Snide's Remarks:: Pontiac G6, Cobalt SS, and GM Thoughts

Hi Bob,

Just back from a day driving GM's newest - Pontiac G6 (did I get that alphanumeric right? G5? Or am I thinking of a Canon digital camera? G8 is what we protest against, right? G7 was Can Am cars in the venerable Olde Days) and the Chevy Cobalt.

Pontiac's OK, steering is still too numb and the engine's rather industrial (and this was the GT model) but the Cobalt is a definite step in the right direction. Ought to make zillions of rental car customers very happy.

Cobalt SS is another thing entirely -- budget fun and miscreant little brother to the Corvette. Hardest job GM has is gonna be to convince America's Hondaphile youth that a Cobalt SS is a real and good car. Well, it's at least as good as the Neon SRT-4 and rather similar to the Saturn Redline - same engine, similar chassis tuning (very good) and best of all not a Saturn.

And then on the way home whilst dodging ugly tres fuck (at least I didn't have to take the Dimwitz, where a reenactment of the chase scene from the Blues Brothers was apparently being done starring a couple of yahoos and the entire Hayward PD plus 20 or so CHP cars) I heard tell that Bob Lutz sez that Pontiac and Buick are underperforming and one may have to go. Let's start a dead pool, my bet's on Pontiac at this point. With Olds buried, and Buicks still selling to the Sun City crowd, it's the closest thing GM has to Mercury.

Regards Milton

Tell Milton Snide what you think! msnide@theautochannel.com

Here is a Press Release that arrived the day of this story's publication

The Chevy Cobalt Enthusiasts Network

March 25, 2005 -- CobaltSS.net was started back in March 2004, long before the TV commercials and print ads. The Cobalt was little more than a pre production tinkle in GM’s eye when the site first took form. The sites creator Jonel has been an active member of the online auto community and decided to take the opportunity to give back by creating the site.

CobaltSS.net has been gained foothold since its inception and traffic levels for the site have doubled on an almost monthly basis since the Cobalts release to the dealers. The site is home to news about the Chevy Cobalt and an active forum.

The forums are the most active part of the site housing a cyber community of Cobalt enthusiast. Discussion topics range from speculation about Cobalt to discussion with Chevy dealers and interaction with aftermarket vendors. CobaltSS.net is currently partnered with 4 aftermarket vendors in an effort to help link the drivers to the aftermarket industry that supports them. In addition to this GM employees involved with the design and production of the cobalt have been know to drop in from time to time. CobaltSS.net is by far the most active and comprehension Cobalt community on the Internet today and only plans to get better. If you would like to visit the site the URL is http://www.cobaltss.net

The Chevy Cobalt comes in two basic flavors the sedan and coupe, but the most talked about flavor is the Cobalt SS Supercharged coupe. The Cobalt SS was the inspiration for the site. The hopped up Cobalt contains a 2.0 liter Ecotec engine equipped with an Eaton roots type supercharger and intercool. The engine outputs 205 HP at 6500 rpm compared to the 145 HP of the standard 2.2 liter Ecotec. In addition to more power the Cobalt SS Supercharged is donned with a complete body kit and spoiler strait from the factory and countless other standard goodies.