The Garrett Cobalt; Not a Trailer Queen

Los Angeles (CA) - Many of the cars that are used for product development get squirreled away by their creators, rarely seeing the light of day. Others have money poured into them so that they are outfitted with the finest products that the aftermarket has to offer, only to be trailered to events as a show car but never driven. The Garrett Chevy Cobalt has gloriously escaped both of these questionable fates.

The Garrett team has driven their silver Cobalt to, in, and from several very different events in the weeks following the kit's completion. This little coupe is getting quite a workout!

First, it hit the pavement.

The first event was a Formula SAE autocross, where one engineer tossed the Cobalt through the pylons on the blacktop of California Speedway. Everyone was interested in the small fleet of Garrett vehicles that arrived to showcase the versatility of turbocharging. Vehicles included a Honda Civic, Mitsubishi Evolution, VW Bug, Chevrolet Cobalt and the only diesel BMW 3 Series and Chrysler 300C in the country. The Garrett Cobalt sped through the course several times and the engineers were quite pleased with the results.

Next came Buttonwillow, where the Garrett Cobalt was whipped back and forth around the road course, its Garrett GT2860RS "Disco Potato" turbocharger spooling quickly each time the gas pedal was mashed to the floor, turning lap times that surprised many of the track regulars. Then, stints at Willow Springs International Raceway really let the Cobalt stretch its legs. This venerable 2.5 mile road course in the desert outside of Rosamond, California is perfect for testing a hot-rodded sport compact. Long straights encourage the driver to turn the throttle up to "11." The preferred recipe for smiles is: put as much power to the ground as possible, bake at 110ºF for two days, and then drive it back home - no trailer here. This Cobalt is a bold dish, and takes all the punishment we're capable of serving up.

Then we took it off-road.

Formula Rally Cross (FRX) is a growing sport in Southern California and the Garrett Cobalt took to the dirt to thrash through the orange cones off-road. With over 200 front-wheel horsepower and full boost before 3000 rpm, the Garrett Cobalt kicked up quite a bit of dust as it was piloted back and forth against full-out rally cars on the closed course. The Garrett engineer/driver reported that the Cobalt was a blast to drive, but that the immense power would take a few more times to get under control in order to turn in better times. Even so, it finished, and made everyone grin, which is the real goal on an FRX course! (Pictures courtesy of James Nevius)

Then we removed the turns.

The quarter mile is a fairly objective measuring stick. Therefore, we tried to keep everything as consistent as possible when comparing the Garrett Turbo Cobalt to its former stock self; same track, same car, even within six calendar days of the original date of the stock Cobalt's runs a year earlier! The only things that changed were the following modifications: Garrett Alpha Turbo Kit, Centerforce Clutch (stock unit burned out during testing), DC Sports exhaust, Motegi TrakLite wheels, Eibach lowering springs and a set of Bridgestone Portenza RE-01R tires; nothing fancy or out of the ordinary as far as modifications go. The Chevrolet Cobalt, in stock form, could be coaxed to run the Los Angeles County Raceway quarter mile in 17.289 seconds. Under the same conditions, the Garrett Cobalt ran that same 1320 feet in a significantly faster 14.893 seconds at 94.5 MPH! Please note that neither time was with a professional driver, just the Garrett team at the wheel. We expect it could go faster on a clean track at sea level. We may have to give it a try.

The Garrett Cobalt can be seen popping up at local events in and around Southern California. Don't expect to see fancy body kits, a huge sound system or a trailer nearby. This is one Cobalt that isn't afraid of getting dirty - the Garrett Cobalt Alpha turbo Kit has been reliable through everything we've thrown at it.