Trading up from 2003 GT to 2009 GT

[tonybeaver]

I sold my 2003 Vibe GT 6 speed White to the brother-in-law Chris.

Tomarrow, I am getting a 2009 Vibe GT 5 Speed Auto in Dark Red.

The truth is that Chris has had the White Vibe for sometime now.
For a small GT the White Vibe was set up very nice. I do not know
who had it before me, but I was smoking Mustangs with it. I did not
know about the Vibes until my other half, Jenn, wanted one.
Since then, I am sold on the car. The GT's are fast, very fast. I
know that the White 2003 gets 43 mpg easy.

Question?

Will I get the same kind of gas milage with the 2009 GT?

Thanks and I will post pics of the 2009 GT very soon,

Tony Beaver.

[Salsa Guy]

Say it isn't so! The 03 GT is the one of the most valued Vibes. 6200 Lift and no "smog pump". Don't know a lot about the 2nd Gen but heard the MPGs isn't as good and the "Fun" is down.

[trb]

Depends on how you drive it, as usual. I got a pretty constant 24 mpg on my daily commute (80/20 hwy/city with some traffic) in my 10 GT, but I did drive it a bit hard at times. The few times I drove it on the highway at 65-75 I got up to 29 mpg. I know a few people on here (Carrie - Vibenvy and her mom) get pretty good mileage (upper 20's) from their 09 GTs, certainly better than I did. See the MPG thread on here for a lot of reference info.

If you were getting 43 mpg in your 03 GT, was that all downhill with the engine off??? I've only gotten about 29 hwy in my 03 GT (23-24 city) and my son just gets up to 35 hwy in his 06 base.

Good choice on the red 09 GT though. I wish I still had mine, and maybe one day I'll find another, but with a manual transmission too. I did not like the auto trans though coming from a 5.0 Mustang, but had to get it for my wife & daughter. It did handle pretty well though and I liked that aspect.

Good luck with the new one!

[vibenvy]

Welcome to GenVibe Tony! I can't comment much on the changes of going from a 1st gen GT to a 2nd gen GT, other than that, like trb said, my mom and I get very respectable (IMO) gas mileage from both of our 5-speed auto 2009 Vibe GTs. Now, a disclaimer, both our Vibes have a K&N Typhoon short ram air intake (#69-8613TS) with AEM Brute Force Dryflow air filter (#21-203BF) and AEM air filter wrap (#1-4000). My Vibe also has a Magnaflow catback exhaust system (#16849). These mods have definitely given us an extra ~2-3 MPG which puts us at an average of ~27-28 MPG during the warm months. I have gotten as high as 34 MPG with 100% highway (before the exhaust was installed). Our driving style also has a lot to do with gas mileage. We both try to keep the RPMs under 3000 when accelerating. We also try to coast to stop signs, stop lights, etc. when safe to do so. I make sure our tires are properly inflated and I always keep up on oil changes with Toyota oil filters and Penzoil conventional 5W-20.

I look forward to seeing pictures of your "new" Vibe. While you're at it, you should also post some of your old Vibe because we love pictures around here !

[09vGT]

My GT gets around 22 around town and I usually get anywhere from 25-27 on the highway.

[tonybeaver]

Wow, thanks to all. It moves like a Rocket Sled, lol...

I had a Vet try to smoke me and I let him sit around 115 mph. This car
is a GT and rocks!!!

As for gas milage, I have been running 93 Oct in it and it will get over 30
mpg if I keep my foot out of it. Maybe, the higher Octane is what kick the
Vet's but.

[vibrologist]

That's cool!

By the way I have a lot of respect for our vets. But I love it when a Vibe kicks a Vette's but [sic].

[trb]

LOL! That Vette was just playing with you, or was only running on like 3 cylinders! I know the GTs are fun to drive, I had a lot of fun with my 2010, but they are not quite in the same league as a Vette. Probably don't need the 93 gas, as they are designed to run on regular ole 87 just fine.

Great to hear you are enjoying your new Vibe and good luck with it!

[vibenvy]

As for gas milage, I have been running 93 Oct in it and it will get over 30
mpg if I keep my foot out of it. Maybe, the higher Octane is what kick the
Vet's but.

Probably don't need the 93 gas, as they are designed to run on regular ole 87 just fine.

Agreed. Unlike the 1st gen GTs, the 2nd gen GTs do not require premium fuel, so all you're doing is spending more money unnecessarily.

[tpollauf]

Welcome to GenVibe Tony! 43 mpg ..... REALLY Maybe with a tail wind and going down hill. Anyways we have a pair of 2009 Vibe GT's in our family and if the wife were to take either of us on at the strip with her G8 GT, she'd be leaving us in her dust! Anyways one of ours is auto, the other manual, The manual clearly gets much better mpg than the auto. Our 2.4l engines are nothing more than the base engines used in the Camry models. No special compression ratios or nothing. Use 87 octane and save yourself some $$$. Post pics soon and glad you've joined us here

[tpar1220]

i am kinda confused, i thought all gt's were manual trans? i have an 09 2.4 auto and not a gt model.

so if they made an 09 gt with 5sp auto and base with 5sp auto, both with 2.4 engine... what is difference between em?

[tpollauf]

so if they made an 09 gt with 5sp auto and base with 5sp auto, both with 2.4 engine... what is difference between em?

Drivettrain-wise .... No difference at all ! Trim levels do have differences and suspensions are different. That's about it!

[vibenvy]

so if they made an 09 gt with 5sp auto and base with 5sp auto, both with 2.4 engine... what is difference between em?

Drivettrain-wise .... No difference at all ! Trim levels do have differences and suspensions are different. That's about it!

To elaborate a bit...

2009-2010 Vibe 1.8L Base - either 5-speed manual or 4-speed auto

2009-2010 Vibe AWD - 4-speed auto only

2009-2010 Vibe 2.4L Base & GT - either 5-speed manual or 5-speed shiftable automatic

The 2009-2010 Vibe GT (and AWD) has IRS (Independent Rear Suspension) whereas the 1.8L & 2.4L Bases have torsion beam rear suspension.

The 2009-2010 Vibe GT has totally different front and rear bumper covers, standard fog lights, side skirts, wheels, spoiler and larger brakes. The interior has cloth seats with leather accents and the front seats have "GT" embriodered in white on them.

The 2009-2010 Vibe GT, 2.4L Base and AWD all share a 5x114.3 bolt pattern for the wheels. The 2009-2010 1.8L Base has a 5x100 bolt pattern which is the same as all 2003-2008 Vibes.