Regular Car Reviews: 2009 Chevy Cobalt XFE (YouTube)
 

Warning #1: Regular Car Reviews are often Not Safe For Work. This one is milder than most, but it probably still qualifies.

Warning #2: the style & humour in these reviews will not be appreciated by everyone.

I get a kick of them - I've watched 'em all! They're an absurd, original, entertaining mix of genuine automotive enthusiasm & knowledge, plus obscure cultural references, plus potentially offensive/bizarre NSFW jokes/rants/grunts.

With that out of the way!

https://i1.ytimg.com/vi/HvPuzie1GEM/mqdefault.jpg

RCR has reviewed an EcoModder special: 2009 Chevy Cobalt XFE.

And they appreciate it for what it is, a 40 MPG "sleeper" fuel economy machine that many owners probably don't even know what they've got.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvPuzie1GEM

I just searched Vancouver (BC) Craigslist for "XFE". None. Zero.
Then I searched Seattle Craigslist for "XFE". None. Zero.
Hmmmm....

I've found that when using CL many people won't put anything other than "Cobalt" for instance, even though their car may very well be an "XFE".

I did actually browse through them all. Only LT, 2LT and SS trims. No XFE.
But there isn't much difference between the XFE and regular old 2.2L/manual as far as fuel economy goes: Compare Side-by-Side

Less than 5% of cobalts were manual cars, let alone
XFE's

I would sell you mine but then again you live in another dimension with Doctor Whos companions.

Afaik all '09 and '10 cobalts w/ a manual and a 2.2 are xfe

Edit- so I saw that fueleconomy.gov lists non xfe's, couldn't really find much more solid... But all the 09 manual cobalts on autotrader within 500miles of me, that have pics. All either have an ss or xfe badge on the back

Non-xfes are TRUE base cars.

Oddly enough my XFE has more options (if you exclude the automatic transmission) than a base or base LS car (depends on the year)

My car also has more options than a basic LT trim from pre-2007.

Odd how GM made the different trim packages mean totally different things from year to year.

Believe it or not a base Cobalt can come without the following

Onstar
Air conditioning
Satellite/CD/MP3 radio
Spoiler
Spare tire.

Very very rare to find a base car.

The xfe wasn't its own trim level, at least for 09 and 10, you could get a base, ls, or lt with xfe

Con. Fus. Ing!

And now to throw another wrench into the works: I wonder if it was available in Canada, or if it was a U.S.-only version like the Metro "XFi".

Edit: all-knowing Google says Canada too... http://www.auto123.com/en/chevrolet/...2&artid=105843

Yes but what is the difference between a base LT XFE and a base XFE car?

I can tell you that the interior is identical

The seats are identical

The wheels are identical (there is an option on the LT)

Both could come in 2 door and 4 door (though GM tended to not produce 2 door LTs and tended not to make 4 door xfes, that said you could order however you want)

The LT had a few extra exterior colors

The base LT had cruise control standard, Base XFE (and LS) was optional

Spare was optional on both (but almost ways included except on cobalts with no lables and no XFE)

Spoiler was optional on both (but from the factory the XFE tended to have it and the LT and unlabled cobalts did not)


So for an additional fee you could get
1. Cruise control standard instead of optional
2. 4 doors on the lot instead of having to order it special
3. A blue color instead of the 3 or 4 XFE colors also offered on the LT
4. The ability to buy other options not offered on the XFE but also not standard on the LT.

Add to this the 5mt cars that weren't labled XFE almost always were generic white 4 door cars with no options, I even found one without AC

The ones labled XFE off the lot almost always were 2 door with a spoiler, onstar, spare tire, AC

Likely not worth it, odd how their upsell system worked back then.

Almost everything was the same between the Cobalt models on cars you could actually buy off the lot, the only one that really was different was the SS which isn't worth mentioning for fuel economy.

So whether GM stated that the unlabled base cobalt and XFE labled cobalt were not packages the XFE always came with some sort of "Standard options package" whereas the Cobalt with no badges tended to come with nothing. I know because I looked all over for manual transmission cars and unless someone had ordered it special you basically never saw a true base cobalt, XFEs always had the spare and spoiler and LTs were very very rare to have a MT.

Cheers
Ryan

Funny, I watched the video and did exactly the same thing with the same results (well, Seattle only) before reading any further posts.

As the video says, I suspect most people are unaware of what they have.

I'm also not clear on what years had it ('08-'10?) and if it is just Coupes, or Sedans too? Is the only way to tell the little XFE badge on the trunk?

I see them fairly often, actually. I really, really want to like them. Unfortunately, my ex-gf's Cobalt SS soured me. Piss poor materials, horrendous panel alignment, electrical problems all over the place (dead guages, intermittent interior lighting, etc), the usual GM issues of the time.

It (and the few others I test drove) did drive pretty nice though, and it's hard to argue with the XFE's numbers. Plus, the two door Cobalt looked pretty good (four door was an afterthought, and looked/felt like it). An example that's mostly intact today would be hard to pass up, especially at the prices they're going for.

Certainly a massive step up from the Cavalier.

I disagree that advertising (or lack thereof) was the XFE's biggest problem. Wasn't this only available in a stick? Those don't exactly sell all that well here. Plus, a car like the Prius gets great milage with all the luxuries that people want. A stripped-down economy car is a harder sell, especially back when loans for nicer cars were easier to get.

Cavaliers and sunfires have pretty good reliability though so was really that much better? I might be biased but I think cavaliers and sunfires just get a bad rap because of the drivers who own them. Think about it, the majority of people who have them use them as beaters and do t really take care of them but they continue to run. Kids just getting there licenses get them as first cars and you all know how well they care for there cars. My sunfire was originally owned by a friend who sold it to my aunt it was driven all around as a commuter car but properly maintained and cared for and now that I have it there aren't any issues with it. Considering the original cost it's worked out to be a pretty good deal and it hasn't needed any repairs or anything other than just regular maintenance. So if you experience was that bad with the cobalt then I'll stick to my crappy old sunfire any day at least everything works.

Cavaliers and Sunfires were essentially late 1970's designed compact cars. That J-body platform was ancient and not all that great to begin with (although to its credit my '83 J2000 was still kickin' way beyond it's sell-by date), and it performed as such:
Vehicle details

It wasn't a particularly good ride, either. Drive that early '00s Cavalier back to back with a Neon, Focus, Civic, or what have you. They were all better. The Cobalt's ride and handling was a night and day difference compared to the Cavalier/Sunfire.

Understanding just how long GM had kept the J-body going in the US, were they necessarily bad cars by the time they were put to pasture? Probably not. Cheap, fairly reliable, basic cars. That said, having them around well after everyone else had gotten something far newer was a poor business decision (especially with the rather damning crash test ratings). Bad for GM's image, bad for American-based car manufacturer's image.

I will admit, I did like the late-model Cavalier styling. GM went a little too toned down with the Cobalt. Though that said, J2000 > All. :D
http://protonus.ws/gallery/d/5368-2/83_2000_LE_Vert.jpg
Same model and wheels as mine, though mine had far more rust and most certainly did not attract the ladies

Those were sweet, though (to completely derail the thread) a company was inserting the turbo Sunbird powertrain into Fiero's for a bit. Having owned both, the Fiero would be far more fun :thumbup:

Was your 'bird a V6?