Autoblog

click above image to view our best live shots yet of the Chevy Cobalt SS Turbo

So we showed you the press shots of the Cobalt SS Turbo, and then we got some live shots from the unveiling last night. Now we have more of the Cobalt SS Turbo, and have no fear, it's just as yellow as it was eight hours ago. All that yellow could be a warning, since the Cobalt SS Turbo also still has 260 HP and 260 lb-ft, and no one knows yet whether that John Heinricy-tuned suspension will keep you from torque-steering into trees. Be sure to check out the new and improved gallery of hi-res pics below.

Click image for gallery updated with live shots from Las Vegas

We probably would have walked right past the new 2008 Cobalt SS Turbo had it not been painted in this blazing yellow mica paint. In all fairness, it's not as invisible as the previous generation Malibu (according to GM's new Malibu ads), but this new sport coupe from the Bowtie Boys was displayed outside the Wynn alongside the Corvette C6RS, '34 Chevy Coupe E85, and HHR Panel SS, so it was a bit less eye-catching as its brethren. Still it looks chunky and funky like it should and the bespoke SS touches add just a little bit extra tuner cachet to make it seem like it belonged on the Wynn grounds along with its hot rodding stablemates. This 260 HP / 260 lb-ft SS/TC picks up 55 HP on the previous supercharged version and adds a John Heinricy tuned FE5 sport suspension that saw development time at the Green Hell that is the Nürburgring Nordschleife.

Follow the jump for the official GM press materials.

Click image to enlarge

After biting our tongues for the last few days while (accurate) speculation surrounding the successor to the Chevy Cobalt SS Supercharged bounced around the web, we're finally able to come clean. This is the turbocharged 2008 Chevy Cobalt SS, and it's being introduced to the world at SEMA this week. Chevy went to great lengths to ensure that the SS badge means more than what it had become in recent years.

Coming in at 260 HP / 260 lb-ft, the SS/TC gains a full 55 horses over the now-defunct SS/SC. Power, of course, is sourced from the same 2.0L direct-injected, turbocharged, intercooled sledgehammer found under the bonnets of the Pontiac Solstice GXP, Saturn Sky Red Line, and forthcoming Chevy HHR SS. The GM Performance Division was tasked with making sure the improved Cobalt SS is well-sorted, and John Heinricy and company dialed in the FE5 sport suspension on the undulating twists and turns of the Nürburgring Nordschleife. The result, says GM, is a track-capable suspension that's still comfortable on the street, and which helps mitigate FWD performance foibles like torque steer.

Follow the jump for more, plus all the official GM press materials.

[Source: GM]

With the cancellation of the Chevy Cobalt SS Supercharged (above) for 2008 and the impending arrival of the turbocharged HHR SS, speculation was rampant that GM planned to take that 2.0L turbocharged, direct-injected Ecotec and drop it in the Cobalt's engine bay. As has been shown in the past, automakers can try to keep things under wraps, but their fans find ways of digging up info, especially when that info is squirreled away on the web, and GM Inside News has organized everything neatly for us.

First up at cobaltss.net is a copy of the SAE Power Certification for a 2008.5 Chevy Cobalt powered by GM's L850 LNF engine. This is the same motor used in the Saturn Sky Red Line, Pontiac Solstice GXP, and the aforementioned Chevy HHR SS. Also via cobaltss.net, we get a link to an official GM Planned Emission Certification doc that also lists a Cobalt with the 2.0L LNF engine (the planned certification is BIN5/LEV2, by the way). So, that's it. The writing on the wall says that a Turbo Cobalt is coming. And while we don't have anything to add, you might want to mosey back here very early Sunday morning. You know, in case anything new comes up.

[Source: GM Inside News, CobaltSS.net]