GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

So people swear by and other swear at the "High Performance Cats". They have been know to trip CELS (P0420) and not last very long. If you are going to add a header a hi flow cat would give you more bang for the buck.

FYI there are 2 TRD SCs for sale on MO. They work without any issues or Mods on the 03-04 1zz Vibes and 03-06 1zz AWD vibes. Then can work on the 05+ 1zz vibes but require a TB adapter, different piggy back computer and Tuning. That is the simplest and cheapest way to add real power to these engines.

Salsa Guy wrote:So people swear by and other swear at the "High Performance Cats". They have been know to trip CELS (P0420) and not last very long. If you are going to add a header a hi flow cat would give you more bang for the buck.

FYI there are 2 TRD SCs for sale on MO. They work without any issues or Mods on the 03-04 1zz Vibes and 03-06 1zz AWD vibes. Then can work on the 05+ 1zz vibes but require a TB adapter, different piggy back computer and Tuning. That is the simplest and cheapest way to add real power to these engines.

Adding a SC, you would still want the header and a free flowing exhaust though, correct?

Yes the header will help. But these SCs are rare finds, all bolt on and can be put on in 6 hours.

What year is your Vibe?

'03 w/1zzfe. So SC w/o the header and exhaust? Will the motor exhale ok then?

The TRD SC was designed for the stock Exhaust system. The only upgrade in size is to the intake piping, the stock air box remains. However I'm running a SRI with the SC and have no issues. Now if you upgrade to a header, hi-flow cat and etc you will see even more gains.

The TRD SC Kit will work on your 03 with no issues. AT or MT?

MT (6 speed)

You are golden then.
Here ya go
http://matrixowners.com/index.php?/topi ... msearch__1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Salsa Guy wrote:You are golden then.
Here ya go
http://matrixowners.com/index.php?/topi ... msearch__1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ummm.... yeah that's more than I wanna/can spend. I'm sure it's a rare find and would love to ($ no object) but don't see that fitting in the budget right now. I'll probably just put more of a free flowing muffler on this for now just to get me by.

Thanks for the info anyway though!

You need to pay to play. Most of these mods, IHE, would yield less than 20HP total and you are going to drop about $500-$700 in them. Of course they will set-up you up for the SC in the Future.

Salsa Guy wrote:You need to pay to play. Most of these mods, IHE, would yield less than 20HP total and you are going to drop about $500-$700 in them. Of course they will set-up you up for the SC in the Future.

That's why I'm just going to hold off for now and just go with a replacement muffler. If I go SC n the future, I may not even go with header, exhaust, etc. if I don't need to. Would rather not have a noisy obnoxious exhaust. Would rather like to be a sleeper at the light instead

Salsa Guy wrote:The TRD SC was designed for the stock Exhaust system. The only upgrade in size is to the intake piping, the stock air box remains. However I'm running a SRI with the SC and have no issues. Now if you upgrade to a header, hi-flow cat and etc you will see even more gains.

The TRD SC Kit will work on your 03 with no issues. AT or MT?

Salsa, what if you get the TRD SC and also run an engine management computer? Although I think you have to anyway with the TRD because GM wants you to use "theirs."

mntn-biker wrote:

Salsa Guy wrote:You need to pay to play. Most of these mods, IHE, would yield less than 20HP total and you are going to drop about $500-$700 in them. Of course they will set-up you up for the SC in the Future.

That's why I'm just going to hold off for now and just go with a replacement muffler. If I go SC n the future, I may not even go with header, exhaust, etc. if I don't need to. Would rather not have a noisy obnoxious exhaust. Would rather like to be a sleeper at the light instead

Here's a DC Sports header

http://matrixowners.com/index.php?/topi ... msearch__1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

lannvouivre wrote:

Salsa Guy wrote:The TRD SC was designed for the stock Exhaust system. The only upgrade in size is to the intake piping, the stock air box remains. However I'm running a SRI with the SC and have no issues. Now if you upgrade to a header, hi-flow cat and etc you will see even more gains.

The TRD SC Kit will work on your 03 with no issues. AT or MT?

Salsa, what if you get the TRD SC and also run an engine management computer? Although I think you have to anyway with the TRD because GM wants you to use "theirs."

Not sure what you mean. I'm running "GM Performance" AT piggyback ECU now (really a rebadged TRD). For the 03-04 1zz-fe SC Kits GM Performance = TRD.

Now if your want to use a Greddy EMU/EMB or an AEM FIC piggyback you may pick up a few more ponies but most tuners will want you to use 2zz injector and delete the TRD 5th injector.

I ran both the EMU and AEM but had some issues with the tune on both but the EMU was better but more complex. If you have an 03-04 the TRD ECU (or GM Performance) is the way go.

Salsa Guy wrote:

mntn-biker wrote:

Salsa Guy wrote:You need to pay to play. Most of these mods, IHE, would yield less than 20HP total and you are going to drop about $500-$700 in them. Of course they will set-up you up for the SC in the Future.

That's why I'm just going to hold off for now and just go with a replacement muffler. If I go SC n the future, I may not even go with header, exhaust, etc. if I don't need to. Would rather not have a noisy obnoxious exhaust. Would rather like to be a sleeper at the light instead

Here's a DC Sports header

http://matrixowners.com/index.php?/topi ... msearch__1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yep, saw that too. For a little more $, 1 could get a brand new one.

Don't get the OBX header, they have know issues with cracked welds

Salsa Guy wrote:

lannvouivre wrote:Not sure what you mean. I'm running "GM Performance" AT piggyback ECU now (really a rebadged TRD). For the 03-04 1zz-fe SC Kits GM Performance = TRD.

Now if your want to use a Greddy EMU/EMB or an AEM FIC piggyback you may pick up a few more ponies but most tuners will want you to use 2zz injector and delete the TRD 5th injector.

I ran both the EMU and AEM but had some issues with the tune on both but the EMU was better but more complex. If you have an 03-04 the TRD ECU (or GM Performance) is the way go.

GM was claiming the TRD one has different ECU settings, plus I read somewhere that the TRD one will not work on a Vibe without a piggyback.

I'm thinking I'll probably end up going with the turbo kit from MWR and a piggyback since by the time I can afford either, I will probably be out of college and the SCs will be depressingly scarce.

PS: I bought a new DC header for $216+shipped (via "or best offer") and it should be here tomorrow. WOO!

lannvouivre wrote:GM was claiming the TRD one has different ECU settings, plus I read somewhere that the TRD one will not work on a Vibe without a piggyback.

Now the 1zz TRD/GM Performance ECUs are piggyback computers and as far as I know can not be re-tuned/programmed. Therefore they are one trick ponies.

I sincerely doubt that GM would spend the money or the time to re-program these ECUs. The GM Performance AT ECU only had a PN Sticker over the TRD PN Sticker. BlueCrush ran a TRD SC with a TRD AT ECU on his Vibe with no issues and I'm running a GM Performance AT ECU on my Matrix with no issues.

The 1zz TRD/Gm Performance SC Kit will work fine on 03-04 Corolla/Vibe/Matrix and 03-06 4WD/AWD Matrix/Vibe (all are DBC). That my friend is a FACT!

Now it you strap this SC on a 1zz FWD 05-08 Corolla/Vibe/Matrix (all are DBW) then yes you will need a different piggyback and a TB adapter.
That is also a fact.

Salsa Guy wrote:Now it you strap this SC on a 1zz FWD 05-08 Corolla/Vibe/Matrix (all are DBW) then yes you will need a different piggyback and a TB adapter.
That is also a fact.

Thanks man. Mine's an '06, which explains why I remember the piggyback. I'd already heard about that adapter, made me super-excited when I read about it, even though I am an impatient college student and probably won't ever have those kinda funds.

northvibe wrote:Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush »No problem, Lancer. I wouldn't bother with the TB spacer since you have a supercharger. It may be more of a hinderance than a help. If anything, you should get your throttle body bored out from http://www.maxbore.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for $100. So you can allow more air flow into the engine.+1 to the throttle body bore out. thats why I bought the TB from BC to get it bored. its stock at like 54mm or something and bored to 60mm.

If anyone is interested, I have an extra (original with ~120k miles) 1zzfe TB that I took off my '03 base and replaced it with 1 I had bored out by George @ http://www.maxbore.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. It was in fine working order when I took it off, just a little gunked up from over the years but I took some TB cleaner to it to make the inside look all pretty and stuff. I paid $95 for the 1 I had bored out so I'd like to at least get that out of this one. I would do $100.00 shipped. I would even offer to ship it to maxbore.com for you if you wanted to get it bored it. PM me if you are interested.



I have more pics upon request.

Most of those links in the OP aren't working nowadays lol

Anyone care to update what are some good places to get moderate bolt on's like these?

Does anyone have a beat on where you can find some aftermarket parts for the 2.4 GT model? 90% of all post on here are only applicable to the 1.8 L

From what I read, it seems like the 2.4 owners are screwed out of a lot of upgrades of compatibility.

I am also looking to do some cheap upgrades (everything outside of forced induction), but the only thing I know that I could find is the Magnaflow Cat back exhaust.

What about headers , TB spaces, any anything else for increased horsepower for the 2.4 L?