2009 Chevy Cobalt LS Coupe XFE

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by Fr3AkAzOiD

lol, I tell them every time to not mess with the air in the tires and I still need to reinflate them once I get home 1/2 the time.

I'm hoping to get everything I need to do my own oil changes for X-mas or at least with X-mas bonus money. Probably won't save much $ per oil change but at least I will know if the car gets messed up it's my own fault and not the fault of some highschool dropout.

I often have thought of changing my own oil, and have done so in the past. But because of my warranty I like to have some PROOF that I am maintaining the car and using the proper grade of oil for the season etc... That way if I ever have a warranty issue it will be more difficult for Chevy to claim I did not maintain my car properly when I can show them receipts of the times I had the car checked out by so-called "pros" (I use the term loosely).

At 6,000 miles I found it a most perfect time to rotate my tires. I could barely detect a slight wear on the outside surface of the front tires, and by putting those tires in the rear and crossing the rear tires with the front it now appears I have brand new tires for my front wheel drive traction. I feel rotating tires at the right time can save us $$ from having to replace 4 tires early because they are badly worn on only one side of the tires. And the higher the tire pressure the more one can notice the tire degrading at a faster rate, normally. (imho)

[Ratrod]

3400 miles and I am at 40.4 mpg at 58-64 mph.

[steveosupremo]

Jammer I wana say that I too love my 2009 pont G5 (Chevy Cobalt) XFE. I drive 100miles a day to and from work, I'm up to about 30K miles since purchase a year ago. Every day I'm driving between 70mph and 85mph, 0 - 75 as fast as possible and my lifetime MPG hasn't dropped below 37.5! I love this thing!

[cfg83]

steveosupremo -

Originally Posted by steveosupremo

Jammer I wana say that I too love my 2009 pont G5 (Chevy Cobalt) XFE. I drive 100miles a day to and from work, I'm up to about 30K miles since purchase a year ago. Every day I'm driving between 70mph and 85mph, 0 - 75 as fast as possible and my lifetime MPG hasn't dropped below 37.5! I love this thing!

Thanks for mentioning the Pontiac G5 XFE, I tend to only ever say Cobalt. Good looking Delta-Patform.

CarloSW2

[Ratrod]

I will be driving over a 100 miles round trip with mine and I hope I get the same mileage.

[Jammer]

Thanks to everyone that helped make this thread so interesting, because of much of your feedback you all have taught me many lessons on saving fuel while driving safety. Now I can drive in/out of EOC over and over and the passenger next to me can not feel a thing! In fact the only way anybody knows I am in EOC is when I cut a curve a little fast for the home stretch or they notice me turning the engine off. 99% of the time no passenger can tell that my method of driving is anything more than shifting gears like any other driver in a car with a stick shift. So with practice driving in EOC can really help when you happen to be driving in an area that is say NOT... perfectly flat land. imho --- However, as a WARNING to any newbie, I once learned via a scarey experience that it is NOT always safe to shift to Neutral and turn off the motor with the key on ACC (EOC) IF ONE IS GOING DOWN A VERY STEEP MOUNTAIN WHICH REQUIRES BRAKING!!! With my car I have a GOOD 5 PUMPS ON MY POWER BRAKES THEN I HAVE NO BRAKES!! I actually came down a mountain once late at nice and ran a Stop Sign and regain control by the Grace of God. I believe more should be said about the danger of losing power brakes. Once I learned that serious limitation of braking then driving in and out of EOC very smoothly became second nature, but it did take some practice for me to get it down so I can drive in such a way safety and with little effort.

May I ask a question? I have not visited this site for some time, so I do not understand exactly what some things mean here. On the Home Page of This Site, in the upper left corner I read:

Top Vehicles MPG (US)
1. 2009 cobalt 4766.48

I was happy to see my model listed with a #1 near it, but I do not understand how the site computed this number and exactly what it means? I recall awhile back that the old late 90's GEOs wear getting like 60MPG here, so I am confused as to how the site computers this top ten and what it is really saying.

Thanks folks.

[2007 ion2]

I read through a great deal of this thread, but it's very long, and I was wondering what (if any) aero mods you have done to your XFEs?

[2007 ion2]

Originally Posted by Jammer

I come from a GM family and I will admit that they still have many cars//trucks that sell under various names and are MOSTLY the same mechanical product with different names on them. However there are small differences or they really would have a hard time passing the cars off- and that is in my opinion, part of the reason GM has had such a tough time making a profit despite selling a ton of cars and trucks. And I know for a FACT that GM makes on the fly decisions that can impact their cars and pickups at any point during a year in a major way, or make changes on the next production year. For example, my car is a 2009. IF your car was a 2008 we could easily assume it COULD of been a change made by GM.

For example, I have owned two Pontiacs and they have the reputation of having a little more power than say the Chevy car. There really ARE differences, but I admit at least 90 to 95% of most of these types of cars are the same in every way because they are often built in the same plant. In the case of OUR cars, the Cobalt and the G5 they are built in LordsTown Ohio.

However I have no other evidence that the steering mechanism in our cars works the same way or not. But I will ask my father who worked for Chevy for 30 years and I will ask my uncle who also worked for GM for 30 years. They both still have friends that currently work for GM and know these cars inside and out. All I can tell you for now is that when I turn off my car while driving is that the steering becomes almost impossible to move. It does NOT technically "lock up" and I take blame for using that term. I got the steering to move about 1 inch in either direction, but that was all the strength I had in me and I live in the foothills of the big mountains of eastern Kentucky- The curves here are serious. It is important that I correct myself and make it clear the steering wheel did not lock up totally but with all of my strength the steering could of been moved about 1 inch at the most in either direction. I did not mean it locked up as in when you remove the key and park the car, I meant it was just waaaay too hard to steer to drive.

Maybe I'll try it again some day in a safe location. But it might be a little while.

Anti-Theft Deterrent:

It is VERY important for me to learn if others have the Anti-Theft Deterrent OPTION or not. It should of been clearly listed on the sticker when the car was NEW. (Also, what YEAR are the cars were speaking of here? Are they both 2009 like mine?) Anyway, the Anti-Theft Deterrent technology deals DIRECTLY with the ignition key to prevent car-jackers from using anything other than the correct key to turn the ignition switch. After a certain number of failed attempts using a key it is suppose to disable the car. It would seem logical to me this technology could be the reason why my car's steering wont work in the way it does others. I do not believe our cars are 100% "identical" for whatever reason we may learn latter.

I realize this is an old question, but perhaps I have an answer for you. the passlock system in the saturn ion, and later the cobalt and G5, is all the same. as in identical. I have not heard of any one being any more (or less) advanced than the other within the "family". also, the power steering is the same in operation, along with sharing all important parts (control unit, motor, ect...). the brakes should give you one to two full power, full press pumps, then get progressively less powerful until no assist is given. the steering wheel will lock up on you if you turn the key to the lock position, but in acc and on, it should not lock, however, you should not get assist in either position with the engine off. these cars weigh nothing, and are meant for engine off control, you can easily drive them with no assistance (I had a heavier car with manual steering that felt less responsive than this car without the power assist), and most cars cannot be controlled while moving slower without assist. the brakes are also perfectly usable without assist, they just take more effort (of coarse).

the passlock system in these cars works as follows: the key actuates the tumblers in a certain way (or whatever) that tells the switch and cylinder the right one is being used, then the car should start. if the right key is not detected, the car will not start, and will lock you out for 10 minutes. this doesn't stop the cylinder from moving, it is simply an ignition interruption type lock. it flashes the lock light on your instrument panel, until it unlocks.