• Year: 2005
• Make: Chevrolet
• Model: Cobalt
• Trim:
• Body style: 4 Dr Sedan
• Mileage: 37022
• Engine: 4 Cyl. 2.2
• Trans: Automatic
• Exterior Color: Victory Red
• Interior Color: Gray
• Stock: 27013
• VIN: 1G1AK52F157645048

Cobalt is heavier, longer, wider and lower than most of its direct competitors, its engine is the most powerful base engine in the class, and its interior dimensions and trunk capacity are close to the competition in every respect. After 10 years and 6 million Cavaliers, Chevrolet has learned a few lessons, and that's apparent in the size, shape and equipment of the Cobalt.

Inside the Cobalt, the design theme is simple and straightforward, but far from the el cheapo appointments of the old Cavalier. Materials are better, there are far fewer individual pieces, and the fit and finish on our very early production LT sedan were very, very good, but not perfect, like a typical Honda or Toyota. There's just enough chrome trim here and there on knobs and instruments to brighten things up without a lot of glare from the shiny parts. Instruments are large, well placed, and easy to read, with nice graphic treatment throughout.

Cobalt is unique in the subcompact class in that three completely different seats are offered in base, LS and LT, and SS versions, each with detail changes in foam, padding and trim. There was plenty of fore/aft and rake adjustment for a 6-foot, 4-inch driver, plus seat height adjustment with a ratcheting handle. The LT seats were very comfortable and grabbed us in the fast corners exactly where we needed to be grabbed and held.

In our LT sedan tester, the Delphi AM/FM/CD player carried a complete Pioneer seven-speaker sound system with a huge subwoofer mounted on the left side trunk wall, as well as an XM satellite tuner, so the entertainment factor and sound quality were very high indeed, especially considering the price and class. The heating, ventilation and defroster system worked quickly and intuitively.

Unlike the Saturn Ion, the Cobalt does not use space-eating gooseneck hinges on its decklid, opting instead for simple outside corner hinges and not one, but two hydraulic assist struts. (The hood also has a large single strut, so you don't have to hold up the hood while you find and engage the prop rod. It raises and stays in position by itself.) The trunk is wide and deep with a low liftover height, and almost 14 cubic feet of capacity, more than competitive in the class. In addition, there's a 60/40-split, fold-down rear seat with a trunk pass-through feature.

We found the Cobalt quite pleasant to drive, and almost eerily quiet for a car that costs well under $20,000. Chevrolet has put what feels like hundreds of dollars worth of special door seals, sandwich steel panels, thick carpets and pads, noise blockers and noise absorbers throughout the front, middle and rear of the car, and normal front-seat conversation is possible at speeds over 90 mph.

The Cobalt LT is not the address of driving excitement, however. It's not made for that, but rather for delivering four people comfortably, five only in a pinch, on a minimal outlay for fuel and monthly payments, a transportation appliance in the longtime Chevrolet mold of the Corvair, the Vega, the Chevette, the Monza, and most recently the Cavalier.

If you want to tangle with the Japanese front-drive performance competition on the street, then you'll have to step up to the $22,000 supercharged model, which we view as a very potent competitor with a high-performance parts program already in place.

We thought the Cobalt steering wheel was a trifle small, like the one on the original Ion, but it was connected to one of GM's electric power steering units that has been tailored for good but not sports-car response, with assist tailored for easy parking, and a nice, solid feel that doesn't include a lot of road shock.

We drove an LT with ABS and four-wheel disc brakes and found them to be powerful, and progressive, with a good ratio between pedal travel and braking action.

The 2.2-liter engine, which is rated at 145 horsepower, was a bit of a disappointment. (Note that rating is at 5400 rpm and the torque peak is even higher, at 5600 rpm.) It was smooth, but never felt truly powerful until it was revving very high.

The automatic, a straightforward four-speed instead of the more modern and desirable five-speed automatic, worked perfectly.

Estimated fuel economy is expected to be 24/32 mpg City/Highway for the 2.2-liter automatic, 25/34 with the manual, and 23/29 for the SS model with the supercharged 2.0-liter manual.

Chevrolet's newest, coolest small car is a hit.

The Chevrolet Cobalt will satisfy the needs of drivers looking for economy of price, economy of operation, and a nice, quiet ride. We think it's a handsome, well-equipped car. The standard engine could offer more responsive low-end power, however.

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