GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Hey everyone!
Thought i would set up an account so i can start responding to posts. I have a 2009 2.4L 2WD automatic Base (I will have some pictures posted soon). I have had her for a year now and have been impressed with it's HP and agility. I have done a few mods such has added a euro straight through CAT back exhaust and a Spectre short ram intake. With the few mods i have done it has drastically improved HP and gas mileage, she's a beast now! Next on the list is to change out the stock steel rims for some 16" sport wheels (Been looking on craigslist). I will have some pictures posted soon and would like to get a signature created, if anyone would be interested in helping me out i would very much appreciate it. Look forward to reading your posts and being apart of the community. Thanks!

Welcome to GenVibe! I'll eagerly await those pics. How is the noise with your exhaust? Rims should be easy for the 2.4l, as they have a much more common bolt pattern.

Enjoy your time here!

Welcome to GenVibe! I am looking forward to seeing pictures of your Vibe!

When wheel shopping, the two most important things to remember are the bolt pattern - 5x114.3 and the offset - +39mm.

MetalFiend wrote:Hey everyone!
Thought i would set up an account so i can start responding to posts. I have a 2009 2.4L 2WD automatic Base (I will have some pictures posted soon). I have had her for a year now and have been impressed with it's HP and agility. I have done a few mods such has added a euro straight through CAT back exhaust and a Spectre short ram intake. With the few mods i have done it has drastically improved HP and gas mileage, she's a beast now! Next on the list is to change out the stock steel rims for some 16" sport wheels (Been looking on craigslist). I will have some pictures posted soon and would like to get a signature created, if anyone would be interested in helping me out i would very much appreciate it. Look forward to reading your posts and being apart of the community. Thanks!

I can understand why you waited a year to register - the fee is kind of high.

jake75 wrote:
I can understand why you waited a year to register - the fee is kind of high.

Fee? what fee are you speaking of?

KITT222 wrote:Welcome to GenVibe! I'll eagerly await those pics. How is the noise with your exhaust? Rims should be easy for the 2.4l, as they have a much more common bolt pattern.

Enjoy your time here!

After installing the new intake the exhaust has a better sound and a deeper rumble. Along with a set of rims I'm planning on swapping out the plugs and wires and maybe a new set of headers down the road.
I'm still finding my way around the community, how would i go about posting pictures on here and creating a signature like yours?

MetalFiend wrote:

jake75 wrote:
I can understand why you waited a year to register - the fee is kind of high.

Fee? what fee are you speaking of?

It was a joke

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Pictures can be attached to posts. Look below the "Preview" and "Submit" buttons look for "Upload attachment". There might be a minimum amount of posts you need to make before attaching pictures is available.
If the picture already exists on the internet copy the link then click the "Img" button above the reply box, which will create img tags like this, but without the spaces -> [ img ] put URL here [ /img ]
To add a signature go to the "User Control Panel" at the top of the page. Click on the "Profile" tab. Click on "Edit signature", then enter the text/pictures.

Thanks!

MetalFiend wrote:

KITT222 wrote:Welcome to GenVibe! I'll eagerly await those pics. How is the noise with your exhaust? Rims should be easy for the 2.4l, as they have a much more common bolt pattern.

Enjoy your time here!

After installing the new intake the exhaust has a better sound and a deeper rumble. Along with a set of rims I'm planning on swapping out the plugs and wires and maybe a new set of headers down the road.
I'm still finding my way around the community, how would i go about posting pictures on here and creating a signature like yours?

Another option for pictures would be following this guide I made.

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To make my sig pic I just found a picture of my Vibe which I liked, cropped it so it wasn't gigantic, then followed the process in the link, and pasted the IMG code into my signature, which can be edited by going to control panel > Profile > Edit signature.

First of many to come.

Intake looks good ! Have you had any issues with it i.e. check engine light coming on, etc.?

I noticed all the paint has come off the letters on your engine cover. In case you're not already aware, Grafx Werks makes overlays for the engine cover .

Thanks! Yeah the intake has made a big difference with the performance. No check engine lights at all, but it did take a few days of driving for the computer to adjust to the new air flow, it had a rough idle till it adjusted.
I actually just finished painting the engine cover and fuse box cover gloss black, i plan on painting the letters and sealing it with high temp clear coat. Now knowing they sell and overlay i may just go that direction instead of painting them by hand. Thanks!

I am planning on painting the engine and fuse box covers on both our Vibes with satin black Krylon Fusion in the spring. Both our Vibes currently have the Grafx Werks overlays in metallic silver. They look great, the only issue I've found with them is that the corners of the individual overlays seem to come up slightly when I wipe down the engine covers after a wash even though I'm really careful. Because of this, I am considering painting the letters and numbers using the method that this member did with PlastiDip. It seems like it should work pretty well.

On a bit of a side note, have you considered painting the exhaust manifold heat shield? I painted the ones on our Vibes with Duplicolor low gloss black high heat paint. It looks great! Click the links in my signature to see pictures.

Those are some pretty WICKED Vibe's you have there! Funny you ask about painting the heat shield. I had been planning to paint the heat shield the same way you did but have decided to swap out the header for a ceramic coated one which will not require the heat shield any longer.


I had seen the photo of your cold air intake which was the inspiration for my short ram intake. My wife and I are very limited on money so i have been doing my best to keep costs low. I built it piece by piece and spent only $60 on everything. I am still planning on putting up some detailed picture like you have, just have not had the time.

Thanks for the kind words ! We certainly love our Vibes and couldn't be any happier with them ! That header should look great, although it will make the Vibe quite a bit louder. I had a header, along with a full cat back exhaust on my former 2002 Pontiac Sunfire GT and it was very loud and not in a good way IMO. Just something to consider. I personally think our Vibes sound amazing with just the K&Ns and worry that adding an exhaust or anything else would make them too loud for my liking so I think we'll be sticking with just the K&Ns.

What pieces did you end up using to build your intake? I am currently having some issues with the K&N on my Vibe and I am pretty sure it has something to do with the opening in the pipe for the MAF sensor. I was thinking perhaps I would setup an intake like yours on the cheap to see whether the problem persists or not.

I am definitely looking forward to seeing a more in-depth thread on your Vibe! I love watching people's progress and reading about their modifications, etc.

IMO, exhuast s all in the parts. I run a 2.5" exhaust with a vibrant ultra-quiet resonator and an oem-style 2.5" in/out muffler. Its barely louder than stock but flows MUCH better

thebarber wrote:IMO, exhuast s all in the parts. I run a 2.5" exhaust with a vibrant ultra-quiet resonator and an oem-style 2.5" in/out muffler. Its barely louder than stock but flows MUCH better

It must be a combination of things because I had all quality parts on my Sunfire and it sounded horrible. Very loud and raspy.

When I sold my 2002 Sunfire GT, it had an AEM cold air intake, Pacesetter 4:1 armor coated header, Magnaflow 16" high flow catalytic converter, 2.25" stainless steel mandrel bent dual outlet catback exhaust piping, Magnaflow 22" resonator and two Magnaflow single tip oval bodied mufflers with 3" round polished tips. I started out with a Magnaflow cat back with two fart cans, than changed to two Magnaflow dual tip oval bodied mufflers and than finally added the header, resonator and single tip oval bodied mufflers. The more I added, the louder and raspier it got. I have also heard that dual exhaust is louder than a single exhaust, so I suppose that could have been part of the issue as well.

I would like to get the Magnaflow catback for the Vibe because the fact that having a little bit louder exhaust sound would be nice and the Magnaflow muffler is literally like half the size of the factory muffler, so weight reduction would be a great bonus. I'm just afraid of spending $500.00+ on the exhaust and hating the way it sounds ...

vibenvy wrote:

thebarber wrote:IMO, exhuast s all in the parts. I run a 2.5" exhaust with a vibrant ultra-quiet resonator and an oem-style 2.5" in/out muffler. Its barely louder than stock but flows MUCH better

It must be a combination of things because I had all quality parts on my Sunfire and it sounded horrible. Very loud and raspy.

When I sold my 2002 Sunfire GT, it had an AEM cold air intake, Pacesetter 4:1 armor coated header, Magnaflow 16" high flow catalytic converter, 2.25" stainless steel mandrel bent dual outlet catback exhaust piping, Magnaflow 22" resonator and two Magnaflow single tip oval bodied mufflers with 3" round polished tips. I started out with a Magnaflow cat back with two fart cans, than changed to two Magnaflow dual tip oval bodied mufflers and than finally added the header, resonator and single tip oval bodied mufflers. The more I added, the louder and raspier it got. I have also heard that dual exhaust is louder than a single exhaust, so I suppose that could have been part of the issue as well.

I would like to get the Magnaflow catback for the Vibe because the fact that having a little bit louder exhaust sound would be nice and the Magnaflow muffler is literally like half the size of the factory muffler, so weight reduction would be a great bonus. I'm just afraid of spending $500.00+ on the exhaust and hating the way it sounds ...

I did a lot of reading before figuring out my exhaust....and a 4cylinders exhaust resonance wave length matches perfectly to the relatively small vibrant resonator...

I'm loving the sound my Vibe is putting out now with just the short ram intake and cat back exhaust. I am really interested in seeing how much HP I can pull out of her, that's why I’m looking at swapping the header. I would prefer a 4-2-1 ratio which is more mid-level and wouldn't drastically change the sound, those tend to run more expensive like the Weapon-R headers. The ceramic coated one I found is very inexpensive but has a 4-1 ratio which is much louder. Now I'm debating what i should do, if i should hold off till i can afford the 4-2-1 ratio or just give the 4-1 ratio a shot.

As for the intake i used Spectre parts http://www.spectreperformance.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and just pieced it together with different size tubes and adapters. Each tube runs about $9 each and the filter was $25. They sell every angle you could imagine and can make it work with ANY vehicle. Don't get me wrong, the parts are cheap but you can make it work fairly well at little cost.

A little late here MetalFiend (did you intentionally misspell friend?)... but WELCOME to GenVibe Update your profile showing us your location! Been a lurker for a year or so before joining up with us, not a problem as you are finally one of us Mileage, color, condition ??? Looking forward to pics when you get around to posting them.

I spelled it correctly.