2003 Pontiac Vibe AWD Base Performance Upgrades?

[chromelampshade]

2003 Pontiac Vibe AWD Base Performance Upgrades?
1ZZ-FE
Many people say it is not "worth" it to do performance upgrades, however that is the case with performance in general, you have to spend serious money for serious power. You hear "performance upgrades" and folks are under the impression you're trying to catch 400whp...
120HP stock is the rated power for my vehicle, considering where at 129k mi, could be 90hp to the wheels.
I want to do several "performance" upgrades, such as, cold air intake (a actual "cold", non restrictive one, not some ebay junk.) headers, exhaust system, lightweight pulleys, some other things and perhaps a tune or ECU, however the electronics work, im not experienced in performance.

I am only looking for 20hp gains, and improved fuel economy. Nothing serious nothing crazy, if it would come out to be 140, 160hp, i'd be very stoked.
What are your guys opinions and comments? Like i said its more for fuel eco and acceleration upgrade, not about going fast. Ill be running a full fledge audio system, and subwoofers tend to get pretty damn heavy, on top of having passengers, it can become a strain on the motor.

Thanks guys let me know what you think, im all ears.

[Silver2]

if you're looking for better fuel economy I'd look towards weight reduction, and lightweight parts wherever you can afford them, including in the engine. You could also see gains in hp/fuel economy with a tune to the ecu though I don't know if that can be done to the stock one. In general though, it's a big ask to want improved fuel economy and better 0-60s. You'll definitely want a tame tune

[chromelampshade]

if you're looking for better fuel economy I'd look towards weight reduction, and lightweight parts wherever you can afford them, including in the engine. You could also see gains in hp/fuel economy with a tune to the ecu though I don't know if that can be done to the stock one. In general though, it's a big ask to want improved fuel economy and better 0-60s. You'll definitely want a tame tune

considering its my audio vehicle and subwoofers are going to add nothing but more weight, maybe i shouldn't care about fuel eco thanks for the heads up. to be honest i just want abit more power thats all. could I find after market ecu? or would that require to do wiring? (i wouldn't mind)
If I do intake, headers, (better injectors? fuel pump? etc..) could I see some power gains? like i said im only after 20+hp to be fair. but correct me if im wrong, GT versions (2003) are 180hp, whats the difference? arent they both 1zz-fe?

[joatmon]

GT versions (2003) are 180hp, whats the difference? arent they both 1zz-fe?

Base and awd 03-08 vibes get the 1ZZ, GTs get the 2ZZ. The 2ZZ has an extra cam engagement that kicks in above ~6000RPM, thats when you hit the extra power (lift). Also, the 2ZZ takes a higher octane gas than the 1ZZ, so every fill up costs more.

In general, I think MPGs and HP are a trade off, lose one to get the other. MPGs were more important to me. I never did any performance mods to my 03's, so can't say first hand what works best. At one point there was a supercharger kit for the 1ZZ, but I expect one of those would be pretty difficult to find these days. Some people reported some HP gains from cold air or short ram intakes. Don't remember anyone finding a better header was worth it.

[chromelampshade]

GT versions (2003) are 180hp, whats the difference? arent they both 1zz-fe?

Base and awd 03-08 vibes get the 1ZZ, GTs get the 2ZZ. The 2ZZ has an extra cam engagement that kicks in above ~6000RPM, thats when you hit the extra power (lift). Also, the 2ZZ takes a higher octane gas than the 1ZZ, so every fill up costs more.

In general, I think MPGs and HP are a trade off, lose one to get the other. MPGs were more important to me. I never did any performance mods to my 03's, so can't say first hand what works best. At one point there was a supercharger kit for the 1ZZ, but I expect one of those would be pretty difficult to find these days. Some people reported some HP gains from cold air or short ram intakes. Don't remember anyone finding a better header was worth it.

yeah ill probably figure out a way to achieve a proper cold air intake. i think the one from cosmos racing should fit just fine. might do a housing for it and a duct routed to the grill. not much of a fan of the short ram intakes but i might consider it.

[SeattleJeremy]

A little more on the AWD version of the 1ZZ is physically different when compared to the FWD 1ZZ and 2ZZ. There are mounting points on the back of the AWD block for the AWD transfer case.

Realistically, if you want to make your AWD car faster, you could swap in the FWD transmission, change the exhaust to be FWD, change the ECU to be the FWD ECU, and remove the spiny bits behind the drive shaft. Then the rear end would just look like a Celica, and the car would be 200lbs lighter (I made that number up you can look it up your self).

If you really want to go faster, and have AWD, can I interest you in a newer Corolla hatch or some flavor of Impreza?

[chromelampshade]

A little more on the AWD version of the 1ZZ is physically different when compared to the FWD 1ZZ and 2ZZ. There are mounting points on the back of the AWD block for the AWD transfer case.

Realistically, if you want to make your AWD car faster, you could swap in the FWD transmission, change the exhaust to be FWD, change the ECU to be the FWD ECU, and remove the spiny bits behind the drive shaft. Then the rear end would just look like a Celica, and the car would be 200lbs lighter (I made that number up you can look it up your self).

If you really want to go faster, and have AWD, can I interest you in a newer Corolla hatch or some flavor of Impreza?

hm true, then i suppose im better off just leaving the car stock. if i want to go fast maybe its just time to invest in a different project. After all the Vibe is soley for audio purposes and adding woofers and speakers adds up easily 200lbs+ custom enclosures can be up to 200lbs alone! Ill just live with it.
Realistically if i want to go faster I'm just going to wait until 1zz-fe takes a dump, which im only at 129k miles so it might be awhile, and swap it out with some other 4 banger with heavily available performance parts, k20, maybe a 2zz-fe, i dont know, we'll see.

Thanks guys for the information! For now i'll probably just put a new "cold air" intake just to kinda soup up the engine bay, ill make sure it's not getting hot air. Other then that, I guess I'll leave the motor pretty much stock

[treesleavedents]

wait till a nice vibe GT or trix XRS goes up for sale then re-do the audio build in it correcting anything you didn't like from the first time. THe AWD can be your rough draft haha!