[lemming]

i was expecting the worst and came away pleasantly surprised.

the powertrain is what it is. it's not thrashy, it's actually pretty refined. no vibration or harshness, but just not a lot of power. the automatic kicks down pretty well, though.

brake pedal feel was amazingly good. my memories of non-Corvette GM vehicle brake pedal feel are not good. this one was solid.

steering feel was artificial and light. sway resistance was minimal.

the interior: here's where i was blown away. this interior is as nice as a recent Camry, Scion, Civic and Mazda MX5 and Mazda 3 (brand new one) that i've been inside. it's no longer the case that the interior of a cobalt is so terrible. it's simply on par with the rest.

and that simple little thing was a happy find.

some of the plastics were far nicer than what can be found inside an R56 MINI (which is not difficult to do).