Well...I'm back, and have been working on the Vibe

[ballrub]

Well...I'm back! I've been pretty busy lately, since I do advertising placement for a couple of magazines, and NOW is the time to try and get pieces of manufacturers 2005 budget for next year, but have also been working on the Vibe too!Here's what we've done so far:K&N Typhoon IntakeMaganflow cat-back Exhaust(173-hp / 125-ft-lbs-torque to the wheels)Hotchkis Lowering SpringsHotchkis F&R Anti-sway BarsHotchkis Strut Tower Brace w/adjustable Camber PlatesTSW 19"x 8" Volcano Wheels w/hyper-black centers (to accomodate bigger brakes soon, and weigh 1-lb less than the old Axis Spider wheels!)Bridgestone 245/35ZR19 S-03 TiresTitanium 35% window tint all aroundPontiac Sport Package Ground Effects KitAdvanced Composite Specialties Hood w/functional scoopsStar Shield Armor Clear Bra ("B" Kit)Will be adding soon:Optima Yellow Top Battery w/red coverAudiobahn amps/speakers/dvd player and screensHella air hornsPhillips Vision-Plus headlight bulbsWebasto SunroofHose Techniques under-hood "red" hose kitECU upgradeThis Vibe (my own personal car) is an on-going long-term project vehicle for one of the magazines I work for (Speed, Style & Sound-- http://www.speedstylesound.com ), and has been featured twice so far (Part 1: Suspension Tech in the July-04 issue, and Part 2: Horsepower Tech in the August-05 issue).You can also see the write-ups on another site I'm a member of at these links:Part 1-- http://www.speed-society.com/f...x.phpPart 2-- http://www.speed-society.com/f...art_2/Part 3: Styling Tech is going to be in our November issue (which is at the printers now), but will be up soon on the other site, and I will paste a link to it here when it goes up.In the meantime, here are some pictures of my Vibe GT, and let me know what you all think of it!!!! Always looking for feedback--positive or negative, so don't hold back...let me know what you all think!Thanks, Steve

[NSimkins]

Wow, that looks great! ... and great pics as well. It's very clean and tasteful in my opinion. Going a great job so far. Keep us updated on your future changes.

[nismo]

man!!! i am super jealous Inder

[ArcsVibe]

That makes 2 of us

[satur9]

I HATE IT!!! only cause its not mine.and you actually shelled out for 19's and that hotchkiss strut bar.way to go.now get an alarm system,or i mght steal it.

[ballrub]

Quote, originally posted by satur9 »now get an alarm system,or i mght steal it.I ordered it with the factory fuel cut-off (comes with key-fob activator), and the car has Lo-Jack too (cuz I knew there would be people like you out there thinking about...LOL)Again, thanks for the feedeback people!

[Devlop]

I like those wheels better than the axis also. They go with the color of your car.My car was just in that last issue also with your part 2 horsepower. It was just in the readers rides section though. I was kinda bummed that the cav above me who only had a turbo got bigger pics than my car, oh well.

[ballrub]

Quote, originally posted by satur9 »I HATE IT!!! only cause its not mine.and you actually shelled out for 19's and that hotchkiss strut bar.way to go.Well...not to (removed) anyone off, but I didn't pay anything for the wheels,(the TSW's and the previous Axis wheels) tires, suspension, bodykit, and hood because these manufacturers have sponsored me in return for editorial and show coverage (this Vibe might be sitting in GM's booth at SEMA this year). I did however pay for the paint and installation of the bodykit and hood, and for the mounting/balancing of the tires and wheels.

[Devlop]

Quote, originally posted by ballrub »(this Vibe might be sitting in GM's booth at SEMA this year How did you manage that? That's pretty cool.

[ballrub]

Quote, originally posted by Devlop »I like those wheels better than the axis also. They go with the color of your car.My car was just in that last issue also with your part 2 horsepower. It was just in the readers rides section though. I was kinda bummed that the cav above me who only had a turbo got bigger pics than my car, oh well. So that was you, Brett Olin of Brighton, Mi? I figured it was someone from genvibe, but since I don't frequent this site as much as I would like (will be correcting that now), didn't know who it was!Yes...I like the TSW's better than the Axis wheels, for a couple of reasons:1) Because of the spoke configuration on the Axis wheels, they would not accomodate a larger brake rotor or caliper in the front (which we plan to do soon).2) One of the Axis wheels had the hyper-black coating peeling off in chunks about the size of your thumbnail, and when I went back to Axis and showed them, they gave me a new wheel, but the coloring didn't look the same (was a shinier hyper-black than the other 3 wheels).3) The new TSW Volcano's have the spoke clearance for bigger rotors and calipers, and (as you mentioned) their hyper-black centers really looked like they were painted to match the car. And...as a bonus, they weigh only 22-lbs each, a full pound lighter thant the Axis Spiders!Besides, with the bodykit and hood, the Axis wheels were a bit busy, and I like the cleaner, more simple 5-spoke design of the TSW's the way the car stands now!Thanks.

[Devlop]

Quote, originally posted by ballrub »So that was you, Brett Olin of Brighton, Mi? Yep, thats me. Actually, its Jeff Olin, but no worries.I have a couple of questions, I'm sending you a pm.

[Psychobroker]

Very nice

[millster]

Wow. Just... wow. One nicely dressed Shadow, for sure.

[ballrub]

Quote, originally posted by Devlop »How did you manage that? That's pretty cool.Well...I've been in this business for over 30 years, and did you notice the Pontiac ad on the back cover? Guess who sold that ad???? (ME!)On top of that, I've probably built over 100 project vehicles for SEMA over the past 25 years, and am hoping I'll get one of those new G6's to play with as the next project vehicle to customize!

[mwebb]

Sweet looking Vibe-The nicesst I've seenGood work

[BlackVGT]

Sweet, what offset are you using on those wheels, also, do the 245's rub on the front or back? I wanted to use 245's on my 18's but was afraid of rubbing. Super-nice ride dude.......

[ballrub]

Quote, originally posted by BlackVGT »Sweet, what offset are you using on those wheels, also, do the 245's rub on the front or back? I wanted to use 245's on my 18's but was afraid of rubbing. Super-nice ride dude.......The TSW's have a 32mm offset, and I have heard them rub my wheel-well liner only when pushing the car real hard (like going down that mountain road into some tight corners while braking hard with my son when we took those pictures) in the front--not the rears, but that may be because the body shop that painted and installed the bodykit, did not re-fasten the inner fender liners properly when I got it back from them.But after checking them this afternoon (because of your question) found no wear marks on the tires, but did see signs of wear on the inner fender (wheel-well liner), which is still loose (damn...I need to go back and have them rectify that!). I know I never had that problem with the Axis 19"x 8"'s and the same size S-03's, but they ran a bigger offset (34mm or 36mm I think--can't be sure--and it's not listed on their website either).It may also depend on what brand of tire you're using (some 245/40R18 tires are actually wider than others), and whether you've lowered the car too, and how much it was lowered. My Hotchkis springs only lowered the front about 1.5" (some of the guys on my other website I frequent, tell me to drop it another inch, which may look really cool, but not really practical for a daily driver, and the roads around here in L.A.Thanks to the rest of you Vibe owners for the compliments. In means a lot coming from "Vibe" peers!Steve

[MadBill]

Dynamite looks, ballrub!And I'm glad to hear your 245s (2nd widest I've heard of on a Vibe*) clear. A number of members would like to push beyond 235s, but don't want to take chances...*I've got a set of Corvette 17 x 10 Dymags adapted onto my Vibe, with 275/40 Firehawks. (pics under Project Big Boots thread) The net offset is 36 mm and it's lowered ~1.0"; they scuff just a touch on the rear fender lips on heavy bumps with 4 aboard, but never a whisper from up front. The inside static clearances to struts, fender wells, etc. are no more than 10 mm. F & R. With 245s and 32 mm offset, you would have ~ 20 mm, so I think you might safely eliminate your rubbing with around a 38-40 mm offset. PS: Great to see I'm not the only GenVibe 'teenager at heart' who's rolled over the calendar into his second half-century!

[kostby]

Great mods! Outstanding pics! I noticed that in pics one and nine, there are (cloud/sky?) reflections that suggest a custom graphic or paint application between the back of the front wheel and the taillights, mainly above the doorhandles. (I'll try to photochop one or both of your photos to enhance the effect in the next day or two.)

[ragingfish]

I love TSW...they make awesome wheels.

[Mavrik]

not to steal McDonald's catch phrase of the week but..I'm lovin it! Very nice.

[ToolGuy]

Your car looks fantastic! Great job! I like it! You actually got your car Dyno-ed? A+ for that too! I want to start a post on who actually has Dyno-ed their car on this site. I am not talking I got this intake and this chip and make 200 HP. Or lots of go-fast stickers! Who can prove what they have kind of thing...

[BLAQJAQ]

nice real nice vibe...I always wished i could be in the US so I could get access to parts without having to take out a second mortage...I'm curious what brand will u being going with for the big brake upgrade, I will have my car in on the 20th for my big brake upgrade.Shop is going to install as far as i know a custom kit that will fit my summer wheels (18's) but will also fit under the stock rollers (16's). I think that will will be installing an 11 or 12 inch rotors because we up here in Canada have to deal with the snow issue. And I don't think anything above 12 inches will fit under the 16's with calipers.Anyway let me know ur thoughts, also could you contact me @ gberry61@hotmail.coma few other issues I would like to talk with you about.

[ballrub]

Quote, originally posted by BLAQJAQ »I'm curious what brand will u being going with for the big brake upgrade, I will have my car in on the 20th for my big brake upgrade.I was going to go with the AEM kit, but they just sold off their brake division to Power Slots, which I still might use.I have also contacted Rotora, and they have a two different kits as well (a bigger rotor using the stock caliper, and a complete kit with bigger rotors and calipers with steel braided brake lines). Their big brake kit uses a 13" rotor in front, and a 12" rotor in the rear.I'm going to lean towards slotted rotors as opposed to cross-drilled. Past experience on my `94 Mustang GT convertible with Baer Racing's huge brake kit, has shown me that even though the cross-drilled holes are "chamford" (sp?), they developed hair-line cracks that grew to the point of having to be replaced once about every 10,000 miles, but that could have been because of the weight of that car, and the horsepower it had (650whp normally aspirated), and my "hard" driving habits with that car (it was my baddest (removed) project I ever built!). It was featured 6 times in Turbo magazine, and even on the cover of the 10th anniversary issue (July`95-Project Pony Car).Because of the light weight of the Vibe, I'm not sure that this would be an issue with us Vibe owners, but still plan on going with just "slotted" bigger rotors and calipers. This probably won't happen until after the SEMA show (Nov. 2nd--5th).Steve

[Psychobroker]

I've had cross-drilled & slotted BPI rotors on my GT since March w/o any problems. I'm pretty conscious about keeping an eye on them too due to potential hairline cracking.

[ballrub]

Quote, originally posted by kostby »Great mods! Outstanding pics! I noticed that in pics one and nine, there are (cloud/sky?) reflections that suggest a custom graphic or paint application between the back of the front wheel and the taillights, mainly above the doorhandles. (I'll try to photochop one or both of your photos to enhance the effect in the next day or two.)Still waiting!!!!! I was hoping you'd have those PS images of my Vibe, so that I could see some graphics ideas that were not my own (been thinking of doing something with graphics, but not too overboard).So kostby...post something up when you get the chance, and in the meantime, I'll see if I can't get some of the guys on my other forum site to "chop" some images on my Vibe for you guys to look at!Steve

[ballrub]

Well...they posted up the "Project Vibe: Part 3-Styling Tech" article on my other site as a sneak preview before it comes out in the November issue of Speed, Style & Sound magazine (should hit the newsstands 1st week in November).Anyways, here's the link: http://www.speed-society.com/f...rt_3/ Let me know what you guys think! Thanks!Steve

[Ponyota]

Very nice work on your project Vibe... My favorite mod is the hood. I remember watching a program on tv one night. I'm not sure what show it was but they had a project car and were adding exhaust, CIA, etc.. I was noticing that you were going to add the big brake rotors to your car. One thing that struck me funny was when they were adding the mod's to the car they would dino the car to see how much hp it was adding. When they added the BBR they noticed a drop in hp. I would like to see if this is the case with your Vibe. Is there anyway you can do a dino on your car before you add and after you add the Big brake rotors? They said it was because of the force that it took to turn the larger diameter rotors. I can see this to be true. They also took the car to the track and tested the brakes. The new brakes that they added did improve the stopping distance and they had more control in the corners. Let me know if you do any tests on these, I'm also wanting to add the larger rotor and brakes.

[AKLGT]

when mine go, i just plan to replace them w/ slotted and drilled rotors, and good brake pads (i think greenstuff makes some).

[AKLGT]

Quote, originally posted by MiVibe-ToolGuy »You actually got your car Dyno-ed? A+ for that too! I want to start a post on who actually has Dyno-ed their car on this site. I am not talking I got this intake and this chip and make 200 HP. Or lots of go-fast stickers! Who can prove what they have kind of thing...easy to say and do in MI where you're in motor city! up here... i don't even know if there is a place that can DYNO a vehicle! so I have to go off what others have dyno'd theirs. nothing wrong with guestimating as long as your guestimation is based off some kind of proof!

[MadBill]

Some car clubs [and at least one GenViber (NovaResource2 -you have one don't you?)] have bought a G Analyst or similar plug 'n play on-board instrument to share among their members. ($US 150 and up) These do an amazingly accurate job of measuring 0-60, 1/4 mile times, engine power curve and more. Anyone without nearby dyno facilities (or sufficient spare $$ for same) could try contacting any local clubs and possibly rent one at minimal cost.

[AKLGT]

really? hmm. maybe next year i'll have to look into one of those. but i'd like to eventually go to the track next summer as well. i want to wait til after i get better lighter rims, but doubtful that will happen any time soon!

[ballrub]

It's called the G-Tech Pro, and you can see it here: http://www.gtechpro.com/

[ToolGuy]

Quote, originally posted by silverawd26 »Just a friendly jest..... Tough crowd today..... Hey Rob, you just throw $20 bills at cars you do not own from what you told us in another post!!! Kidding, kidding, how's it going?

[ballrub]

Quote, originally posted by Salsa! »How much money have you thrown in the Vibe?Well...I'll give you the rundown...(and these prices are approximate)Hood.................................MSRP $650...................I paid $0Sport Package....................MSRP $2110..................I paid $0Paint & Installation.............MSRP $1000..................I paid $500Clear Bra...........................MSRP $425....................I paid $0K&N Intake........................MSRP $225....................I paid $0Magnaflow Exhaust.............MSRP $445....................I paid $0Hotchkis Strut Brace............MSRP $425....................I paid $0Hotchkis Springs.................MSRP $160....................I paid $0Axis Wheels (1st set)..........MSRP $1520..................I paid $600TSW Wheels (2nd set).........MSRP $960...................I paid $0Bridgestone Tires (1st set)...MSRP $1040..................I paid $0Bridgestone Tires (2nd set)..MSRP $1040..................I paid $0If I would have had to pay..........$10,000......I actually paid $1100 It's good to be "connected"!!!!!!!

[kostby]

Sorry! Life happens. I used contrasting solid colors on a lightened car image so they'd show up better. You'd prefer other colors, I'm sure. These are just so they'll show up well.

[AKLGT]

Quote, originally posted by MiVibe-ToolGuy »Hey Rob, you just throw $20 bills at cars you do not own from what you told us in another post!!! rob, will you please throw some at me?