GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Have any of you that have the 09 Vibe found that the reverse gear is geared too high?I find that I have to give it a lot of gas to keep it from stalling and goes too fast in reverse.

What engine and transmission do you have?I have the 2.4L with 5 speed automatic and I never noticed anything wrong.

his garage thread http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=33277 says"It is Red Hot Metallic, has power windows, power locks, power mirrors, A/C, an alarm system, 5 speed manual transmission, 1.8L 4 cylinder engine,"from the 2009 Vibe specs at http://media.gm.com/us/pontiac...mance it says that 5 speed manual gear ratios are:1st: 3.1662nd: 1.9043rd: 1.3104th: 0.8855th: 0.725Rev: 3.250Final drive ratio: 4.31by comparison, the 2003-2008 5 speed manual transmission gear ratios are 1st : 3.172nd : 1.903rd : 1.314th : 0.89 (overdrive)5th : 0.73 (overdrive)Reverse : 3.25Final Drive Ratio: 3.94In both the reverse gear is the same, but the 09 has a higher final drive ratio, so in reverse, the 09 is geared higher than the 2003 - 2008.All the gears are approximately the same, but the difference in final drive ratio means that overall, the 09's 5 speed manual is geared higher than the earlier years. WHich means the 09's should run at lower RPMs for the same gear/speed, or the same gear/RPMs is higher speed.

You may just have to feather the clutch pedal. You can ask the dealership if there is anything they can do, but since we don't run carbs anymore, you can't rejet till you hit the right idle speed.

Thanks, for that info. Looks like I will just have to get used to it.

I thought my ms3 was like that too, but once I got IN gear i could kinda just play with the gas slightly and it wouldnt die at low rpm... is it like that on yours?

No. The last manual transmission car I drove was a 1994 Saturn SL2. Very easy to get going in reverse. The Vibe is just a little more gas required to get going in reverse. I can put the shift lever into reverse gear just fine. I have the 1.8L engine with 5 speed manual.

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »In both the reverse gear is the same, but the 09 has a higher final drive ratio, so in reverse, the 09 is geared higher than the 2003 - 2008.Sorry, but you have that backwards. The gear ratios represent the number of turns of the input shaft to the output shaft. The '09 requires 4.31 input turns per each output turn; times the 3.25 turns of the input of the transmission, gives 14.0075 turns of the engine per turn of the axle. The '08 gives 12.805 engine to axle ratio. So, the '09 is geared lower, overall, in reverse than the '08.