Well I finally test drove a 2008 HHR SS w/Auto. today, all I can say is it really does move! It gets up to 70-80 mph in a blink. It has no problem spinning the tires either. The handling seemed very responsive as well. It is hard for me to believe they can get so much out of a 2.0 4cyl. engine I remember the days you had to have a V-8 to even come close to what this SS does. It doesn't have the sunroof, which I guess is ok because it's one less place for a leak. Otherwise it has OnStar and all the SS options. I do have one question, when I shut off the traction control it says that its in Competion mode/Launch mode, what does that mean. I can only imagine what it will do with the Stage 1 kit from GM. I will probably put that in sometime this summer. Well I will hear from the dealer tomorow to see if they accept my price, if so, away we go!

Living well is life's best revenge!!!!!!!

 

Good luck

I told myself years ago that i would never buy a 4 banger, That was until this engine came out, I was also amazed at the power , But after 38,500 miles i can see adding about 60-70 hp, and soon.

 

Has your 2.0 been reliable so far!

 

engine wise as strong as the day i got it.
It has had a new sunroof, front struts, front stabilizer bushings 2 times , front stabilizer links, rear hatch struts 2 times all under warranty. It is now driving like the day i got it with 7 miles. You will love the car, but you can expect some interior rattles. This spring i will install sound proofing under all of the platic interior pieces.

 

My 08 has been flaw less in a year and a half of daily driving.

The only issues I have has were two TSB's I requested to be done neither were major issues and were upgrades applied to the 09.

Also I was run off the road by an idiot and then they replaced the damaged intercooler they installed it just a fraction of an inch back farther than they should have. When I installed the Turbo Upgrade kit the new T maps needed more clearance. They adjusted it and all has been fine.

The stock auto is impressive for a 2.0 but the Turbo Upgrade show a little of what can be done. While it is not CTS V or ZR1 fast it is enought to make it fun to drive as a daily driver.

Lets put it this way with the upgrade my first drvive in a 2010 Camaro SS was fun but not as big of a jump in performance as I was expecting.

The SS is by far not the fastest vehicle on the road but it is very impressive for such a small engine and the suspension is one of the best sorted GM FWD cars I have driven. In fact it is one of the best FWD I have driven period.

I hated FWD and 4 cylinder cars till I drove my first SS.

 

Just over 10k in the '09, no problems at all. BTW, agree with the wow factor!

 

All it took was 1 test drive, and I was in LOVE
Never wanted FWD or a 4 banger, now I have both and smile every time I drive it.

no problems, except my spotters mirror peeled, then the tech broke the main mirror trying to remove it.

just turned 10k, did the LNF upgrade at 9k... Smile is even bigger now!

 

Hi Cman, I have a sunroof in my SS and when I was on business I rented a HHR without a sunroof and I was amazed at how much headroom the HHR has without the sunroof. I have 22k miles without any issues except for a water leak where the rubber gasket where the wires go into the firewall from the driver side door, which appears to be pretty common and an easy fix with sealer.
I am in MA as well and I run snowtires on the HHR in the winter and it goes well in the snow. I also test drove an auto, which I was impressed with how smooth it shifted, but I bought a 5sp w/LSD.

 

launch mode limits rpm on take off but I don't know how it works with an auto, same with the comp mode. It's more well defined and usefull with the five speed IMO. by the way what color is it?

 

The color is silver.