GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hello, I'm hoping someone has experienced this or heard about it. My fiance was driving her 2004 vibe base model in the country. The road we were driving on has quite a bit of hills. It did not do this all the time, but the hills that were steep, she noticed the rpms at 4000, and the car was only going 100 km/hr. She has less then 20k on the car.When we first noticed this, the a/c was on because the temperature was at 35c, and the 2nd scenario we had the a/c off. Before I take it into the dealership, I would like some opinions/advice...pretty much anything that can hekp us.And one more thing, has anyone also noticed any discoloring on the door interior.greatly appreciated,

If it's an auto, then it likely auto downshifted as you were going downhill...It's normal.

thanks, It's an auto, but I would have thought that going down hill the revs would be lower.

As the tranny downshifts, the revs jump up because it takes more revolutions of the engine to go the same distance. That being said, lower gears have higher torque, which helps slow the car down, taking some of the work away from the brakes.

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »If it's an auto, then it likely auto downshifted as you were going downhill...It's normal.Yep...I drive the same hilly road every day and have been experimenting with when /why it downshifts on the same hill, but diferent speed, aceleration and deceleration. It has a very inteligent computer program. While going down hill I let up off the accelerater ubruptly it will downshift (depending on speed), if I let up gradually it coast down hill. They have done a great job matching the operation of the auto trans to the engine performance characteristics. I planned on getting a base with a manual trans but the dealer had a smokin deal on one with an auto. I am very happy with the auto.

Ahh, yes, it scares the crap out of you doesn't it. But as it was stated, it is normal, I noticed it does it more if you are braking down hill.

Thanks everybody with your input, it's greatly appreciated...and yes, a sign of relief.