GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I'm lookin to add some HP to my '04 base vibe and i'm wondering what route you guys (and/or gals) suggest i go. I'm not lookin (nor can i afford) to spend a lot of money.. maybe a couple hundred dollars here or there... i'm already pretty sure i wanna add a CAI as it looks as though if im patient and focused enough i can do it myself or with a lil help. what other mods do you suggest to get me more HP for little $$?thanks in advanceLuNCHEdit:Also, i'm looking to get some 17" wheels and maybe lowering it 1.5" or so, will this have any effect on wind resistance or anyhting that may speed me up at all or will it mostly affect my handling?

Get a CAI and some TRD springs. Those two mods are the best bang for the buck as far as power and handling go.

i've got 17" rims, TRD springs, TRD CAI and you can find some springs and cai on ebay for relatively inexpensive. they may not be the best quality, but you get what you pay for. the springs will be the most expensive if you have them installed instead of doing it yourself.

Take a look at my post highly recoomend these 3 mods...all in all I spent 270 for what I felt was a significant increase in performance.Good Luck

You want to go fast and get there quickly and be inexpensive? Nitrous. ZEX is the easiest set-up you can find. They even have a CAI air filter with the nitrous nozzle built into it. VERY easy to hide and/or remove if you need to. A basic set up would be around $500-$600 for an added 35-50 more horsepower (65-100hp if you feel dangerous).

Hmmm.....$500 for 50 hp?In the words of Mr. Burns..."Excellent...."

Attached files burns4.wav (17.9 KB) 

The actuall price for the basic ZEX set up is $611. It comes with 55hp, 65hp, 75hp nozzles. The filter is sold separatly. About upgrading your wheels and lowering, you will get better handling. I don't think it's enough to change any wind resistance though. But you will notice just a few more dings and scratches on the front of your car if it's lowered.

isn't nitrous just a one time increase? it doesn't add hp everytime you drive, right?

It's a temporary boost...it only delivers power when you push the button and inject it into the air stream...

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »It's a temporary boost...it only delivers power when you push the button and inject it into the air stream...thanks, mike. that's what i thought. i'd rather have something that will give me additional hp and torque all the time... like the supercharger.

Most basic setups give you the nitrous shot at wide open throttle. All you have to do is 'arm' the system. You can also choose to push a button, but that seems like it would be a distraction.He wanted to know the cheapest way to get power. Nitrous is the best choice price wise. $600 for nitrous (with a 65hp-75hp gain), compaired to $3000 for a supercharger (35hp gain). Pluse you can get more then one use out of a bottle. It's not just a one time shot and you have to refill the bottle.

no, i mean being able to have the constant increase in hp, not just at once. you have to arm the system and refill the tank, but you wouldn't do that every time to accelerate to get on the hwy.

As far as nitrous goes... How much is a refill on a bottle, where can you get it, and how dangerous is it to get to the 65 to 75 hp gain mark?

The price can vary, but I pay $3.00/lb. The standard bottles are 10lbs, and you actually empty the bottle before it's time to refill. Mine would typically take 7-8 lbs to top off.

NITROUS easy 50 hp gain and a huge torque inscrease it will put a smile on your face alot faster than a CAI will,thats for damn sure..ROFL!!!!!

so, how much do you use in each shot??

The car was a 98 Cobra with a 150 shot. On a 10lb bottle, I could make 8-10 runs depending on where I had the bottle pressure. That's with a purge on each run, and spraying each gear from the tree to the end of the track. On a 35/50 shot, the last thing I'd be worried about is running out

I sprayed a 50 shot for three days LOL just kidding,I did 3 test passes,3 runs at the track and 2 full speed runs on I95 on the way home agains a certain accord,and I still had 4 pounds left.....Oh and I cracked the bottle between each run to check plugs and heat the bottle....Lata,Rog

i have traction probs with my vibe as it is in first gear. id rather have a button to push in second and third gear.

Just go with the cold air intake... i got an AEM cold air intake and i love it.. have no problems, and very easy installation. and i promise that youll love the ripping sound it makes in high rmp's

Where can you get this nitrous set up and is it completely removable in case something goes wrong with the engine? I mean, can you easily reinstall the stock air box to take the car in for warranty work? And what are the thoughts on this system being used in a GT engine considering that it already has rather high compression? Does it come with it's own full intake pipe, or do you add it on to, say, an Injen or AEM CAI?

Stang2vibe,I bought mine used from a friend.Its a NOS wet nozzel kit with the base 50 shot tune up,I bought the 110.00 cold air intake off of ebay and thats it....I wired it in with a WOT switch and ran a Fuel Pressure gauge inside the car to watch when I hit the gas..So Far so good...Most of the people who think the GT is too high of compression dont have a clue.....My last race car wast 13.5 to1 and I ran a 300 hp kit on it and by todays standards is pretty docile.....Dont be afraid...A 50 shot ought to work just fine... Lata,Rog

Is this kit bolt on stuff that anyone can do? Or have to take it to get installed? Im interested if ita an easy set up. Injen CAI compatiblble? I saw that you have to buy the filter separately but will it fit the Injen piping?

If your mechanically inclined then you should be able to handle it..Hardest part for me was cutting my fuel line...I hate cutting factory stuff up...Wiring was simple..I hid mine and I dare people to try and find a nitrous kit on my car.... Lata,RogIf someone will host pics I will email them to them...

Well dosent sound difficult but cutting fuel line? Not sure if i want to pull that one and the wiring well just had a bad experience with the wiring. I had taken the speaker box out of my last car (by the way this is the main reason I own a Vibe now) and when wiring it back in I forgot to unplug the battery cables so the wires touched, sparked and then something in the car blew out or something. All I know my car would be fine and after driving for about 15min. it would cut off. Took it to different mechanics and they could not finad anything wrong. When they would hook it up to the computer they would get no messages so I traded it for the Vibe. So this might be a project that I will think about doing and if I do ill let the Pros do it.

Quote, originally posted by 1BD4DR »and ran a Fuel Pressure gauge inside the car to watch when I hit the gasSo what do you watch the fuel pressure for? Is there something you're supposed to do when the fuel pressure goes to a certain point or something? Sorry, I don't know much about being on the bottle, but this sounds cool as hell.

Ok no big secret here when FP drops just a couple of pounds(when nitrous is activated) the car goes a hair leaner,so I compensate with the fuel jet on the NOS system I run a size bigger sometomes 2 depending on the plug reading...On a 75 shot on the street the Fp drops 3 lbs and holds steady on a 50 shot.... Lata,Rog

if your looking for ease zex claims your mother could install thier new wet kit in a coulple of hours.you dont need new intake. everthing on my car is stock cept for my kit.