Quote:
Originally Posted by 2010 SS
Hmm, beating the Evo would be tough.
The Evo has always been a $10k car with a $30k drivetrain. If a company were to try to imitate the Evo and give it the sophisticated interior the Evo never had, well, then we'd have an M3.
The Evo holds the title as import budget sports car. It's fast, it can outhandle cars twice it's price. For GM to develop an Evo competitor, they would have alot on their plate.
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Ya, it's old info, but->
Source: Lightning Lap, Car and Driver- Time around Virginia Int'l Raceway
Chevrolet Cobalt SS 03:13.0 LL1 2008 $22,995
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution MR 03:13.3 LL2 2008 $38,915
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution MR 03:13.5 LL1 2006 $29,774
Source: Apex Predators, Motor Trend, Laguna Seca
Cobalt SS/TC
Best Lap - 1:47.751
Max Speed - 121.9mph
Peak Lat Accel - 1.32g
Mitsu Evo X
Best Lap - 1:47.713
Max Speed - 119.9mph
Peak Lat Accel - 1.56g
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'Ring times:
Evo IX is 8:11 (no official for the X, rumor mill says the IX is faster)
Cobalt SS is 8:22
The Cobalt and Lancer are the same class. It's pretty clear that GM has the know-how to compete with the EVO because a FWD can hold it's own on real tracks. The question is whether a car with such limited appeal would be worth the expense of engineering a robust enough 4wd system. Despite all the hype, EVO's don't sell that high of a volume of cars. Likely wouldn't work for Chevy because they already have chosen their halo car.
Now I could see them pulling a Heinreichy (sp?) treatment on a Solstice and coming up with something really special.
(Yes this is bench racing, and yes EVO's have more potential then Cobalts due to being AWD vs FWD-)