05 Pontiac Vibe Upgrades: Newbie - SOS! Help! :0)

[Vibe_D]

Whatup all you fellow Vibers! I am so glad I found this board! Thanks in advance to everyone who responds to my post.My gf purchased an 05 Vibe (after arm twisting from me) in June of this year, and we liked it so much, I got rid of my gas guzling Jeep Liberty (I still loved her though...) and got a 05 Vibe, Moon and Tunes Package, ABS, and Power Group, in Frosty. Before that Jeep, every vehicle my familay and I have owned has been a pontiac (I had an 93 and 01 Pontiac Grand Prix perviously) so we aren't new to the pontiac trade...Needless to say, I have never been into tricking out my cars in the past, but the Vibe just SCREAMS to be tricked out, no?So here is what I would like to upgrade: Rims and Tires; Body (potentially); and Stereo system. Like most everybody, I am on a budget so I can't go crazy with this stuff and thats where I hope to get some feedback from you guys.Rims and TiresI have been doing some digging around the web and found a few websites that sell tire and rim packages. Here is one set of rims and tires that I have been looking at:Wheels:http://www.wheelmax.com/product.asp?Pro ... .ar=45What do you guys think? My stock rims are the not so pretty 16" steel wheels with hubcaps. I am thinking of upgrading to 17', should I be worried about my speedometer being off? The vibe comes with 17" aluminum wheels as an option - so does that mean as long as I stay at 17" I don't have to worry about speedometer being off or swapping them out in the winter?In another post someone wrote that if you have the stock 16" tires, and want to upgrade to 17" you should get tires that are P225/45R17 to make sure they match up with the stock P205/55R16 so you don't throw of the odometer, speedometer, fuel consumption, ABS, etc. Any thoughts on this?Do you guys think those Kumho ECSTA 711 tires will be good enough for Summer/Winter? The Toyo Proxes 4 claim to be all-seasons. Anyone have any experience with those? So do the Falken's...any thoughts on those?Any other websites selling wheel/tire packages I should be looking at?BodyI got the last 05 Vibe at my dealer (thanks to the Employee Discount Price...no selection). It has the black cladding, and I've heard mixed reaction to this. I am not sure how I feel about it with the Frosty color, but I was wondering if anyone knows if you can get the monotone appearence package after market (or if you can go to the dealer and do it, after the fact) and how much that runs. MSRP it runs $300, but that's before you buy the car.What do you think?Stereo UpgradeI was looking into IN-Dash DVD navigation systems, but I can't seem to find any (e.g. Circuit-City) that list the 2005 as being compatible. They seem to fit the 04, so maybe they haven't updated the 05 lists yet? If I don't get an in-dash I was wondering if anybody had any experience with a stand-alone unit, or if not GPS?If not GPS, then I definately, at a minimum, want to put a Sirius Satellite system in there. Any links or suggestions on that? I can't seem to find any units that aren't just Sirius ready. Do they make them built in? I know I asked a ton of questions. Thanks again for helping out this stoked newbie Vibe owner.

[djpositivek]

Hi and Welcome !I'm a newbie with a stock Vibe so I'm not the best to answer your questions. I'm sure some of the guys/gals will chime in soon.Check out this site for wheels as you can chhose your vibe and see what they would look like on it.http://www.tirerack.com/Here's an example:Even if you don't buy from there, it will give you an idea.Good luck and have fun !

[Vibe_D]

Hey thanks for the info! I'll definately check that website out.

[GMJAP]

As for the Navigation systems - There wasn't any changes from 04 to 05 in the stock radio setup, except for the subwoofer on M&T package. So anything that shows it's good for 04 should be good for 05...

[Waxler6942]

Welcome To GenVibe For tires and rim you can look online and also you can go to a local place sych as discount tire they have pretty good prices, if you look in the wheels and tire portion there is a calculator that can help you with the size.there are many stereos that have sirius satellite. Kenwood, Pioneer, and Alpine all make them there is a seperate tuner you have to buy. For in dash dvd navigation pioneer makes the Avic 1 & 2. they have about 1300 though

[BOZACK]

If you have a two tone and want a mono tone I think you'll have to paint the cladding. Mine is a mono tone and it is just painted caldding. I am not sure you can get pre-painted cladding for the Vibe. What they sell is a body kit that goes ove the cladding but does not cover all of the cladding. Unless of course you can find the parts at a junk yard and replace them. Not likely though.I like the P-6 rims. But what it comes down to is what you like. Any thing will be better than steelies. There is a size calculator in one of the sticky threads that will help out with the tire size. It will tell you how much the change in rims and tires size will effect the cars speed and milage. Very helpful.

[Vibe_D]

Thanks for the info. I missed that tire calculater. Thats's handy, that is!Big bummer about the cladding. I wonder what happens if you get it scratched up and need it repaired? You can't order the monotone instead of the black cladding if you have to get it replaced? I haven't tried calling the dealer yet, I'll do that and see what he tells me.Thanks again.P.S. I am leaning towards the P-6 myself.

[rlfreese]

congrats on the vibe. I have alot of stuff on mine after only having it for 6 months or so. I replaced my stereo with a kenwood that has sirius tuner and I am getting the sirius kit this christmas. if you ahve moon and tunes make sure you go to wal mart and get the scorsche line level converter to convert it from 4ohm to 2ohm. the vibe is 2ohm and the radio outputs 4ohm. sounds great too. i love kenwood.

[scherry2]

Quote, originally posted by Vibe_D » You can't order the monotone instead of the black cladding if you have to get it replaced? that would be expensive. the lower cladding is just unpainted it would be cheaper to just get it painted.

[Vibe_D]

Hey, thanks for the reply. I had no idea about the 2 and 4 ohm...I will have to look into that.I was checking out tire.com and they have a nice interactive guide showing my Frosty White Vibe (with the black clading, surprisingly) and I am trying to decide between a few rims. Feel free to chime in, guys.I saw these Hot Wheels Rims and I was a little intrigued. I had lots of Hot Wheels when I was a kid, but I am not sure what that says...having them on your car as an adult.http://www.discounttiredirect....07420Here is a pic of the Hot Wheel Rims...and the NX0 P6 Rim from my post above...

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[GMJAP]

Quote, originally posted by Vibe_D »Hey, thanks for the reply. I had no idea about the 2 and 4 ohm...I will have to look into that.Let me clarify this a little bit:The M&T speakers are 2 Ohms, and are driven by the M&T amp under the passenger seat. Nearly all aftermarket amps & headunits are designed to drive 4 Ohms speakers, so if you remove the factory amp you'll need to replace the speakers with 4 Ohm ones.Also, unlike most aftermarket amps, the factory amp takes speaker level inputs, not line-level. (The stock radio speaker outputs are connected to the Amp inputs). If you get an aftermarket head unit intended for use with an external amp, it will have line-level outputs, which will swamp the speaker-level inputs on the factory amp and it'll sound like crap. This is why you might need the line level converter - to convert the line-level signals from the new head unit to speaker-level signals to go into the factory amp.If you get an aftermarket head unit with a built-in amp, you should be able to connect the speaker outputs directly into the factory amp.

[Credz]

Those hot wheel rims would probably look good, I'd go with those most likely.It took me a few weeks to finally decide which pair of rims I wanted to get. Until i saw a pic of a black vibe with same pair of rims i was considering to get and thats when i got hooked. lol

[Vibe_D]

Thanks for the input...so many rims...only 1 Vibe...lol.Another Newbie wheel question. Even though I enter the exact Make, Model, and Trim (including stock wheel size) on tire.com and other sites, I get wheels with different Ofsets. What is the offset, and what should I be looking for to replace my stock steely 16's with either 17 or 18's.Thanks again to everyone who is posting to my thread!Vibe on!

[damronjr]

Welcome to the site! Modding can be lot's of fun, congrats on the new Vibe!

[gargoyle]

Welcome! Great choice on the Frosty. I can't be of much technical help as I'm sort of new at all this too, but there are lots of knowledgeable people on this site. This is a great place. Enjoy!

[Vibe_D]

Thanks everyone for all the replies and the compliments on the Vibe. I'm definately excited about owning it.

[AKLGT]

welcome to gvc. looks like you'll fit right in here! we love pics! yes, modding is a lot of fun, however, after 2 cars of fully modding, and now the new one to start, it costs $$$. if only modding was cheap! lol

[overboost1232003]

Hey i had 16's on mine and went to 18x9 with 235/40/ZR and still could of gone a little wider. I hope it helps out with your decision...http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2118084/1

[Cougar Vibe]

Looks like I have a stalker...

[AKLGT]

lol. didn't even notice that.... sure it's not you?

[pdworak]

With regards the cladding, your only choice now is to paint it. The proper way is to take it all off, thoroughly clean and degrease, scuff and paint with base coat/clear coat as the factory would. Then bake it in the spray booth and reinstall. Figure about $1000 at a good body shop. You could save some money by removing/reinstalling the panels yourself, it's not that hard, just don't break anything. Earl Shibe or Macco may mask off the car and shoot the plastic for around $300. You will get a lot of over-spray and there will still be a lot of gray when you open the doors, but it should be OK. Just a note on the standard unpainted cladding, if you damage or scuff it, you will have to buy a new piece to replace it. There is no way to repair an unpainted piece. Some of the panels are expensive, so it may be cost effective to repair a damaged panel and paint all the other panels while you are at it. Just some thoughts. Pete