newbie questions

[shryocdj]

couple of newbie questions you can feel free to laugh at what the hell is CEL? check engine light?what kind of performance enhancement do you actually get with your intakes, realistically...and being clueless when it comes to electrical stuff, what does redoing ground wires achieve?thanks in advance

[Mrizzle05]

cel is the check engine light... most people get the lil thingy ma bob.. and check the code.depending on brand... CAI (cold air intake) gets your round 7-10 (+/-)SRI (short ram intake) gets you round 4 (+/-)These are just numbers, not sure... but they sound really nice and clean when installed.Ground Wires dont do much but look pretty! Unless you get a Name brand on that has test results to back it up.

[djb383]

Welcome to GenVibe. Check engine light is correct. The other 2 are very subjective issues. Again, welcome aboard.

[shryocdj]

cool, thanks for the welcome and info and you're talking HP right, on the numbers? I know thats what people usually install them for, but wondering how much it cuts into your mileage (i.e. is it worth the hp for the mileage)...

[AKLGT]

what model and year do you have? it all depends on what you have to start with. and any fuel economy slippage has everything to do with your foot on the gas.

[shryocdj]

so true about the gas its a basic 03 4 door...70k miles

[ajflan]

I completely agree on the gas millage. With the recent cold and short trips, combined with a slightly heavy foot , I just barely got over 21 mpg on my last tank.

[AKLGT]

for base 03/04 performance mods I suggest the following in this order:1. CAI $150-250 if bought used or new - if you're going to do it, go full CAI and not SR - they are similar in price and you will get more power/tq that the vibe needs w/ a full intake vs the short ram)2. Magnaflow catback exhaust $350 or so from Neverenuff.com - it has proven to be the best exhaust system for the vibe (documented) for power and tq increase (also has a nice deep tone)3. if you can spend the money, a Unichip or other Engine Management to tie it all together $400-700 if bought used or new - It makes your car's ECM realize what it has (intake, exhaust) so it will better perform on the lower end and still give you decent fuel economy.This is the set up we have on Mav's base 04 5 spd. he still gets great fuel economy and a much better oomph. On my old 03 Vibe GT i had a CAI and Unichip. big difference (base isn't as big a difference). and if i could get 21 mpg w/ the winter and stop and go traffic in my current set up, i'd be dancing in celebration!