Christople

I would like to see lots of corvette engines in lots of other cars!

Ridgeway

I agree with your basic sentiment/premise there, but the Z4 did not debut w/poor engine choices like the z3 did. It has the same engines it debuted with and they are anything but poor(unless you count the euro only 2.2L )

I just wonder how many more cars with get t he LS2. @ the rate they are dropping it into new cars, it will become somewhat plebian(sp?) somewhat akin to Chryslers 'SRT'...

Saw a ssr the other day...not exactly impressive. The car doesn't make alot of sense either...

BBY2KS2K

Personally I think Chevrolet, GM for that matter, needs to focus a lot more on their cars. I'm not saying that they shouldn't continue to develop their trucks, with increased competition from Japan it would be suicide not to. But IHMO there are only 3 GM cars that are worth a damn, the Cadillac CTS-V, Chevrolet Corvette and the Pontiac GTO. None of these are financially attainable for the average joe. The Pontiac Vibe is decent, but it's really a rebadged Toyota. The rest of GM's car lineup is lousy, the Grand Am/Regal?Century are severly outdated, the Impala and Monte Carlo are not much better. The Malibu is a vast improvement over the previous but still falls short of it's competitiors and the Ion is one of the worst cars I have ever driven. If I'm not mistaken, the next gen Cavailier (renamed Cobalt) will have the same underpinnings as the Ion. You couldn't catch me dead in a Chevy Aveo. I'd rather get a used Civic.

Just my .02. And don't get me wrong, I'm a huge GM fan, even more so than Honda. I'm just disappointed in their current offerings and until they improve, my $ will continue to go to Japan.

FCGuy

Looks like GM is listening to you. The focus is now on the cars.

The Grand Am is being replaced by the G6. I saw one in Detroit and it looked nice and clean. 200 hp now, and there will be a 3.9L V6 with 6-speed later (~250 hp).

Regal/Century is (finally) being retired. LaCrosse is the replacement.

Yep, the Cobalt uses the same platform as the Ion. But it is also the same as on the very well reviewed Opel Astra. It all depends on the tuning and interior/exterior. The Cobalt, especially 200 hp SS, has a shot.

Also saw a few pre-production C6's. The shorter body and overhangs look good.

CTS will get the manual with the 3.6L.

And, of course, eventually the Solstice.

RZFD

Anyone wanna bet that these will be priced around $60K once the dealers get done marking them up?

CG

A buddy of mine spent last weekend driving the 390hp SSR and several C6's at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He has driven the old SSR extensively and hated it. The new one with the 390hp he says totally transforms the truck. He loved it. He also liked the C6 better than the 911C's and Boxster S's he drove at AMS also. In all fairness he works for GM so he may be biased.

Chadwick

I don't believe the Cobalt SS has a shot. Reason being, it's more expensive than the SRT-4, and I heard through some of my J-body friends that GM tested the Cobalt to only run 15s in the 1/4 mile.

While I don't like the idea of puttin' around in a Neon, I'd get one over the Cobalt SS, if these performance numbers are true.

BBY2KS2K

Personally, I think GM should have based the new Cobalt off of the Subaru Impreza 2.5 RS and the Cobalt SS off of the WRX. It might cost a little more, but I think it would be worth it. Hopefully the Cobalt won't be anything like the Ion. I drove one for about 45 minutes dropping off a friend at the Seattle/Tacoma airport. I can't really say there is anything I like about it. It's brakes are mushy, the steering numb, the engine anemic and the interior is a vast sea of cheap, hard, ill-fitting plastic with flat seats designed for Lego men. It is the worst car I've driven in recent memory with the possible exception of the Buick Rendevous. (and don't even get me started on that one ) Hopefully Chevy's engineers will do a better job with the platform than Saturn.

steven975

I also think cobalt will stink. While you can tune a platform quite a bit, you still have the same engine, steering, and suspension components. Sure, you can make the car better, and I'm sure it will beat out the cavalier, but as far as catching up to the Japanese, NO WAY.

So the Cobalt SS will have ~200HP, and supercharged? The RSX-S, a car in probably the same price range, has 210 (05 model) and is normally aspirated...and don't mention the chassis tuning is light years ahead of even the best GM will be able to do with the Ion platform. Supercharging also adds reliability concerns...and GMs small cars have been bottom rung in that area forever, without a supercharger.

I was looking at the prices of the current cavalier and I couldn't believe how expensive they were. Even with incentives, I'm guessing anyone who bought one didn't test anything else

Rob Nance

Yeah, that's true. I was thinking the Z4 came out with the 2.5 or 2.8 engine first. I guess I was thinking about the fact that it still hasn't come out in an M Roadster form yet. The 3.0 is hardly comparable to the 1.9 4 that the Z3 debuted with!