets all over the place — even a trough on the centre console for pens.
The rear seat is okay, although adult knees will be a bit elevated. There is some room under the front seats for rear-seat riders' toes.
The trunk is spacious and well shaped. The rear seat back split-folds, but you can only access the release catches from the trunk — presumably, a security issue.
The premium image is let down when you fire up the car — powertrain refinement isn't up to Honda or Mazda levels yet. The loaded automatic LT suffered from a variety of whiny, whirry noises from the transmission — I'm guessing torque converter.
The five-speed manual on the LT clearly needed some adjustment because it was difficult to engage the three gears in the rear half of the gate — second, fourth and reverse.
The engine generates good performance, though, both off-the-line and in the mid-range. It gets a little loud and coarse as revs rise, but at highway speeds, it's comfortably relaxed: 100 km/h translates into 2,300 rpm in the five-speed, 2,100 with the autobox.
The engine tends to hang up between shifts on the manual, and in the automatic; the car seemed happy to run on its own with no throttle at around 35 km/h. Another needed adjustment? Or is this something to do with emissions?
The ride is good, and the solid structure is evident by the things you don't hear and feel: no shake, no twist, no rattles. The steering doesn't have a great deal of feel or feedback, but the assist level is about right and it's consistent throughout the engine speed range.
The car feels nimble in the corners, so if there is a drawback to staying with the old torsion beam rear suspension, it won't be evident to most Cobalt owners.
The Delta platform is exceptionally stiff, measuring a world-class (i.e., high) level of 27 hertz in bending. As we've noted many times, a stout body shell returns benefits in ride, handling, safety and quality.
GM has stuck with the MacStrut front suspension and torsion-beam rear axle set-up, pretty much invented by the VW Golf/Rabbit in the mid-'70s. Most of the competitors — Focus, Civic, Mazda3, next-generation Golf — have gone to a more expensive fully independent rear, which should pay off in better ride and handling, not to mention improved luggage space, because that design can usually be made more compact.
We'll see.
Brakes are disc front/drum rear on all but the SS Supercharged coupe, which gets four-wheel discs. ABS is standard on all but the base trim level. Steering is rack and pinion, with electric power assist.
Two engines from the Ecotech family will be offered at launch, both with twin chain-driven overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder and aluminum block and head. The 2.2 litre, already in several GM cars, produces 145 horsepower at 5,600 rpm and 155 lb.-ft. of torque at 4,000 rpm.
It is fitted to all models except the SS Supercharged coupe, which gets a 2.0-litre Ecotech with an Eaton helical Rootes-type supercharger, to generate 205 hp at 5,600 rpm and 200 lb.-ft. at 4,400 rpm.
The SS versions will get a new 2.4-litre Ecotech.
A five-speed Getrag manual is standard on all but the LT sedan, which gets a four-speed automatic. That's an option on all but the Supercharged coupe, which uses a unique close-ratio five-speed manual.
The safety story includes five three-point seatbelts, LATCH child seat anchors, dual-stage front airbags and available side curtain airbags. The government crash tests haven't been completed yet, but GM internal measurements lead them to expect double five-star for driver and front passenger.
Equipment levels are high; a CD player, a real litmus test for young buyers, is standard across the board. Air conditioning likewise on all but the base trim level.
For those who want to downsize but not down-equip, Cobalt even offers such things as leather upholstery, heated seats and a killer MP3-compatible Pioneer sound system with trunk-mounted sub-woofer — stuff that is largely unheard of as factory fit in the small-car segment.
Doug Parks, vehicle chief engineer for Cobalt, says he thinks his car is superior to any competitive small car, foreign or domestic, and specifically mentions Honda Civic, Ford Focus and Toyota Corolla as being in his gunsights.
He didn't mention Mazda3, perhaps for good reason — it isn't Canada's reigning Car of the Year for nothing.
I don't think Cobalt exactly puts any of those cars on the trailer, but it is at least competitive on most attributes, ranks among the best for interior quality, but still lags in mechanical refinement — long an issue with domestic small cars.
I'm sure it was no coincidence that Chevy introduced the low-priced Aveo a year before Cobalt, so the market would be cushioned for the big price leap between the outgoing Cavalier — as low as $12,000 — to a comparably equipped Cobalt, which would be some four to five grand more expensive — this in a market segment where prospects have been known to walk away over two hundred bucks.
It's a bit of a gamble, but Cobalt seems well-armed to take on the challenge.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
wheels@thestar.ca
jim@jimkenzie.com
11-01-2004, 10:51 AM
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yeah, after seeing that stuff about the performance package with the lsd...and then the fact the SEMA car uses the same engine with a (hopefully future buyable) upgrade of some sort...i just cant wait to get ahold of mine...this scene is about to crank up...
11-01-2004, 04:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Dman
yeah, after seeing that stuff about the performance package with the lsd...and then the fact the SEMA car uses the same engine with a (hopefully future buyable) upgrade of some sort...i just cant wait to get ahold of mine...this scene is about to crank up...
11-01-2004, 08:07 PM
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It's great that GM small cars are finally getting some after market support, and even better that the aftermarket is getting ready before the car has even hit the market.
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