CTC Review: 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt LS XFE

[Alex MacLean]

I'm not talking about eating a burger, fries and such from McDonald. I'm talking about normal people who grab a coffee from Tim's or maybe eat a chocolate bar. Some things are more dangerous than others, but if we are going to worry about everything, we better take away the radio too. Also take out the passenger seats, because passengers are clearly a distraction.

My point is that we do not live in a bubble society. Life is dangerous, and most of us make it through just fine, so there is no sense panicking over dumb things you can't control.

[Honda Owner]

I don't eat while driving. But I am not everybody.

[tpl]

Eating a burger and fries is, IMHO, less distracting than drinking hot coffee.   Burgers don't burn you if you drop them.

[wing]

But more distracting than an apple.  Fries are hard to eat, getting them out of the bag is a pain hahaha

[Thinking Out Loud]

Wing - so what do you do with the core?  My dad used to eat the entire thing, which as a kid I thought was gross (seeds and apple 'gristle').

Of course, as I got older, I realised that my dad as a little kid grew up in post-war Europe, where NOTHING was wasted from a food persective.

The core is edible, of course....also like orange peels, banana peels.....

Did you 'plant' and apple tree that day - which is probably more environmentally friendly than the XFE - on the side of the road?   

[wing]

I put it in the cup holder and put it in the trash when I got out...

[D70]

Back to the Cobalt. I drove the Aussie equivalent 3 yrs ago in Perth with an auto transmission for a week. Not very fuel efficient but the Holden Astra was a decent  car but a far cry from the Holden Commadore  we had just driven from Adelaide to Perth ( now a Pontiac G8 )

  As for eating, drinking, listening to the radio, and using the cell phone while driving, while riding my motorcycle I find that distracted drivers are often doing a combination of these and except for listening to the radio for background noise,  none of these is wise.

 

[Mitlov]

Back to the Cobalt. I drove the Aussie equivalent 3 yrs ago in Perth with an auto transmission for a week. Not very fuel efficient but the Holden Astra was a decent  car but a far cry from the Holden Commadore  we had just driven from Adelaide to Perth ( now a Pontiac G8 )

The Chevy Cobalt is not the same car as the Opel/Vauxhall/Holden/Saturn Astra.  Different platforms.

[Spheric]

Is this a North American first ? A domestic econobox that is only offered with a manual transmission ?? I'm intrigued by what type of pilot focus group Chevrolet used to determine the optimum product feature mix.

[wing]

Only the XFE model is manual, you can still get a regular cobalt with auto.

[Minou]

” over the course of the week I averaged a very respectable 7.8L/100km, but that was mostly highway driving with a little of in town, but certainly no city driving or bumper-to-bumper traffic.

I was tempted to wind the engine out, but I kept my foot on the light side all week, shifting when the shift light illuminated and driving economically to see if I could get some amazing fuel economy. I was a little disappointed though, as I have achieved better in the past without being this cautious."

This is very disappointing indeed.  My average for 20000 km is a similar 7.84 L/100 km but it includes a full winter and all my commuting to work, etc.  Mostly highway tanks would return around the 7L mark or less.

You should have gotten in the low to mid 6's with the light foot mainly highway driving you did with the Cobalt.

[stodge]

I'm not talking about eating a burger, fries and such from McDonald. I'm talking about normal people who grab a coffee from Tim's or maybe eat a chocolate bar. Some things are more dangerous than others, but if we are going to worry about everything, we better take away the radio too. Also take out the passenger seats, because passengers are clearly a distraction.

My point is that we do not live in a bubble society. Life is dangerous, and most of us make it through just fine, so there is no sense panicking over dumb things you can't control.

Maybe so, but why should my life be in danger because some moron is too distracted to drive safely? Is your phone call really that important that you have to take it in the car? Life is dangerous because some people make it so. WHat's the old saying; guns aren't dangerous, it's the people that use them? Or something like that.

[carcarcar]

I don't know, but for that kind of money and fuel economy I might as well pick up a City Golf, just as unequiped for 15 grand. But for the 19 grand that the tester costs the Golf can have an automatic transmission, automatic windows, and central locking with a key fob. Better car and better value IMO

[safristi]

..IT depends whose eating who and what...................cannibalised from I'll come quietly officer............

[mrthompson]

” over the course of the week I averaged a very respectable 7.8L/100km, but that was mostly highway driving with a little of in town, but certainly no city driving or bumper-to-bumper traffic."

FAIL.

[toolatecrew]

I'm not talking about eating a burger, fries and such from McDonald. I'm talking about normal people who grab a coffee from Tim's or maybe eat a chocolate bar. Some things are more dangerous than others, but if we are going to worry about everything, we better take away the radio too. Also take out the passenger seats, because passengers are clearly a distraction.

My point is that we do not live in a bubble society. Life is dangerous, and most of us make it through just fine, so there is no sense panicking over dumb things you can't control.

Maybe so, but why should my life be in danger because some moron is too distracted to drive safely? Is your phone call really that important that you have to take it in the car? Life is dangerous because some people make it so. WHat's the old saying; guns aren't dangerous, it's the people that use them? Or something like that.

I guess they should remove armrests, disable the ability to roll windows up and down while moving and discontinue all manual tranny cars. After all those things require you removing your hand from the wheel. I'm sure all the people who are against eating or drinking in the car pull over to the side of the road every time they take a sip of water and never drive one handed with there arm on the armrest.

[alienc]

This is a good idea, but I think they needed to be more aggressive with the gearing.  Make the final drive taller even and possibly shorten 1st so at least you can get it moving.  Once underway you would just get used to the taller gearing. 

You can't gain fuel economy without either reducing the size of the engine or reducing the weight of the car.  And since neither of those are going to happen that really only leaves gearing.

Why not offer an automatic, if anything taller gearing would be easier to control with the torque convertor.  It couldn't be made any worse than an older vehicle with a 3-speed automatic and the enormous gaps between gears.

Of course, you could offer a Diesel but again not likely to happen anytime soon.

[newsie23]

Might they make more money, if they offered the upgrade model's options?  Maybe there is a shortage! - Have too many bean counters taken early retirement. Tom Wallace (Corvette) would have thought of this.

[safristi]

..BEAN-FEAST...............stay well back from the counters..................................makes Fartfernuggen look like a field of daisies.................

[Seafoam]

Might they make more money, if they offered the upgrade model's options?  Maybe there is a shortage! - Have too many bean counters taken early retirement. Tom Wallace (Corvette) would have thought of this.

They probably would make more money,but i don't think that is GM's point with this car.  They needed a car that gets better fuel economy numbers than corolla and civic.  Transport Canada rates them high in the test but in the real world not as good.  It's a shame we need more fuel efficient vehicles especially domestics.