Eric77TA

Mine wasn't a sedan, but I had a 2001 Z24 with the Twin Cam and a 5 speed and it was a really fun car to drive. The Z24 sedans seem to be pretty rare. Mine had the 5 spoke wheels like the ones in NeonLX's pic. The one in ocnblu's pic has the later wheels that the LS Sport had, also. Now I have a Cobalt SS Turbocharged sedan, which I guess would be the successor to these Z24 sedans.

"In 2004, if you wanted a subcompact vehicle with the ability to go off the beaten path, you would have to leave the U.S. and head to Europe to pick up a Fiat Panda 4x4." Then in 2006 Suzuki brought the Fiat Panda to the U.S. wearing the body of its platform-mate Fiat Sedici and called it the SX4

I know GM was targeting 100,000. I don't know if that's possible in the current economy.

I think that the majority of buyers will at least step up to a 1LT (floor mats, fog lights, aluminum wheels, nicer interior, power seats). I think that the RS package (not available on LS) will also drive a lot of people up into the LT models. So, while I'm not sure how profitable the LS can be, I don't think it will be the volume car, either.

And to quote myself, you were pretty close to dead on - $22,995 for the LS.

Challenger actually comes in SE E Package, SE G Package, R/T F Package, R/T J Package and SRT8. If you want leather in your R/T, you have to get the R/T J package. It's not a standalone option. 1LT is essentially a base LS with floormats, foglights, aluminum wheels and power seats. So, not quite a straight aluminum wheel option, but not a ton of equipment required, either. The Camaro LS/LT should handily outperform the Mustang V6 and Challenger SE models on all fronts. I'd say your $23k base price is pretty close to what we'll see for Camaro LS.

And the Malibu 4 door and wagon, Century 4 door and wagon, Regal 4 door, Cutlass Calais, Salon, and Cruiser, "Small" 1984-86 Bonneville and the 82-87 El Camino

Low 20s in the city in real world driving and approaching 30 on the highway if you've got a long flat stretch.

Chevrolet just launched the Cobalt XFE on manual transmission models which does have best in class fuel economy. I do think that they need more widely available manual transmissions, but I'm not sure if that will increase the take rate. While it would be nice, I find it unlikely Delta II is coming any sooner than as scheduled for the 2010 MY. I think we're more likely to see engines like the 1.4 turbo rather than a BAS II or 2-Mode at launch. I don't think there's currently a 2 Mode that will work on the Cobalt and it may be too expensive. I'd like to see BAS II widely available, though - and not just as a "Hybrid" model.

I'd say way more than that. A Yaris 3 door weighs about 1,000 pounds more than a Metro. I had a Metro when I was in college (a 1994 I bought new) and it got 50 mpg easy. You did have to turn of the AC on onramps, but if you planned well, it was livable and was a perfect runabout for a college town. I did drive it from Warrensburg Missouri to Louisville Kentucky on a single tank of gas once. Prices on Metros (and Aspires, Fiestas, Excels) are actually going UP: http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2008-0...rs-resale_N.htm

GMDAT is doing a lot of the engineering. So that's not surprising. I actually think it looks pretty good. I think with some bigger wheels and everything uncovered, and in a less bland color, it could look pretty decent. I totally agree about the current Cobalt's interior. My daily driver is the basest of the base 2006 LS and the really cheap seat fabric drives me crazy. Overall, the interior actually works fine and I don't care about the hard plastic dash, since caressing the dash isn't really one of my passtimes, but better seat fabric and door panels would be welcome. I know that the LT and LTZ get the "sport cloth" but it's not really much better. What happened to the decent cloth of the 90s and before? My 2002 Cavalier had much nicer seat fabric. Now, on the flip side, I think that the car rides and drives fine, it averages 31 MPG in my driving cycle, its screwed together pretty well even if the materials are cheap, and I think it looks good on the outside other than the wheelcovers by Wham-O! I would definitely consider another Cobalt if they upgrade the interior a bit on all models. And get some fascia spoke wheels like Malibu has for the cheapies without alloys.

The Cobalt doesn't have the 2.4 for 2009, either. I believe that the LAP direct injected 2.2 replaces the L61. What does this mean for the G5 GT? Will it be dropped? Or will they be getting an LNF version of the GT?

There was definite room for griping with the previous Aveo ratings of 23/33 for a car this size, but like Derek said, 26/34 is far more competitive. That would have probably been closer to 30/37 under the old ratings.

DodgeFan, did you get rid of that Cobalt? I'd have certainly either had it at the dealer or looked into lemon lawing it if they couldn't fix it. In the 2 years I've had my Cobalt LS (auto) which has nothing on it but remote keyless entry I've never gotten below 26 MPG - and that was when I had a primarliy city commute. Now my commute is about 2/3 hwy (though rarely above 40 during rush hour) and 1/3 city and I get 30 MPG with the A/C and 32-34 without it.

GM had ABS standard on just about everything 16 years ago, but unfortunately it was one of the first victims of decontenting to keep price down. I'm not saying I think it's right, but that was the reason. It would probably add $300-400 to the cost of the lower models in a market where keeping the sticker as low as possible is one of the priorities. The $15,600 Corolla LE doesn't have ABS standard, either. The Cobalt coupe does have an easy entry front passenger seat. At least mine does. It doesn't have an easy entry to the back seat on the driver's side. Is that what you're referring to? The Cobalt does need an MCE, but it's not THAT bad. There is already Cobalt wagon - called HHR.