Cah Tawk: Driven Right Out of the Game
As I had predicted, my blog will every now and then get overrun by a little shop talk. Last Friday I finally got the call to come down to my local dealership and pick up the car I’ve been waiting months for. For those of you who don’t follow my every breath and thought: I picked up a 2009 Chevy Cobalt SS Turbocharged (as pictured in my driveway above).
I’ll no doubt drivel on about my car on a future blog but for now one feature stands out among the rest to prove to me that this is the car for a video gamer who wants to go fast.
Generally speaking, I do not know why I would need to know the barometric pressure. In case you were curious, my personal best lateral G reading has been .51, apparently the car goes to .91…I don’t have the cojones for that.
On the A-pillar (the column to the left of the windshield that blocks your view of the small children you run over) resides what Chevy has conveniently called a “Reconfigurable Performance Display”. Which wouldn’t be convenient usually, but is merely because the next best description, “Small LCD That Tells You a Myriad of Information That Can Either Help or Totally Distract You While Driving”, isn’t nearly as short.
In practice, the device is as useful as you make it. As a 5-speed novice I find having a digital readout of MPH and my current gear selection very helpful. When you’re concerned with following traffic rules and not hitting other cars its very easy to forget what gear you’re in. It wasn’t until I payed close attention to the gage that I noticed some of the clever logic it has, logic I would expect out of a Gran Turismo or Forza, not GM.
Yes, you can change the rpms that the shift lights start and stop on. Right out of GT, Forza and Need for Speed.
You can set the numbers above to appear in the lower right hand corner with the stack of green to red indicators on top. When you are in gear and the FCO (Fuel Cut Off) is deactivated, it displays the gear you are in. What’s neat is when you are coasting in gear or free-coasting with the clutch in the number drops as you’re speed drops to recommend a gear to shift into. Which is a great help to a driver like me who has limited experience with a standard transmission. At this early time in the car’s life I’m supposed baby it and never drive much over 4000 rpm, which makes downshifting a tricky proposition, go one gear too far and I’ll be revving to 5000.
This kinds of display technology is certainly not limited to my Cobalt. As one would expect; GM is late to the party. Mitsubishi actually contracted the Gran Turismo team to program the display on the new Evo X’s excessive LCD readout. (I’m totally jealous)
And because I can hardly contain my excitement:
I love my Cobalt primarily because it’s freaking fast (0-60 5.5sec), but also because it doesn’t look like a cobalt at first glance.
Two-tone interior? Cobalt? Wha?!?!?
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Wooooooo-weeee! That’s all sorts of gorgeous!
I’m going to need to ride shotgun when I get to visit! Look out come Silent Hill/Dead Space time - I’ll try not to drool all over your seats.
Nice toy! I think I may like how yours looks better than mine (I bought Brett’s STi). Having a car that stands out alot is not all it’s cracked up to be.
A quick tip about breaking in the engine. Don’t get too bent out of shape if you rev the engine too high here and there. It won’t hurt the car if you mess up a couple times and push the RPM’s way up. The idea is not to drive around at redline right off the lot. Even still, I’ve heard of people doing just that and they still don’t have any serious problems.
Also, after you’ve put a couple hundred miles on the car, talk to Niles and go to an autocross or two. Even if you don’t enjoy it enough to keep going, think of it as a $50 driving school. Every time you go makes you a better driver.