GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Basically just started doing stuff to it, probably won't go too extreme. I'm 44 and don't want to look like I'm having a mid-life crisis!!

2.4L 5 speed with mode select
XM radio

Calipers painted with G2 Caliper paint - Orange
replaced filter with K & N
debadged rear

Painted rear with Durabak (to protect scratches and gouging when removing items) and going to spray over with factory color ( I think)

WANTS

Tint Windows all around
New Exhaust
New Horn - You know why!!
LED lights controlled by a disable or diverted DRL

More pics

Looks good. I've been thinking about painting the calipers too, but that will wait until I have a reason to take them apart. And the heck with a mid life crisis in this car.... I'm 47 and this car is my 4 door "grown up" compromise car. I wanted another 5.0 Mustang, but the wife said grow up and get a 4 door car. Thus the Vibe GT. I'm still getting a new Mustang, it will just be a few years on down the road.

trb wrote:Looks good. I've been thinking about painting the calipers too, but that will wait until I have a reason to take them apart. And the heck with a mid life crisis in this car.... I'm 47 and this car is my 4 door "grown up" compromise car. I wanted another 5.0 Mustang, but the wife said grow up and get a 4 door car. Thus the Vibe GT. I'm still getting a new Mustang, it will just be a few years on down the road.

Thanks, my dad retired from GM so Camaro for me! One Day!

G2 is very good, it is like an epoxy or something, very durable. http://g2usa.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Reason for tire pics, is I just bought them

Hercules, made in Ohio. National Road Hazard Coverage http://herculestire.com/indexUS.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
went from 205/45/17 to 215/50/17. On Michigan roads it is a HUGE difference.

Speedometer might be off a little but I drive 10 mins to and from work every day so should be okay.

Looking good ! Nice to see someone else with a de-badged hatch!

Just decided to paint engine components...... 650 degree engine paint, Fire Red from O'Reilly's .... not as red as it looks in the pics

Can't say I'm a fan of all the red under the hood, but as long as you like it, that's all that matters .

What you really need under the hood is a K&N Typhoon intake !

Yea I'm diggin the paint under the hood. Not sure about red, but painting is going on my "to do" list.

J_TO_ENVY wrote:Can't say I'm a fan of all the red under the hood, but as long as you like it, that's all that matters .

What you really need under the hood is a K&N Typhoon intake !

It doesn't actually look like that, more like an orange red.... really weird how the picture made it look redder.

I do have a K & N replacement filter, after looking at the comparisons and price the difference in performance isn't really worth it is it?
Plus the intake is below like a cold air system would be too.

clw3388 wrote:Yea I'm diggin the paint under the hood. Not sure about red, but painting is going on my "to do" list.

I wasn't sure either and still am not, but black would just look stock, thought about orange to go with my calipers but not sure either.

Was going to do interior pieces from silver but weather in Michigan turned so that will probably wait until spring.

Any color suggestions?

regnac wrote:It doesn't actually look like that, more like an orange red.... really weird how the picture made it look redder.

I do have a K & N replacement filter, after looking at the comparisons and price the difference in performance isn't really worth it is it?
Plus the intake is below like a cold air system would be too.

I'm just not a fan of bright colors under the hood and/or in the interior. Like I said though, as long as you like it, that's all that matters .

I guess it's personal opinion. To me it is worth the money because it gives the engine a nice growl, especially when accelerating. Also, when the vehicle is driven conservatively (i.e. not mashing the gas pedal every time you take off from a stop), it will provide an increase in gas mileage in addition to the slight horsepower and torque increases. And it looks a lot better under the hood then the boring old black plastic factory setup.

Although K&N does consider it a cold air intake, the design is actually a short ram air intake. They consider it a cold air intake because there is a tube that runs up from behind the lower front bumper and into the heat shield, thus pushing cooler air from down below the engine directly into the air filter. The entire intake setup is in the engine bay though, there is nothing on it that installs down into the wheel well or behind the bumper.

Both our Vibes have AEM Brute Force Dryflow air filters teamed up with the K&N intakes because I have heard horror stories of people accidentally over-oiling their K&N filters (drop-in and intake filters) and ruining the MAF sensor, among other things. Just a heads up .

regnac wrote:I wasn't sure either and still am not, but black would just look stock, thought about orange to go with my calipers but not sure either.

Was going to do interior pieces from silver but weather in Michigan turned so that will probably wait until spring.

Any color suggestions?

Both our Vibes have a black/silver/chrome (polished) color scheme. IMO it looks nice without being too obnoxious and overbearing. Years ago I had a Pontiac Sunfire GT Coupe that had bright blue painted interior and engine pieces and I thought that was the coolest look ever. Over the years I guess I've grown up and really come to appreciate, and prefer, the more subuded colors.

J_TO_ENVY wrote:

regnac wrote:It doesn't actually look like that, more like an orange red.... really weird how the picture made it look redder.

I do have a K & N replacement filter, after looking at the comparisons and price the difference in performance isn't really worth it is it?
Plus the intake is below like a cold air system would be too.

I'm just not a fan of bright colors under the hood and/or in the interior. Like I said though, as long as you like it, that's all that matters .

I guess it's personal opinion. To me it is worth the money because it gives the engine a nice growl, especially when accelerating. Also, when the vehicle is driven conservatively (i.e. not mashing the gas pedal every time you take off from a stop), it will provide an increase in gas mileage in addition to the slight horsepower and torque increases. And it looks a lot better under the hood then the boring old black plastic factory setup.

Although K&N does consider it a cold air intake, the design is actually a short ram air intake. They consider it a cold air intake because there is a tube that runs up from behind the lower front bumper and into the heat shield, thus pushing cooler air from down below the engine directly into the air filter. The entire intake setup is in the engine bay though, there is nothing on it that installs down into the wheel well or behind the bumper.

Both our Vibes have AEM Brute Force Dryflow air filters teamed up with the K&N intakes because I have heard horror stories of people accidentally over-oiling their K&N filters (drop-in and intake filters) and ruining the MAF sensor, among other things. Just a heads up .

regnac wrote:I wasn't sure either and still am not, but black would just look stock, thought about orange to go with my calipers but not sure either.

Was going to do interior pieces from silver but weather in Michigan turned so that will probably wait until spring.

Any color suggestions?

Both our Vibes have a black/silver/chrome (polished) color scheme. IMO it looks nice without being too obnoxious and overbearing. Years ago I had a Pontiac Sunfire GT Coupe that had bright blue painted interior and engine pieces and I thought that was the coolest look ever. Over the years I guess I've grown up and really come to appreciate, and prefer, the more subuded colors.

I have had 3 cars with K & N replacement filters and have oiled them sparingly, I worried about that when I friend of mine told me about it 8 years ago. I do get some increased "noise" I guess from stock with it still ..... maybe upgrade down the road...

I also am thinking about keeping the stock, I thought about spraying sound deadening material inside door but there is a blue membrane that is greased in place, between worrying about breaking door tabs and that I said heck with it.

New Product I just bought through my friends tire shop..... Wheel Bands, track that adheres to whell and a PVC multi-colored plastic pops in, protects and personalizes!

Pretty nice I think!

regnac wrote:New Product I just bought through my friends tire shop..... Wheel Bands, track that adheres to whell and a PVC multi-colored plastic pops in, protects and personalizes!

That's a really neat idea! They look good!

vibenvy wrote:

regnac wrote:New Product I just bought through my friends tire shop..... Wheel Bands, track that adheres to whell and a PVC multi-colored plastic pops in, protects and personalizes!

That's a really neat idea! They look good!

Thanks, I like the Pontiac wheels and logo so something to make them look better and go with the red and orange theme I have going.

regnac wrote:Basically just started doing stuff to it, probably won't go too extreme. I'm 44 and don't want to look like I'm having a mid-life crisis!!

Mid-life crisis ??? What is that? 50 something here and love the Vibe GT and will be performing more mods to it soon

regnac wrote:
Hercules, made in Ohio. National Road Hazard Coverage http://herculestire.com/indexUS.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
went from 205/45/17 to 215/50/17. On Michigan roads it is a HUGE difference.

I knew there was a reason I liked you & your Vibe! Excellent choice & thank you for keeping another Ohioan employed!

tpollauf wrote:

regnac wrote:Basically just started doing stuff to it, probably won't go too extreme. I'm 44 and don't want to look like I'm having a mid-life crisis!!

Mid-life crisis ??? What is that? 50 something here and love the Vibe GT and will be performing more mods to it soon

regnac wrote:
Hercules, made in Ohio. National Road Hazard Coverage http://herculestire.com/indexUS.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
went from 205/45/17 to 215/50/17. On Michigan roads it is a HUGE difference.

I knew there was a reason I liked you & your Vibe! Excellent choice & thank you for keeping another Ohioan employed!

Glad to help, I am the recording secretary for my local USW 2-389 local. We have to do something or middle class will disappear!

regnac wrote: Glad to help, I am the recording secretary for my local USW 2-389 local.

Wow such a small world. USW 1-346 here in Toledo is one of my customers. Brian Sidel & Chad Culbertson run it down there. I am employed out of UA Local 50 as a BTJ pipefitter BUT run service calls in the HVAC sector of the trade.

tpollauf wrote:

regnac wrote: Glad to help, I am the recording secretary for my local USW 2-389 local.

Wow such a small world. USW 1-346 here in Toledo is one of my customers. Brian Sidel & Chad Culbertson run it down there. I am employed out of UA Local 50 as a BTJ pipefitter BUT run service calls in the HVAC sector of the trade.

Well very nice to meet ya! I actually work for Shell Lubricants in River Rouge, we are a blending plant that makes ATF, Engine Oil etc... for Chrysler , GM and lots of Distributors.... we make it for Jeep Toledo.

Well got tired of the black grill and the black inserts in fog light area and painted them all this weekend!

Black was fading bad so now I think it looks great!

regnac wrote:Well got tired of the black grill and the black inserts in fog light area and painted them all this weekend!

Black was fading bad so now I think it looks great!

What about having a bright White color grill?

ParknVibe wrote:

regnac wrote:Well got tired of the black grill and the black inserts in fog light area and painted them all this weekend!

Black was fading bad so now I think it looks great!

What about having a bright White color grill?

Well I have orange on the back bumper, need to take a picture of it, so trying to match the rear. White might look cool though!

Well decided I didn't like the orange so went with red.

Little background info on the tailgate......

I was moving chairs for a party and one fell and took a gouge out of the bumper so I then decided to use bed liner paint at first but that did not set up right.
So then I used Durabak and that had setting problems as well and reacted causing little holes. So after 3 coats of that I did 3 coats of sandable primer , 3 coats of red, 3 coats of orange then back to 3 coats of red and 3 coats of clear. I also put a little sand in finish to hide some of the imperfections and give it a more resistant finish.