1999 Chevrolet Cavalier Z24 2.4L
Summary:
A kick-ass rocket that delivers power and performance!
Faults:
The rear suspension was worn out and the car's rear end would jump out on curves after running over cracks in the road. Because the rear suspension was bad, the anti-lock brakes would engage almost every time I stopped. The suspension was easily replaceable and the car handles well.
There was excessive noise in the trunk area that I cannot seem to figure out. I have taken out everything in the trunk, including the spare and the tools and it still makes noises. This only occurs around 25 to 40 miles per hour.
General Comments:
This car is the best car I have ever owned. I had a 1987 Z24 Cavalier that I owned for seven years and 180,000 miles until the engine gave out. I liked the car so much that I went out and bought a new one.
I have put on aftermarket parts on my new car such as white-faced gauges and carbon-fiber altezza taillights. The car already came with K&N Filter and aftermarket exhaust pipe when I first bought it used.
I'm planning on installing an aftermarket computer chip on the car because the stock chip has an extremely low maximum speed. I was able to hit close to 110 miles per hour in 4th gear. Being the racer I am, I would like to see exactly what the car is capable of!
No real complaints about the car in general except for the excessive noises in the trunk area. If anyone knows how to solve this, I'm all ears!
Some of you may be wondering why I wouldn't buy this car again in the future. The reason is because General Motors stopped making Z24's and 2002 was the last year. The top of the line Cavalier today is the ecotec with a 2.2L engine that produces 140 horsepower. Why settle for an 8-valve engine when you can have an 16-valve engine that produces 150 horsepower with unlimited potential. I hear you can jam a supercharger in it for $4000 bucks and the horsepower output is around 230 to 250 horses! There's a company in Toronto that specializes in General Motors and has superchargers for cars like Z24's.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 22nd March, 2003
5th Jun 2007, 13:18
To the reviewer; the 2.2L Ecotec engine has 16 Valves with a dual over head camshaft and produces 140 horses as opposed to 150 for the 2.4L Quad 4. Both engines are capable of doing the 0-100km/h in about 9.2 seconds. The Ecotec is just a more reliable design and the Z-24 was still available until 2005. It basically became a trim package.
13th Aug 2006, 13:16
General Motors still produced the z24 until 2005, in mid/late 2002 I believe, they started using the 2.2l ecotec engine which in my opinion is a far superior to that 2.4l quad 4 remake.