I have noticed the tires make a big difference in the ride, found a good one here, does every thing well especially a nice smooth ride.

 

I've got a 2010 SS and it's a daily driver. Almost 25,000 miles and it's needed nothing except the expensive oil changes but they're good for 6,000 miles. I live in K-zoo Mi and had all kind of snow and ice to heavy rain and don't have any trouble. I bought it because it was the first car to come out in a long time that I could buy and not need to do anything to. I love it just the way it is. It is probably the best handling car you will ever own for the money. For the record my 04 mustang GT had a ride that was much harsher that this and didn't handle as well in the twisties. The only downfall I know of is you can count on a turbo rebuild at about 120,000 miles but it's not a killer.

 

Can your LT average 31 mpg ? My SS can........with 300 HP and a smile on my face. 66K miles on mine here, and she was new when I bought it. I drive mine in Wisconsin weather year round, 80 miles daily.


A CAI on an LT would be more realistic for 3hp in my eyes. But if your at an LT level, your not shooting for High performance anyways.

 

Imagine the ride with 19's.

 

The SS will not take $4K to replace struts, tie rods etc.

Syn oil at Walmart is $26 and it is a job anyone can do. It is very easy. Regular oil is not that much cheaper. Just don't take it to a shop and expect cheap as they will stick it to you in mark up.

As for Premium fuel it is Recomended. This means in a non turbo upgrade you can use regular if you want. It will cost you about 20 HP. It will not hurt the engine at all but it will cut power. Now any car that says Premium Required then you have to use it. The Turbo Upgrade is Required. Recomended is used on most GM cars now as they do not want to scare off buyers with Required. It gives them the choice and protects the engine in case you can't get good fuel somewhere or if you put the wrong kind in by accident.

The 08 and 09 has some minor changes. The Performance seat was optional then standard on the drivers side then optional and then standard on the passenger side depending on what time of year it was built in 09. The 6 disc changer was no longer an option in 09. It also got a better dome light in 09.

As for the Brembo's if they are there fine if not for daily driving you are not missing much. With the factory pads they can be hard to stop till heat gets into them but once warmed after a few stops they are fine. Better pads can change this.

As for ride the tires and wheels are the main cause for a harsher ride. I run 16" in the winter and the SS rides almost like a LT. It is a little firmer but not as harsh as it is with the pilots and 18" wheels. GM went softer on the springs and bars with this car and it has a more Euro like tune. What many people forget is that less is more. Less spring and bar can give you a better ride and at time better road mannors. In the past GM would go for the big numbers and on a smooth road the GM cars were a dream but on a uneven road and bumps the car would be a handful.

GMPD did a hell of a job tuning this car and what few changes on it may not always be an improvment in all areas. All in all it to this point is the best tuned FWD GM car I have driven and it is better than many other brands too.

 

Sticker inside the gas cap cover says '93 Octane Required on my '09...before the upgrade.

I disagree with the Brembo package, but realize cars of the same genre can be quite different during the build year.

Mine just hot 25,000 and I could not be more pleased with it!

 

Someone put a wrong sticker in then as all 2.0 non upgrade turbo's and Series III 3800 SC were Recomended.

If they did have required on the car already they would not give you a new gas lid sticker in the upgrade kit.

My point is there is a small gain over OE brakes and if they are there fine if they are not the OE brakes for normal driving will more than do the job. THat is what he is looking for. So if they are not on a clean low milage SS don't pass it up just because they are not there.

 

That is the point. There is a point of limited gain in performance on most street cars. Once you get to the larger sized it is more about styling than anything else.

Note the ATS Cadillac was designed around 18 inch wheels as they gave the best performance and did not add un needed unsprug weight.

This is true on many cars and bigger is not always better on the street.

 

I was wondering about a tire upgrade the next time the SS need it. Both the wife and I think the SS has a lot of road noise. I've used auto grade deadening on my Impala SS which helps. I've only started on doing the same SS. Had a hard time figuring out how to take the rear seat belts (big torx size) off to get the side panels off. But I did the easier rear hatch and am planning to add foam packaging peices in there too to absorb some of the high frequencies.

The wife (primary driver) doesn't think the car need any more performance engine wise (I'm still planning on doing some tuning via HPTuner using leftover credits from my Impala). But for the less than $150, I'm thinking about doing the rear sway bar. Of course not till the weather gets a little nicer here in Texas (which is soon for us!).

P.S. I've gotten her to use premium like the Impala SSes we have.

 

Tires are not so much the issue though there are much better tires out there than the OE Pilots for traction.

The HHR is a low end vehicle and it just does not have the added sound deadening as many other cars. Also the shape of the cabin makes it like a speaker box.

It would be easy to add more material to make it more quiet.

Note the factroy did not do all they could for two reasons. One to save cost as the HHR is pretty much entry level. Also it is to remove weight for better MPG.

Automakers today are now just working to make the lower end cars more quiet. The Cruze and new Buick Verano are good examples of the changes that are happening.

Good to use the premium. While Regular does not hurt it is better to use the good fuel and get the extra 20 HP for the little more you spend.