New and proud Vibe owner here! :)

[velarey]

Hi. New vibe owner here 2005 manual one! Excited and looking forward to life with 'Red Rocket'. I am so glad I found this forum; I had never driven a stick, prior to Red Rocket, but after trying it---never want to go back to a standard if I can help it!.

I bought the car from someone I know. He took great care of this car, it was 'his baby', but now it's mine !
I was not a fan of the decals, must admit, but that changed after an 8 year old boy that the car was 'cool'.

I love learning all of the new features of the vibe, so excited to join this forum!

Silly question, but since I don't have an over drive button in my car, does this means the car gets into overdrive automatically, depending on the gear I'm in?..

After speaking with a friend yesterday, I learned that staying between 2/3 RPMs helps the car do less work, smoother ride and helps save gas. Is this true?
So I have been driving it in 4th gear, and 5th if its over 60

Looking forward to hearing from you!
-Velarey

[SeattleJeremy]

On an automatic transmission when using the "Overdrive off" button it locks out the top gear. So on a 4-speed automatic it will only allow the transmission to shift in to gears 1, 2, and 3. If the transmission is in 4th gear when that button is pressed, it will automatically downshift in to 3rd.

"Overdrive" is when the gear ratio is less than 1.0, so in your 5-speed Vibe 4th and 5th are both overdrive.
Here are the ratios.

1st: 3.166
2nd: 1.904
3rd: 1.310
4th: 0.969
5th: 0.730
Final Drive: 3.941

Typically, I only go in to 5th when on the highway. Yes, 2000-3000 rpm is the sweet spot for good fuel economy. You'll get the hang of being in the right gear at the right time.

Welcome to GenVibe!

[Derf]

The decals look good The Vibe is one of the easier cars to maintain, the layout and simplicity are great.

[creekhed1]

"Overdrive" is when the gear ratio is less than 1.0, so in your 5-speed Vibe 4th and 5th are both overdrive.
Here are the ratios.

1st: 3.166
2nd: 1.904
3rd: 1.310
4th: 0.969
5th: 0.730
Final Drive: 3.941

Shes asking about Overdrive with a manual tranny.... with that in mind do you think she will understand this even a little?

[Adam24303]

Welcome. Your new-to-you Vibe looks like it's in great condition!

[SeattleJeremy]

Shes asking about Overdrive with a manual tranny.... with that in mind do you think she will understand this even a little?

My post was to be read in full.
I described what the overdrive button does in an automatic car, what overdrive means, included the actual gear ratios of the Vibe 5-speed transmission, and pointed out that gears 4 and 5 are technically "overdrive" gears.

To directly answer this question.

does this means the car gets into overdrive automatically, depending on the gear I'm in?..

The car is in overdrive when you are in 4th and 5th gear.

Some not so friendly forums might have just offered a link to the Wikipedia article on the subject and call it a day. We try to keep it light hearted and fun here.
Here is that article if you would like to read it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overdrive_(mechanics" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;)

Creekhed: If you disagree with what I wrote, then fell free to offer a different description. Please, don't insult forum members and attempt to hide that fact it by adding smilies.

[creekhed1]

I WAS jbyb

[hotbug1776]

I have started using 4th in the city driving up to about 45mph. And now I'm getting anywhere from 32-40mpg in town (depends on the amount of red lights I encounter).

So I would say that 4th is a "city overdrive" and 5th is a "highway overdrive".

Car companies have long since gone away from printing OD on the gearshifts in favor of touting the sheer amount of gears they are cramming into transmissions these days.

[vibenvy]

Welcome to GenVibe! Props on posting a picture of your "new" Vibe right away ! I'm not a huge fan of decals, but those ones actually don't look too bad.