Mind you wrists: Synapse Turbo boosts Chevy Cobalt SS to 371 whp, 383 lb-ft
Click above for a gallery of the Synapse Turbo Chevrolet Cobalt SS
Within 20 minutes of taking delivery of a Pontiac Solstice GXP last year, we were on our way to our local shop to see what mods could be done to the turbocharged 2.0-liter four-pot. With 260 hp and a claimed 260 lb-ft of torque (our dyno run showed around 250 lb-ft of twist at the wheels), the Solstice is hardly lacking for grunt, and when we finally got around to driving the Chevrolet Cobalt SS, we were sure that the new engine would be embraced by power-hungry tuners in short order.
Scotia, NY-based Synapse Turbo has taken up the task and created a bolt-on kit for the Cobalt SS that puts out 371 hp and 383 lb-ft of torque. From what we can gather based on forum postings and the video after the jump, the Stage 3 kit consists of a Garrett GT2871R turbo, stainless steel 4-1 exhaust manifold, three-inch downpipe, three-inch intake, TurboXS BOV, a new intercooler and aluminum plumbing. ECU tweaks were provided by the HP Tuner system and redline has been raised to 6,700 rpm. We're itching to get some time behind the wheel, if for no other reason than to see if our wrists can cope with the torque steer, but until then, the video below the fold will have to do.
Gallery: Synapse Turbo Chevrolet Cobalt SS
[Source: MotiveMag]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Hanoi Jane 11:08AM (11/15/2008)
Interesting video, that car just flies.
Here's my question, obviously that Cobalt is speeding, so the driver is breaking the law, so my question is who was the genius in Cobalt who took a shot of license plates of that GTI (if i am not mistaken). Also, why would you speed on public road and put the name of you company on the video, just do it at the track.
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happy_penguin 11:23AM (11/15/2008)
You have no idea how fast the car is going. Speeding or not, there is no official witness. Good luck getting that video to stand up in court.
aaron 12:30PM (11/15/2008)
You're more of a buzz kill than Buzz Killington.
Torrent 1:30PM (11/15/2008)
Stop hatin, Gabagool.....
I mean Hanoi Jane.
James Sonne 2:16PM (11/15/2008)
Actually, it would be very easy to determine the speed of the vehicle in the video. All you need is to identify the size of any object in the frame, such as a road sign, sewer cap, or the vehicle itself, and use that to create a virtual yardstick to which the car's motion relative to a stationary point can be measured between frames. You then have an instant velocity for any instant in the video or as small a period as 1/24th of a second. It's an extremely simple thing to do, and no "official witness" made-up legal jargon is needed.
happy_penguin 8:26PM (11/15/2008)
OMG what an engineering nerd. ;)
That's fine and all, perhaps possible. But I still stand behind what I said. It's not going to happen. :)
nist7 11:18AM (11/15/2008)
Wow.....couldn't they have picked a different exhaust system? That sounds exactly like all the other ricers with their coffee-can/weedwhacker exhaust...lol
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Paul 4:44PM (11/15/2008)
The exhaust on this car is stock
times2 11:28AM (11/15/2008)
Exhaust sucks... get an RPi. As for the engine, Solstice tuners already have this thing past 450whp.
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Cameron 11:36AM (11/15/2008)
Beautiful manifold work, and nice to see that they didn't butcher the bumper to fit the intercooler.
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bill jackman 11:39AM (11/15/2008)
Every time I see people like this "testing" on public roads, I cringe. Take it to the track, dbags.
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Brian 12:03PM (11/15/2008)
What's the point of making a tubular manifold when you've pointed the 1st and 4th runners right at each other. Might as well just put a log manifold on the car...
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Paul 8:30AM (11/17/2008)
Nice way to spread FUD.
The picture of the manifold is a top view, if you look at it from the side you can see that all four runners point directly down the turbo's throat.
The manifold uses a standard 4 to 1 collector, has equal runner length and is no different than any other tubular 4 cyl top mount manifold design.
Brian 8:54AM (11/17/2008)
Are you kidding me? I'm looking at the pictures again this very second, and runners 1 and 4 do not "point directly down the turbo's throat."
Maybe you're the one that's spreading FUD?
JeSuZ CicLe 11:50AM (11/15/2008)
Sorry, no matter how much i wanna give respect to the cobalt, i just cant shake the thoughts of all the kids from high school with cavaliers that thought they were sports cars, and riced them up. For godsakes our family minivan is faster than those d- bags.
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That One Person 5:08PM (11/16/2008)
hahaha those same d-bags try drag racing me in my 94 Regal. It's pretty hilarious when I beat them.
I guess those stickers really don't add power :)
why not the LS2LS7? 11:53AM (11/15/2008)
They increase the HP 50% and don't put in bigger fuel injectors? Thus must be an area where direct injection differs from regular fuel injection.
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Tourian 12:33PM (11/15/2008)
That might exactly be the case. Maybe the aftermarket companies haven't developed them yet. That kind of stuff is above the level of most tuner shops and generally comes from Denso, RC Engineering, PTE, etc...
zamafir 1:19PM (11/15/2008)
Yup, very odd, granted it's apples and oranges, but all the kits for VW's 2.0T incl new injectors:
APR's 355hp/368 torque has 'em
APRs' 382hp kit has 'em
Hell everything on the vw side, all the tuners, up to the 600hp kits for the 2.0T are using new ones
I'd be curious to see why this engine doesn't require upgraded injectors
Steve Bennet 1:38PM (11/15/2008)
The injectors run at incredibly low duty cycles, around 25% at wot. Plus the fuel pressure is at 2200psi, this increases their size greatly.