russruth

Unfortunately the HHR SS came out when GM was a mess.

I only saw one low production\ad on the SS and it was shot where you couldn't see the car.

There was never a TV commercial.

It's a shame because both the small SSes, the HHR and the Cobalt were on the verge of being cult cars like the Mitsu Evo or the Subaru WRX.

The SS regardless of the retro look was a car for the times as it gets excellent gas mileage, is reasonably quick and utilitarian.

The EVO, WRX and SS sales might be a drop in the bucket for a large company like GM but but these fast, small cult vehicles are halo cars for entry level buyers and once you buy into a brand it's much easier to continue on.

I love my EVO but it's one harsh spartan ride and I love the HHR because it's quick (not EVO quick) but quick and has a limo ride vs. the EVO and much more usable.

In fact one of the reasons I bought my Evo was this commercial.


Can you imagine GM doing a commercial like this?

The thing is GM historically made ok models like the Fiero and HHR and once they got it right, they stop production.

What I've never understood about GM and some other car companies is how weak the information on their performance models are. I've taken my HHR to 4 dealers for repairs and none of them knew anything about it (except Findley Chevrolet in vegas.)

Imagine if Chevrolet offered after the fact Brembo upgrades, wheel tire packages, more robust IC piping, gauge clusters, a shift kit, compliant lowering coil overs, larger exhaust, stronger transmissions, all under warranty. I'd buy all of that in a heartbeat.

But Chevrolet is not alone.

I live both in LA and Dallas and am in our Dallas studio this week and decided to trade in my EVO for something slightly larger that rides smoother. I read the outlander GT was an EVO SUV and saw this photo online.



I would buy this car on the spot, because my EVO has been bulletproof and fun.

I got to the dealer and the GT is nothing like this. It's tall and slow, really marginal interior and once again at 230 hp underpowered with no way to upgrade the power, brakes, wheels, through the factory.

Actually no way to upgrade the power period.

This is what the car looks like.



There is increasing studies that kids don't care for cars anymore. I think a lot of that is it's difficult to work on your own car and customize it to your tastes due to government regs and just the lack of one stop shopping.

Mitsubishi has given up on performance and unless you have 60 large to go German, nothing other than the WRX exists and those are 40 grand out the door.

BTW: I'll bet you not a single chevy dealer knows that the HHR SS (pre turbo upgrade) lapped the Nürburgring faster than a new $61,000 SRT8 Cherokee.

hyperv6

Yes the HHR SS was a victim of the lack of marketing. GM could afford it in 08.

The HHR died for the most part that the platform died. It was old and needed replaced. I am suprised GM has not replaced it yet as they sold well over 100,000 average for nearly all years it was on the market. It for the most part was one of the best selling vehicles at Chevy.

The thing is the Turbo Eco is far from dead and will soon become the Small Block Chevy of the new century. GM is reading more turbo models with more power. Also we will see turbo upgrade kits for more of the new models.

There are many reasons kids are not into cars. The eviro brainwashing they get in schools, electronics and like you said the difficulty and expense of fixing up the new cars. Lets face it to make a Honda go fast cheap you have to toss your friends out and remove the interior.

Back in the day I used to have a Chevelle SS and GMC Sprint SP [Elcamino SS] also had a 70 Monte Carlo all in perfect condition and paid less than $6,000 for all of them. Today you can't buy a rusted out Nova SS for less than $10K. Then how much fun is it to build up a 04 Malibu?

As for the Fiero as a original owner of one and being involved with the car since 1980 it was more than just getting the car and killing it. The Fiero program is a great expample of everything that was wrong at GM and getting the car right after 4 years was only a small part of it. Knowing people involved with the program I can tell you some wild and crazy stories of the issues on the car and it's failure. Pontiac took a risk and lost while GM gave little support and Chevy faught Pontiac having a 2 seater the entire time and help finish it off based on the mistakes Pontiac made. GM did not need compitition as their division hurt one another more than Ford or Toyota did.

Anyways they are now working to make things right and while they still have work to do that will take time they are on the right path. It will take at least 8 more years with everyting going right for GM to get back to where they should be and then it will take time and hard work to move ahead.

Right now GM needs to get the core market fixed. The Cruze has been great and with the refesh that is coming should continue sales. They flubbed on the Malibu since much of the work on it was done years ago and it was delayed due to the money issues. In other words the car we have now was a great car two years ago. GM knew this and got out what they could but already have upgrades coming that will address the issues soon. We should see them as soon as next year.

The performance market is going to be there but it will be limited to a point as performance is a secondary thing at most automakers today. GM will work them in when it is right but with cost and how many they sell it may limit some models.

It is harder now in history to run a automaker and it takes time to earn trust and image back. GM can and I expect will do it but for those who think they should be there now just need to understand it take time to repair somethings and no matter how much money you spend you can't buy time.

C-DUB

So I can't figure out what the issue is.

No codes stored in the car, and when I took it out to show my buddy the issue, it wouldn't do it, and hasn't happened since.

I looked at the lower sensor and the wiring I could see, everything looked perfectly fine so I don't know.

hyperv6

When mine hit the AC it never even flashed a code. All it would do is drop boost and start over.

It would not always do it either. You have to have just the right amount of grip with the tires to let the engine rotate on the mounts back to make contact. If the tires slip it would never hit.

I layed under the car for a while looking at what was going on and how it could happen. I had to look at the engine and figure out the space the engine would rotate in. If you put it up on a rack every thing looks fine and at the time it would hit no one would see it unless you ran them over and they are wedge under the bumper.

This is a good place for a Go Pro Camera to see what is going on while you are driving.

KissMy08SS

sounds really similar to what mine was doing....I know this won't help....but I'm sooooo glad I got rid of that thing. Ended up getting it retuned....seemed like it ran graet for awhile. Sold it....now the guy that bought it from me is having problems....sorry but....HHR SS...never again for me.

KissMy08SS

If you want to dump some more money in it (i litteraly replaced absolutely everything besides the turbo on mine when i had the issue, huge waste of money) you can always change out the lower pipe. ZZP makes a pipe that will relocate the lower sensor closer to the TB, so the lower MAP sensor can't hit anything.

hyperv6

Or you can just move the IC so it will not hit anything and not spend any money.

To make sure just put a piece of foam between the lower pipe and the engine. This is only for the test drive but it will tell you if you have a contact issue. I used roll bar padding cut in half. It fits the tube well.

Cokeybill

My 08 SS is still running strong with the Stage kit. Had the sensor rub, but was corrected early on. Got 28,500 miles on it and when I get heavy footed, it purrs like a kitty and goes like a scared husband(LOL). Yup, I'm back! Cheers Hyper...