Chevrolet's little retro wagon, the HHR, has been given the SS treatment, with a turbocharged engine and a firmed-up chassis, plus some tuner-style body modifications and interior upgrades. The resulting car may be a little hard to take seriously, but at least there's now a lot more substance beneath the HHR's candy-coated shell.
That shell, with its pleasingly rounded styling and practical wagon layout, has been netting the HHR 100,000 sales per annum, but the Cobalt mechanicals underneath mean that those buyers are unlikely to be driving enthusiasts. Now General Motors' in-house tuner crew has imbued the HHR with newfound power and poise.
The HHR SS benefits from the latest thinking at the GM Performance Division. That means turbocharging rather than supercharging for the 2.0-liter four, which also is treated to direct injection. The benefits are twofold. First, the turbocharged engine meets 2008 emissions standards that the supercharged 2.0-liter could not. (Which explains why the Cobalt SS Supercharged has disappeared from the lineup.) Second, the 2.0 turbo makes a lot more power: 260 hp versus 205 hp, and 260 lb-ft of torque versus 200 lb-ft.
To get all 260 ponies, you need to opt for the manual transmission; the engine in the automatic-equipped car is detuned to 235 hp, in deference to the four-speed automatic's fragility.... Read full article