I came to the same conclusion. I loved my orange 2LT but it just wasn't, and never could be an SS. Traded it in for what I really wanted and couldn't get in 2006.

 

I'm doing the same thing.

 

lol just buy a gm bolt on supercharger and call it a day. But expect the motor to only last... maybe a few months.

 

Wow! 2 pages of replies before I could respond. O.K., drive the nice teal HHR til it expires and replace with a SS.

 

Yeah, building an SS has always been a hot button topic, folks are pretty adamant in their opinions.

 

I believe ZZP offers a supercharger kit for our 2.4's...someone will have to chime in to verify that. Probably the closest you'll come to the speed of an SS without shelling out $10k-15k on changing motors, ECU, tranny, etc.

Now if you are looking to change the appearance too, that's going to come with additional cost. If you keep an eye out on ebay, you can find the SS body kits from time to time...usually just piece parted from totaled wagons. I'd think for around $1k you could get the front and rear facias and side skirts...the spoiler is about $300 and then paint for all of it...$2k total invested for the body. You can run up on a used set of SS wheels on here or eBay for under $1k, but you'll need new tires. I'm going to throw out a number of $7k-10k total for body/paint/power (supercharger/intake/exhaust). Anything is do-able with money so if you got it...do it!

 

Huh, what??? Try about four years now without issue!

 

But you actually tuned yours for the mod. If you just bolted one on and called it a day, it wouldn't last quite as long as your setup, would it?

 

I think it all depends on how far one is willing to go.

Back when I had a New Beetle (an '01), it had a 1.8L turbo engine (150 HP). VW later released a Turbo S version that kicked up that same engine to 180 HP. It also had unique rims, front and rear bumpers. The ironic thing was that chipping my engine (which I did) could allow it to surpass the Turbo S version's performance, where the Turbo S didn't have as much upside, as far as chipping goes. I forget why, but I do remember some Turbo S owners being annoyed by that fact at the time.

Anyway, when I was giving my New Beetle a makeover, I put the Turbo S front bumper on, for one reason only...I liked the way it looked. Didn't like the Turbo S rims or rear bumper, so I didn't bother with those. The true Turbo Ses came with Turbo S emblems, but my car was clearly not a Turbo S (my color was not available on a Turbo S), and I had no interest in false-badging it anyway.

I think most people don't have a problem with LT and LS owners installing SS body kits, as long as they don't then call their cars SSes, or try to pass them off as such. I actually like seeing those kits installed on colors that weren't offered on SSes, like Don Juan's ride. I think it's a great kit and a great look, whether the car is actually an SS or not.

 

What a Bunch of BS here.

Don't know wth your talkin about, you shouldn't speak.

You can install a Supercharger on our motors without any issues at all and drive them daily as if stock.
You can also pump up the volume to more extremes as with any engine modifications and it will hold up, depending on your driving habits and if your Racing it.

Those that Race expect things to break sooner or later.

But to just blatantly say, "expect it to last maybe a few months" shows you know Nothing about cars and engines.

This coming from a guy who asked if his rear bumper was burning on his SS when most told him it was just Black SOOT and to Clean it off.

You got 7 replies to that thread and never bothered to report back on it.

Just because you Bought an SS, does Not mean you know anything about Performance.

Sorry but I just Hate blatant statements without any Facts to base it on.

The Ecotec can be Supercharged and driven another 100,000 miles or more without problems. I don't think GM would have Supercharged the Cobalt SS if they felt differently.

Several HHR's have been Supercharged for Years now, and are still running just Fine.

As soon as HPTuners gets the HHR Panel Vin thing straightened out, My Panel will be Supercharged.
I'll be doing a mild stock Supercharger install on my Panel to start with. Then take it from there as time goes on. Daily Driver and I have No doubts it will last Years, Not months.