GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I went from a Toyota Camry (06) with 119k to a Vibe with 45k. Loving everything about the car so far. Except the gas mileage. I don't love that. Anything I need to know that's super important to my car?
- Tony

what kind of mileage are you getting? it should be a bit better or at least the same as a Camry.

Welcome to the forum! The base gas mileage should be pretty similar to if not better than Camry, I would think, with a smaller engine, lighter weight, but worse aerodynamics. What are you getting?

Welcome to GenVibe! Give us some more info on your Vibe i.e. trim, transmission, etc. so we can better help you with your fuel mileage questions. Also, post some pictures of your Vibe when you get a chance !

Hi again!

Here's my VIBE in all his glory. I haven't had the chance to take more photos yet. (It's too cold and rainy here!!)
I have an automatic transmission, manual windows and locks. I'm not sure if it's front or rear wheel drive, but I also don't know if that's important or not? It has overdrive. It's really a very basic model from what I understand, since I have the CD/radio combo and that's the most advanced tech in the car. I'm getting (unless my math is incorrect) 21mpg thereabouts, it seems. I travel 54 miles per day, round trip, four times a week to and from school. Add in the 20 miles or so around town daily, and that brings me to a total of 74 miles per day, four days a week. That's 296 miles in four days. The weekends are easier on me, at maybe 30 for the three days in my weekend. That is about 326 miles in one week. Gas is ABOUT 3.84 a gallon (2/28/13 3pm ish) So, is my math wrong? Or do I just drive a ton?

welcome to genvibe!

I don't follow the numbers in your MPG discussion, the cost of gas doesn't matter.

What I do is fill up the tank, all the way and reset one of the trip odometers. The next time I need gas, I fill up all the way again, and look at the trip odometer that I reset the last time I filled up. that shows how many miles since you last filled up. Take that number, and divide by the number of gallons of gas it just took to fill up the tank, that will give you the miles per gallon. So, say you fill up, reset the trip meter, and the next time you fill up it takes 10 gallons, and the trip meter says 300 miles. 300 miles /10 gallons = 30 mpg.

You need to be aware that each time you fill up the tank, there are variables that are not obvious, and you can never be sure to exactly fill up the tank to the same level each time. Maybe one time the pump cuts out early, and doesn't quite fill the tank. You will put less gas in and think you got great mpgs for that last tank, but the next time you go to fill up you won't have driven as far and it might take more gas, you'll think you got a really bad tank. You have to average it out over multiple tanks to really get a feeling for where they are.

Nice Neptune blue Vibe, and welcome to the club! Winter in Kent, OH, so you won't be getting great MPG with any car. Don't know how much snow you've been driving on, or what kind of tires you have, or your driving style.

Automatic Vibes normally get 30 to 35 MPG in Summer conditions. Your car is front wheel drive... something that will come in pretty handy in snow. Try to do all the normal checks to optimize your gas mileage, after all even without many miles on the car, it's still 7 years old.

Tires need to be inflated to recommended values. Low pressure in tires will definitely help you use extra fuel.

Check your air cleaner. If it's time to replace it, that will make a difference.

Plugs and wires are getting up there in age too. I would change the plugs and install NGK Iridiums properly gapped.

New plug wires sure wouldn't hurt.

Make sure the engine is running on 5-W30 oil... in cold weather, synthetic pays dividends! It will not thicken up as much as regular oil when temperatures plummet.

The biggest thing to remember when trying to get the best fuel mileage out of any car is to take it as easy as it's safe to do. Drive speed limits and take off from stops gently. Get up to speed and hold the gas pedal steady. Moving that pedal quickly, will eat fuel. Same thing when you're slowing down... drive ahead of your immediate traffic and let off the gas pedal when you see traffic slowing ahead.

You have a PC/Laptop so you can Google... Hypermiling Techniques. These techniques, reasonably applied, really work. Incorporate them into your daily driving and you'll see fuel mileage improve quite a bit... but don't hold up traffic. You don't want a bunch of angry driver's behind you!

Let us know if your MPGs improve. I have an 2008 Vibe with the same engine you have, except it's a manual. I get 35 to as much as 40 MPG in the Summer and 34-38 in the Winter, depending on how much snow and how cold it gets outside. You should be able to reach upper 20s to near 30 MPG at least. Getting better mileage will help keep the fuel costs down some, too. At least Spring's right around the corner so everyone's MPGs will be going up a little!

Welcome and congrats on the Vibe! Good info on here, but your mileage does sound a bit low. Without any effort, my son's 06 can get 27-28 in normal city driving, up to 35 on the highway. Check everything and hopefully you can improve it to the upper 20's or so.

Good luck with it!

joatmon wrote:welcome to genvibe!

I don't follow the numbers in your MPG discussion, the cost of gas doesn't matter.

What I do is fill up the tank, all the way and reset one of the trip odometers. The next time I need gas, I fill up all the way again, and look at the trip odometer that I reset the last time I filled up. that shows how many miles since you last filled up. Take that number, and divide by the number of gallons of gas it just took to fill up the tank, that will give you the miles per gallon. So, say you fill up, reset the trip meter, and the next time you fill up it takes 10 gallons, and the trip meter says 300 miles. 300 miles /10 gallons = 30 mpg.

You need to be aware that each time you fill up the tank, there are variables that are not obvious, and you can never be sure to exactly fill up the tank to the same level each time. Maybe one time the pump cuts out early, and doesn't quite fill the tank. You will put less gas in and think you got great mpgs for that last tank, but the next time you go to fill up you won't have driven as far and it might take more gas, you'll think you got a really bad tank. You have to average it out over multiple tanks to really get a feeling for where they are.

I'll do that tonight. Thanks.

vibolista wrote:Nice Neptune blue Vibe, and welcome to the club! Winter in Kent, OH, so you won't be getting great MPG with any car. Don't know how much snow you've been driving on, or what kind of tires you have, or your driving style.

Automatic Vibes normally get 30 to 35 MPG in Summer conditions. Your car is front wheel drive... something that will come in pretty handy in snow. Try to do all the normal checks to optimize your gas mileage, after all even without many miles on the car, it's still 7 years old.

Tires need to be inflated to recommended values. Low pressure in tires will definitely help you use extra fuel.

Check your air cleaner. If it's time to replace it, that will make a difference.

Plugs and wires are getting up there in age too. I would change the plugs and install NGK Iridiums properly gapped.

New plug wires sure wouldn't hurt.

Make sure the engine is running on 5-W30 oil... in cold weather, synthetic pays dividends! It will not thicken up as much as regular oil when temperatures plummet.

More info:

NEW plugs as of two weeks ago, not the NGK iridium. (...the guy I took it to installed NA41-801 platinums, also said wires weren't used in my car. Make a difference? Did I get screwed?)
NEW air filters at time of purchase (1-12-13)
Tires seem to be new and at the correct pressure.
Upon mechanic's recommendation, running Techron fuel system cleaner through it at the next fill up. (Does this help?)

More (possibly irrelevant) info:
I have put exactly 2,906 miles on it since I've gotten it.
Negligible amounts of snow since early January.
I drive 60-70 mph for around 60 miles a day, I'd say it's a very passive aggressive style.
Unsure of oil type in car right now, I'll request to 5-W30 on my next oil change.

You guys rock, thanks so much for all the help. I'm trying to learn as much as I can about my new car so I can become as familiar with it as I was with my Camry. (I practically live in my cars...)

tkenway wrote:NEW plugs as of two weeks ago, not the NGK iridium. (...the guy I took it to installed NA41-801 platinums, also said wires weren't used in my car. Make a difference? Did I get screwed?)

He was right about plug wires, our coils are right on top of the plugs. As for plugs.. There's really no good reason not to use Iridium plugs. The electrodes are smaller for better efficiency and they last longer, and the price difference is a couple dollars a plug. Not to mention both Toyota and GM specify them explicitly for these engines. I would show him the owners manual where it clearly states this and ask to have them changed. It's literally a 5 minute job for a mechanic, not even on the lift.

Rayven01 wrote:

tkenway wrote:NEW plugs as of two weeks ago, not the NGK iridium. (...the guy I took it to installed NA41-801 platinums, also said wires weren't used in my car. Make a difference? Did I get screwed?)

He was right about plug wires, our coils are right on top of the plugs. As for plugs.. There's really no good reason not to use Iridium plugs. The electrodes are smaller for better efficiency and they last longer, and the price difference is a couple dollars a plug. Not to mention both Toyota and GM specify them explicitly for these engines. I would show him the owners manual where it clearly states this and ask to have them changed. It's literally a 5 minute job for a mechanic, not even on the lift.

Do the iridium plugs make that big of a difference? I paid $110 for parts and labor. I'm not truly inclined to go and pay another $110 to have the plugs changed two weeks after the fact, honestly...

tkenway wrote:Do the iridium plugs make that big of a difference? I paid $110 for parts and labor. I'm not truly inclined to go and pay another $110 to have the plugs changed two weeks after the fact, honestly...

I meant you should ask that he do it for free (or at least just the difference in price between the plugs) because he technically put the wrong parts in. He should make it right. Also if I'm reading this right and he put in 41-801 plugs (AC Delco platinum plugs, which makes sense for most GM cars) I think he put in GT plugs in your Base engine. The AC Delco site lists 41-800 plugs as the right platinum plugs for the Base, with 41-801 being for the GT engine. I am not a mechanic, so someone else please chime in if you can confirm. I have no idea what the difference is between the plugs (hotter spark maybe?) but that's worrying to me.

You could just put the proper plugs in yourself. Not hard.

In general, here are the steps for installing new spark plugs:

1. Allow engine to cool.

2. Disconnect cables/wires from the plug you are going to remove. Pull on plug connector only. If you pull them all off, mark spark plug wires to ensure replacement in proper sequence.

3. Loosen plugs one or two turns and clean surrounding area so that no dirt particles get into the threads or the combustion chamber.

4. Remove worn spark plugs. If the spark plug is extremely tight, loosen only a little to allow oil or kerosene to drip into exposed thread, screw the plug in again and attempt to remove it after a few minutes.

5. Check gap of new spark plugs and adjust if necessary.

6. Thread in spark plug until hand-tight. Using a torque wrench and suitable spark plug socket, tighten the spark plug according to the torque guidelines for your engine. If a torque wrench is not available, then tighten ¼ of a turn (90 degrees) for gasket type plugs or 15 degrees for tapered seat plugs.

Not sure if the Platinum plugs will affect the way your car runs or its efficiency.

The plug wires could be fine. I was thinking more like the normal amount of wear that 7 years times the average 15,000 miles per year that would pile up around 105,000 miles, but with only 45k on the clock... they are probably fine.

You've done the maintenance that should be performed. That's great. Get a tire pressure gauge, they're pretty inexpensive, and check those tires. They can look OK, and still be be several psi away from ideal pressure. Should check them at least on a monthly basis. All tires lose pressure slowly, and temperatures changes can make a difference too... down by one psi for every 10 degrees of temperature drop or up by 1 psi for every 10 degrees of temperature warming. Check your tires after they have been sitting still for 3 to 5 ours. Best in the morning before you drive off.

Go passive on your driving... leave the aggressive home for a couple of weeks and see if your MPGs don't go up substantially. I know it's tough to do, but try. Also, 70 mph uses a lot more juice than 60 mph... it's mostly aerodynamics. If your fuel mileage goes up, then you will save some bucks on gas. Might be worth it, especially at almost 4 bucks a gallon! Interested to see the results you get!

I will head over to the shop on Monday and request it be done right. I can't change the plugs myself, because i do.t honestly have the time. I need a little time to implement a new driving style, however. I will also pick up a tire pressure gauge and keep checking my tires. Thanks, guys!