GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Just curious.....is there a noticeable difference in the amount of "kick" when your lift kicks in in 3rd gear as opposed to 1st or 2nd? For me....when lift kicks in in 1st or 2nd...it hits nice and hard with first being a more powerful kick (LOL....the first time I hit lift in 1st gear I almost didn't shift fast enough before 8000 RPMs... ). When lift kicks in in 3rd though, it is noticeably less powerful of a kick. Is this your same experience as well?Jim

I think the "kick" between second and third are the same. Fourth however is a different beast.

I think what you're feeling is the fact that the engine has to work harder to accellerate in 3rd / 4th ++ The techy guys can correct me if I'm wrong but, just like on a bicycle, the first few gears you accel hard but it's pretty slow accel in top gear.I think the engine has lift at the same rpm point no matter which gear you're in.

Chris...you are correct. The engine does go into lift at the same RPMs.....what I was asking about was the fact that in first and second gear when lift kicks it....it is like a light switch was flicked. It kicked in hard and instantly. It actually kinda' throws you back just a bit. When the car goes into lift in third gear (at least for my car), it isn't as powerful as in first or second. It doesn't have that "hit" to it. Lift in third is like you feel the car accelerate up a bit when it goes into lift and it gradually accelerates faster and faster at a more increased rate vs lift in first and second gear where at 6200 RPMs BAM you take off instantly. Perhaps your idea about the acceleration in the higher gears (as on a bicycle) is correct. Jim

No it does not kick as much. But I still enjoy the acceleration curve you get in 3rd and 4th while in lift. It is great to feel the car accelerate all the way through the gearbox.

Cool.....I was just curious if anyone else's GT was like that or just mine . I too enjoy that nice smooth acceleration through third and fourth.Jim

Yeah, if the engine management does not change depending on gear (didn't think it would) then it's just a factor of aerodynamic drag and increasing gear ratio. I forget the real formula but it's something like speed increases with the cube of horsepower... basically, to go a bit faster (after a good speed) you need a lot more HP which you feel as a decreasing "kick" in the higher gears and eventually limits top speed to about, what... 120mph? It was discussed in a different forum a while back. My li'll base has a decent "punch" but sometimes I kinda wish I had the GT's crazy kick! That's one fun car to drive

no matter what gear you are in, lift adds the same amount of HP in all gears of the lift range.It feels less powerful on higher gears, because the gear ratio is making the rpm range longer to reach the redline.record the redline range of 1st and 2nd, then replay in slower motion. as if it were the same time:rpm ratio as a higher gear.

Nothing like bringing a 9 year old thread back to life...