While skimming eBay listings we came across this 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt SS. Such a car invokes either admiration or disgust. The way we see it – it was GM’s offer to owners who wanted to say, “it’s more than just a Cobalt.” Or at least that’s what it became.
This is an example of the LSJ-equipped Cobalt SS that came from the factory with an Eaton M62 supercharger. The owner has gone ahead and swapped that out for a Borg Warner 252SX-E turbocharger along with a bunch of other goodies, including 80-lb injectors and a turbo-back ZZP exhaust system.
The asking price of $6,500 is relatively low considering how much you’d otherwise have to spend in order to acquire a vehicle with 523 hp and 486 lb-ft of torque to the wheels. That said, if you were solely after the performance you could probably save some money by finding a less-expensive unit and turbo-swapping it yourself.
We’d like to hear how many of our readers would be even remotely interested in this Cobalt, and how many would give it a big, fat PASS. Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
See the listing here.
Comments
I’d pass on it. Cars like this are typically built by young men that beat the tar out of them. With that being said, please GM, make a Cruze SS with ~250-300hp. Much appreciated.
Car was actually meticulously cared for. I built it with top quality parts and mileage these days means nothing. Leak down and compression was just fine even with 113k miles. I had 5 years of tweaking and tuning on that car and it did nothin but serve me good. Car was bone stock until I bought it in 2012. The only reason the car was sold is I bought a corvette. I was a kid when I bought my first cobalt after high school in 2005.
I wouldn’t want someone else’s project. Cool car I’d like to take it for a spin.
This was my consensus as well. Parts for them are pretty cheap, and they’re easier to work on.
Chevrolet is offering a lot of self control in not dropping the 275 (252) horsepower LTG 2.0L DOHC-4v 4-cyl turbo into the Cruze as it would have been something they would have thought about doing years ago as a way to build a pocket rocket and we’ve not seen the dual clutch transmission that was rumored to be used in the Cruze either.
Number one, 4 cylinder engines don’t last for shit and this one is over 100k plus all the mods. Second, being FWD car isn’t that too much HP and torque for this car to be safe? Thirdly, it’s a Cobalt. Cars like this are just for all the kids that think they are in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift .
Glen, my 2009 Cobalt SS Sedan has nearly 185K miles on it (knock on wood). There are quite a few Cobalt SSes pushing numbers like these. One referred to as the ‘Snobalt’ made over 600 to the wheels if I remember correctly, and it gave an Alfa GTR a run for its money.
You’re right. For young folks who want cheap speed, it’s a sound solution. It’s ironic that you picked Tokyo Drift to make your point, it being a FWD car and all.
My turbocharged lnf cobalt has over 70 hours of lapping in it at 21 psi.
I’ve changed links sway bar bushings and my rack once, and the only reason I did the rack was because I found the rack with all 4 tie rods for cheaper than the tie rods alone.
These ecotecs are beasts, mine is a perfect example.
There are plenty of turbo swapped LSJ cobalts out there. This power level has been run in quite a few Cobalts…. Lol @ the guy above that said the engines don’t last, they are pretty cheap to replace and rebuild, also it’s not the engine that is weak point for the cobalt it’s the trans. Also Fransisco, I don’t think it was snowbalt, I think it was CobaltFast that ran the GTR.
Pull the motor, drop it in one of these http://dfkitcar.com/ and sell the rest for parts.
I would love to have that car for an every day car street sleeper!
I would like to get my cobalt SS an engine swap w a 5.0 gto engine. How much would the total cost be of having someone make this possible.
They cool