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Source: Wikipedia
Quite possibly the sleeper of the past decade, the Chevrolet Cobalt SS was super fast, super nondescript and super affordable for what it was: a regular subcompact sedan with tuned suspension, stuffed with a turbocharged 2.0 liter direct injection engine, a 5 speed manual transmission and equipped with 4 wheel ABS disc brakes.
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And other things to check for when looking over a used car.
The bipolar motorsports event. Am I a race or a demolition derby? Guess I’ll be both! Big crash at the end. Happy Thanksgiving!
Here’s how I ended up playing the Monroe accordion in the video below. The shocks on my Toyota Pickup were totally worn, not really providing any damping. So I stopped by the auto parts store and picked up a new set of Monroe shocks to replace the old ones which were probably original (205k miles).
The procedure itself was really easy. It took me about 1.5 hours at a leisurely pace. And not having done it before I made a couple of minor errors such as bolting on one of the shocks and forgetting to mount a washer, which made it necessary to do it twice.
Old and new shocks
The main tools involved were a floor jack to life the axle at the pumpkin, wheel chocks, a 14 mm socket, and the trusty Haynes manual. And a friend to stand on the truck to compress the leaf springs enough to slide the shocks on.
New shocks installed
Also I needed snips to cut the plastic straps (kind of like zip ties) to decompress the shocks once they were mounted. For the 2wd models the bolt torque values are really low, just 19 lb-ft.
This work in progress drives much better now.
This is a commercial but it is interesting. Tracks better than GPS.
No, they can’t drive through people’s yards like Bruce Willis, but hopefully they can find the stolen car.
Road test of the 2006 Audi A4 2.0, equipped with a 2.0 turbo and good for 200 hp. Twin of the VW Jetta.
Is it hard to believe it’s been over 20 years since it came out? Some of the best cars ever were released in the ’90s.
If you own an Audi, BMW, Chevy, Corvette, Lotus, Mercedes-Benz, Rolls-Royce, Volvo or VW then your car might be subject to a recall. Even if you don’t have any Grey Poupon.
Certain units of the following vehicle models are under recall by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to address these potential issues:
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Called a “full correction” (?) by the British as this Nissan GT-R gets the full treatment.
Source: Wikipedia
This car introduced a step change in the hothatch segment when it was introduced for the 2007 model year. The specs it brought to the table were class leading in terms of power and performance, and even price.
Based on the Mazda3, it features a turbocharged inline four cylinder engine producing 263 hp and 280 lb-ft of torque, driving through a 6 speed manual transmission and wrapped in a distinctive yet practical 5 door body.
The available crash test data from NHTSA for the Mazda3 hatchback for model years 2007-2009 (same basic structure) shows ratings of 4 stars for frontal impact, 3 stars for side impact without side airbags (not rated with side airbags for some reason) and 4 stars for rollover.
There have been two recalls for the Mazdaspeed3. One is for a floormat which could cause a stuck throttle. The second one is for a left side engine mount bolt that could loosen if a sudden rapid acceleration is repeatedly performed (drag racers take note). There have also been 16 Technical Service Bulletins (TSB) issued.
J.D. Power ratings are 2.5 for overall dependability and 3.5 stars for performance and design. Fuel economy is rated by the EPA at 18/26 city/highway miles per gallon (2008 model).
KBB values are estimated at $14,300 for examples with 60k miles, which is about 64% of the original sticker of about $22,300.
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