Vibe mods: One man's quest to better 40mpg.
 

This thread will be a chronicle of mods to my daily driver, a 2003 Pontiac Vibe. The very first thing (other than the nut behind the wheel thing) I did was to pump up the tires to 45psi. At first they seemed really loud, but now I'm used to it. Heck, my main complaint about the car when I first started driving it, was that it was too quiet! Oh yeah, let me introduce you to Olivia.
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2516.jpg

The next thing I did was get a ScanGauge II installed.
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2512.jpg
Yeah, baby, yeah... :thumbup:

I wanted to get the SG calibrated and a baseline of a few tanks laid down with my new ecomodding powers gained from instantaneous feedback, but I just couldn't resist... The roof rack cross bars were just buggin' me too much. Before;
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2523.jpg

and after;
after?
after!

Ah, shoot. You'll just hafta use yer imagination. Sorry. It looks like a blue Pontiac Vibe with the roof rack's cross bars removed. Honest. :p

Well, now I'm primed, so this is what I want to clean up next.
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2526.jpg
Yeah, tell me about it. Big ol' drag inducing, no good fer nuthin'...
See how the center post is recessed? I figure I'll go right over that puppy and it will help support my grille block.
So first I get some regular old cardboard and start making a template. I found that if I pressed hard with my thumb (ouch) I could kinda crease it to show where the edge of the opening was.
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2592.jpg

Then I sketched the outline of the crease with a sharpie so I could trim it to size with scissors. I used V-shaped marks on pieces of tape that aligned with V-shaped marks on the cardboard to keep things hunky-dory.
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2593.jpg

After creasing, marking, trimming, humming, creasing, cutting, marking, cutting, fitting, etc., then I transfered the outline to my one-and-only-free-for-the-asking scrap piece of coroplast that I picked up from my friendly local sign shop. :cool:
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2594.jpg
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2595.jpg

Then I cut that puppy out with my $1 scissors.
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2596.jpg

When I test fit the coroplast, I noticed that the Pontiac badge on the center post pushed out the center of the coroplast more than I cared for. Time for a badgectomy, Olivia. It's held on with really sticky double-sided foam tape, but came off with minimal fuss.
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2598.jpg

It wasn't real easy shaping the coroplast. I needed to bevel the back side of it so that it would fit reasonably flush. (hee hee, he said 'flush')
The most suitable way I found was 60-grit sandpaper. My hand just wasn't steady enough for a knife. By this time I had picked up the de rigueur blue painters tape.
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2599.jpg
ooooh, this is gonna turn out gooood. ;)

Okay, so I drive to work and back with it blue-taped in place (a bit more securely than in the last picture) to test it out. I was 92% sure there would be no overheating issues because of Trik's pioneering research with his Evil Mantis.
Instantly I enter the ecomodder's realm of being on the receiving end of off-hand comments from coworkers.
"What's that for?"
"How's your engine gonna stay cool?"
"Your AC won't work very well."
"Does it make a difference?"
and my favorite
"You going to paint teeth on that?"
thanks, boss. :rolleyes:

On my way home, as I coast down my favorite hill (you know, on CR 15, the one between Bashor road and CR 28? No? Yeah, you know...what? Ohhh...never mind.), I feel like it's EOC'ing a few mph faster than before.

Stay tuned. In the next installment: Smiling grass!

awesome

Looks good. Blue tape is nice too. :)

Tango Charlie -

Excellent Thread! I agree, paint teeth on it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Attachment 1552

CarloSW2

Very nice.

Hey Doax, you better set your goals higher .. 40mpg came real easy for me and I am automatic. Also let me know if you venture into higher tire pressure. I am having a bear of a time keeping my tires inflated @ 55psi. For some reason they will not hold the pressure and slowly leak back down to 47 psi. I have changed valve stems on the fronts but it looks like it is still doing it with no apparent leaks.

Let me know if you come up with something worth experimenting with, I'm willing to try it first if you are hesitant.

Lol, my goals are higher. Its quite hard to keep the mileage up when my wife drives 1/2 of the miles on the tank. She mildly hypermiles, and does get better then EPA, but nothing like we're used to.

My summer tires are rated to 51psi max. So, they are pretty much right at max sidewall, and they hold that pressure very well. I don't think I'll be going any higher.

There are definitly plans for the vehicle. They are just on hold because I just moved into my new house this Tuesday. There is lots of other stuff to be done before I can get back to working on the Matrix. I'll actually be posting on that other stuff soon too.

Yeah, my ultimate goal is higher, too. Just tryin to bust through this wall at 40mpg. Maybe I need to change my plugs.
Congrats on the house, Daox. I've moved a couple times in my lifetime. Pretty exciting. One thing I've found: the quicker you get rid of the cardboard boxes, the sooner it feels like home. But if you're anything like me, there will always be a couple of them lurking in the basement, silently mocking you...

Okay, Anyway. Where was I? Oh yes. The grille block.
I'm not leaving blue tape on there. Looks tacky. So I scrounged around the garage and came across my floor jack. It's a pathetic little thing I bought at Meijer on clearance. It gets the job done, but it's got a flimsy piece of metal that sorta snaps on top of it as a dust shield or something. Honestly, I think it's just a place to plaster a label. So I snatch that up, and with my aviation-grade tin snips, whack it into six little brackets. I popped the hood and slid them behind the coroplast. A little adjustment here, a little tweak there... I think it'll work.
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2600.jpg

Removing the badge had given me an idea for attaching the brackets to the car. On my lunch break, I went to the local NAPA and picked up some 3M double-sided foam tape used for weatherstripping and what not.
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2601.jpg

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2602.jpg

AHH! SPIDER! Ha! Just seein' if you were awake. My wife, bless her heart, likes to throw random insects into spider webs and watch the carnage. I know, weird, huh? And she thinks grille blocks are strange. Actually, she doesn't. She's quite understanding.
Anyway, I stuck the tape on the brackets and slid the brackets down the backside of the coroplast and stuck them puppies down tight. I had pre-drilled a hole in each bracket, so I took a 90 degree pick and poked through the hole in the bracket from the backside and through the coroplast to locate each attach point. Then I removed the coroplast.
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2606.jpg

Dang. I shoulda painted them dang brackets first. I'm such a tool.
The blazing white coroplast was just too much. Gotta paint it. And no, I'm not painting teeth on it. Sorry. I layed it on the front lawn and blasted it with some flat black spray paint. It's made for plastic and works quite well, if not somewhat expensive. (edit: it's Krylon Fusion. $4.79 at Meijer)
Hey, look! My lawn is smiling back at me!
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2607.jpg

After it dried overnight, I installed it.
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2614.jpg

The top of the coroplast is somewhat unsupported yet, and I'm afraid that at speed it might be bowing back and not staying flush (hee hee, he said flush again!) with the front lip of the hood. I'll have to address that next.

looks great!

just a thought, how was the emblem attached? was there a locating rod or bolt along with the adhesive? if so, you may be able to poke it back through and use it to secure the grill block as well.

or just stick it on to make the chloroplast more rigid.

either way, i think you should stick the emblem back on ontop of the chloroplast.

That looks awesome ... as a version 2.0 I would consider making it a hair longer on top with some rubber dots on the inside lip. that way, if the wind does flex it enough it will fold over the hood line and rest on the rubber stoppers. Of course I would cut it in the center in order to access the hood latch when necessary.

All this is in the event that the wind does flex it badly. Only a pace car can tell you that though ... LOL

Great Job !!!

Ah, gee,Tony. I wanted it to be a surprise! :p Yup, thinkin' I will stick the Pontiac Vee back on. After all, it's shaped kinda like a vortex generator. Stay tuned.

There is a hole where the badge attached, but the support is needed along the very top, and on either side of the center.

Thanks, Trik!

Alrighty slackers ... now one of you needs to go and make some wheels skirts for the Vibe, thats next on my list, but I am underfunded now that I started school again ...

BTW, my Vibe has the double interior console, the one that open with a mini compartment, which many owners are seeking out. Are either one of you interested in one? I have it, but need to exchange it for a regular one because it is to tall for me and it is causing me problems with my shoulder. I figured I would offer it up as an exchange to one of you guys before I decide to sell or trade it with another owner on genvibe.

Tango Charlie -

This looks totally Batmobile. Cool.

CarloSW2

Lookin' good.......Coroplast is some surprisingly tough stuff. I know I failed you on the vortex tube scans, :( but if you or anyone on the board needs some Lexan for grill blocks/etc, I have a good sized piece that I can cut sections out of. It is 3/16" thick.

Don't worry about it, dentprone! I really appreciate you looking for them. I know how things get misplaced.
Lexan?
Would that work to smooth over my fogs?
Hmmm. We may have to talk. :)
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2527.jpg

Trik, (you don't mind me calling you Trik, do you?) I think I have the same console as you. It's too tall, isn't it?
I'm currently all out of coroplast, so no wheelskirts planned for the immediate future. Besides, I'm not exactly sure how to fair them in to the rear bumper. It's not real obvious in this picture, but the tire sticks out enough that it would be a pretty sharp bend on the aft side of the wheel well.
http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2530.jpg

That could work well, let me know what size you need (x2) when you get ready to tackle that project.

Thanks, dentprone! I definitely will! :thumbup:

Olivia looks sweet.She won't scare people off as my peeling Beluga whale does.Nice work!

ooohhhh....that's purty.....:thumbup: I like it.

Tango Charlie -

It's mods like yours that make we want to get a used 1st-gen Vibe.

CarloSW2

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2602.jpg
Anyone know what kind of spider that is? I've found a few around my house and a pretty big one in the garage.

I drive north on the way home from work, so the sun shines in my left eye. It's not nice. The stock visor is just short enough so that even with it flipped over to the side window, the sun still shines in in my eye. I have to hunch forward to escape it.

So today I took a leftover scrap of coroplast and made a driver-side sun visor extension. At first I thought I was gonna be crafty and slip it in the strap on the backside of the visor. But I soon realized that its additional thickness would prevent the visor from flipping up against the headliner properly. So I stuck it to the front side of the visor with three strips of the 3M double-sided weatherstripping tape.

I'll just have to remember to duck as I swing it over to the side...

Okay, so it doesn't directly save gas. But it improves comfort, allowing me to concentrate on my FE driving techniques. Yeah, that's it.

That my friend is a Wolf spider. A lot of them here in Ohio too. They don't like my size 12.:)

Na, most all my friends in the show car world call me Trik, anyhow, yes the armrest is to tall and is begining to cause shoulder problems for me. As far as those front fogs, they are more complicated to make that you may think. That part of the bumper has a compound curve that many materials do not like to make. Thats why in the end I went with covering the entire section of the bumper with a scrap bumper I found on the hwy, it actually was easier. And as far as those wheels skirts go, after I lower the vibe I may get more clearance from the rear wheels letting me make a more traditional wheel skirt instead of one that looks like a partial bumper.

It actually looks better with the grill block than it did without. :)
Nice job, I may actually try a grill block on my Civic.

Thanks for all the nice comments, guys. I really like the way it turned out, too. And thanks for the inclusion in the weekly roundup, Benjamin!

What to do next...what to do next....

Looks great!

Hokay. Here's another installment.

This past weekend I took the kids to Chicago for a fun day out. We took the El.

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2688.jpg

Not real aerodynamic, are they? But it's a nice relaxing way to get to Chicago. From South Bend to the Shedd Aquarium in two and half hours. :cool:

Back to Olivia. (Isn't anyone gonna ask why she's named Olivia?)
Here's a shot of the sun visor extension I mentioned earlier.

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2689.jpg

It works well, except that it tends to obscure the rear view mirror when flipped down in the normal position. I typically only use it swung over to the side for the late afternoon sun on the way home from work. You can also see my modded GDO. Actually, the button broke so I just replaced it with a Radio Shack special I had laying around.

I reinforced the upper lip of the grille block with a coat hanger. Bent it into an appropriate shape and secured it with some bolts/nuts through a couple existing holes in the upper radiator frame.

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2692.jpg

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n...e/100_2695.jpg

My last fill up calculated out at 41 mpg. Yes! If I can string together a couple of those, I can declare my Goal as Officially Reached.

Then set another one. :p

Nice. I like the coat hanger idea. Congrats on 41!

Very clever idea. I'm going to have to get modding to keep up ;)

Where's the teeth!? lol ;)

My wife, sister in law and I took the train from chi town to indiana a couple days before christmas this last year when our flights were cancled.

It was actualy pretty nice, and suprisingly quiet inside.

Yup, the El is not a bad way to travel. It really moves when the stops aren't too close together. I was surprised how quickly the trees were flashing by during a couple stretches. If there weren't a dozen stops between South Bend and Chicago, it would be a very quick trip.

Glad you like the ghetto coat hanger, Daox. I had bought a chunk of sheet steel that I was gonna hack up to fit in there, but thought I'd wait a couple days to see if inspiration struck.
It did.
Duh, use a coat hanger, Einstein. Some days it takes me awhile. I often find it difficult to remember the KISS principle in my designs.

FS, sorry no teeth. Olivia's a lover, not a fighter. :p

Looks like lowering the car should not affect your tire clearance... not so on my 07 Civic. I envy your wife's tolerance. My wife demands as much of a stock look as possible and also reveribility - in case we re-sell. Looking forward to your humorous progress reports!

The Ford Escape also has a very short rear bumper that will make fairing in rear wheel skirts a challenge. My first thought was rather than try to blend into the back of the wheel well, fair it all the way back to the end of the bumper. Although you have more bumper than the Escape does, a blunt round rear end can be counterproductive. Option 2 is to treat the wheel skirt as the end of the car. It can be flush (hee, hee. He said flush, too) with the body until about 45 degrees past vertical. Then just let the skirt separate and end square, not trying to blend into the bumper which would actually take a lot of sculpting. It would be simpler, and it may actually be aerodynamically cleaner to have the air separate abruptly.

The visor on my Matrix slides rearward to cover the gap when blocking the side window. Is this different on the Vibe?

Hi,

I made acrylic covers for my fog lights -- I made extensive use of the little abrasive cylinder on my Black & Decker rotary tool. Now, I just need to figure a way to hold them in place that looks better -- maybe clear silicon?

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...html#post43159

I like your grill block; it looks quite nice. Compared to mine (I'm now using Gorilla Tape) especially, yours is smooth and clean.

Hi, knowbodies, welcome to ecomodder!
No, the visor doesn't slide. I wish it did. It hits the RV mirror when flipped down, but works good to the side, which was the purpose of the extension.

Thanks, Neil. I was thinking silicone, too. It's pretty good at keeping things stuck together, and its flexibility would be a benefit as well.

Currently I'm experimenting with some Lexan that dentprone was kind enough to send me. It's really thick. Like quarter inch thick. If I'm successful, I'll have bullet-proof fog lights!

Let me put the kids to bed, then I'll post some pics.

Hi Charlie,

I got the 1/8" (7/64"?) stuff from the local hardware store. It is pretty inexpensive, and great for this size. I tried it on my wheel skirts, and it was a no go really -- too brittle, too heavy, and not stiff enough. But for fog light covers, it is great.

I think that I will try silicon.