I had no idea there were so many fellow xrs/gt owners on here. We may need to start a separate thread to trade tips.
I had no idea there were so many fellow xrs/gt owners on here. We may need to start a separate thread to trade tips.
Slippery said:SVreX said:I DD a Vibe GT.
Mine is FWD. It's a hoot to drive. I get more excited by the 2ZZ and 6 spd manual than I would about AWD.
I feel cheated, thought you dd an F-250 with 560k miles on it
I have 5 kids. I dd a lot of stuff!! 
Would it make you feel better to know I dd a Vibe 250GT with 780,000 miles on it??
Best way to make a Vibe seem downright sporty is to alternate driving it with a 20 yo F-250!
The 1ZZ is one of those motors that will clog up the oil return holes in the pistons and smoke if it's run with conventional oil on long intervals, so watch out for that.
SVreX said:Best way to make a Vibe seem downright sporty is to alternate driving it with a 20 yo F-250!
Can we stop for a minute to point out how "Vibe" is the worst car name for someone with the sense of humor of a 13yo boy?
ohhhh I had no idea they made this with the 2.4 and a 6 speed. Dam.
Did they make an auto with the 2.4?
In reply to dean1484 :
I don't believe that is so. Unless I'm mistaken, the 6 speed only came with the 1.8 2ZZGE. Wikipedia seems to agree.
ohhhh I had no idea they made this with the 2.4 and a 6 speed. Dam.
Eh, we're talking Scion TC levels of performance here. The 2zz 1.8 is a far faster car in the long run.
I think the 2zz ones are cool. I don't really dig the base models in auto because it's just a far worse Prius. If the base model is 5spd, well at least it's a manual.
I was looking as well and it seems that is correct. With that said it looks like 03 was the only year you could get the. 2zz with a flappy paddle type trans. I would love it with a six speed but reality is I think the auto with flappy paddle may be a compromise I have to make so my wife can drive it.
I'd rather have the 2.4 than the base motor, but the 2zz/6 speed is pretty damn fun, so if it was ME, I'd go for a first gen
If I read the wiki right in 2003 you could get the 2zz with a flappy paddle trans. I assume it could be put in auto mode as well
Wasn’t the 2.4 only available in the second generation?
What I need to look at is who has the most torque. I assume it is the 2.4. 8,000 plus shifts are a blast but for day to day driving torque is what you need.
I also read that they re flashed the ecu in the 2zz as a recall to up the hp to change the cars classification to a sports compact because the exhaust note on the 2zz was louder than the legal limits for the cars original classification as a compact utility or something like that.
In reply to joey48442 :
Yes I believe so.
I wonder if GRM would ever consider doing a guide on this car and do what I call a quick build. Say struts and springs, sway bar, rims and tires and see what you end up with.
Then put it up against a similarly built Miata. I bet the results would be much closer than many would think.
In reply to dean1484 :
I don't think so.
The Matrix is heavy, and top heavy. There is a lot of glass up high.
I have both. I enjoy driving the Vibe, but really doubt it could ever keep up with a Miata (especially if similarly prepped)
I bought mine at a Challenge price, and considered entering it this year. I was gonna do struts, springs, swaybar and tires, but also remove the glass and the sunroof (to get rid of the high weight). I'm pretty sure it would have been very competitive in the wagon class, but not the overall against Miatae.
I wont be able to prove your point. Life has happened.
I've not driven a Miata, but if it's as good as y'all say, a Matrix XRS with coilovers and good rubber would probably hang with a stock Miata, but not similarly equipped. I took a leaf spring from a broken trailer, straightened it with my tubing bender and clamped it to the rear "twist beam" with 3" exhaust clamps and took half the body roll out of it and made it a ton more neutral.
In reply to dean1484 :
There's a options for the 03-08 Vibe/Matrix/Corolla which will get them quite a bit lower. Both strut/spring combos, including a Koni yellow option, and legitimate coil overs including a KW v2 kit is available.
Progress and Whiteline both make swaybars for it. Hell there's even a 2.0L stroker kit (now I want that) and Crower makes a range of cams for both the 1zz and 2zz.
Too bad mine is the winter beater. It could be fun to modify the hell out of it.
I told RedGT when I bought it I'm going to beat it until the body rusts out around the drivetrain then build something cool with the motor. Hopefully it's supported for that long because I want to hammer the 2zz-ge into a Locost or an MR2.
We had an 05 XRS for 7 years and I loved that car. Here's what my pros/cons were about it.
Pros:
- Seats were comfy, but a little high. Good if you have bad knees, I guess
- Good sized door openings meant that moving fatties and old people were a breeze
- Passenger seat up front folds flat
- Glass in hatch opens separately; combined with the seat, you can move lumber pretty easily
- Headroom for days
- 2ZZ and a manual is way more fun than the car probably deserves
- Upgraded JBL stereo sounds a lot better than most current stereos
- 2ZZ sounds great when you push it
- Cavernous interior given its footprint
Cons:
- Eats clutches pretty regularly. The clutch is the same for the Celica GTS, which is about 400-450lbs lighter
- 2ZZ has very little going for it until 5500RPM
- Super short gearing means buzzy highway driving
- Toyota's safety measure for windows and sunroofs complicate their operation
- THAT GODDAMN REVERSE BEEP
- Car seems top heavy, feels more crossoverish than hatch
- Idle pulley failure means a belt change can suddenly become way more complicated
- Terrible understeer that is exponentially worse in rain
- Fog lights like to catch every thrown stone on the highway
- Sport suspension is harder, but doesn't seem any more capable than the regular suspension
- Big, heavy, boring wheels. I would've preferred wider 16s over the skinny 17s.
- Interior was boomy and echoey; you could feel the pressure change when you hit a big bump.
- Requires 91oct. I didn't mind it when grade bumps were 10-15 cents. But at 30 cents per bump, I can't justify an additional 60 cents a gallon for its performance.
If we had kept the car, I would've liked to have added a small supercharger for some help on the bottom end. Smaller wheels with better tires and a taller final drive would've been nice too. I would even have tried running no front sway in an effort to help front grip.
If I was able to find another clean one and I had the room for it, it would be a great DD. If there was a way to knock 300 lbs out of it without loosing comfort, it would be a lot easier on the clutch.
I bought a 2003 Pontiac Vibe base model with a blown 5-speed for $500. It wouldn't move in neutral at all.
I opted to put the 6 speed C60 transmission because I was reading too many people had problems with their 5 speeds and also the 6 speed final drive is 4.529 compared to the 5 speed's 3.941.
I ended up buying a Celica GT-S 6 speed transmission and swapped out the shifter shaft for one from a Matrix XR-S / Vibe GT. Everything fit right up and I also changed out the shifter cable bushings from the rotted rubber to metal ones (makes shifting feel crisp).
All in all the 6 speed with the 1zz is great. Highway driving does hang at high rpm a bit but I'm still getting 28-29 mpg on regular. In total I spent about $1,000 for everything car included.
I have a buddy with a Corolla XRS (2zz/6spd). At one point i fixed his supercharged 3.8L Regal GS for him. I was helping him ferry it home and was in his XRS and he in the Regal. We raced from a fairly low speed in 2nd in the XRS, way below lift. It was DEAD EVEN... and then i hit lift and pulled him like crazy. I think he ran 15.2-15.4 in the Regal (stock at the time). XRS was stock too except maybe an intake and/or muffler. He could never crack a 15.9 in it. He could run even with an s2000 on the highway, though.
What i'm saying is that a 2zz out of lift is not slow. It's so not slow it will run even with a v6 thats over TWICE the displacement AND supercharged. The powerband distorts your perception. Sure, 1.8 of NA torque is never going to feel like much in a nearly 3000 lb Matrix, but the 2zz being weak below lift is a myth. It's normal before lift. You can go buy a supercharged 3.8 gm if it makes you feel better. Just don't race any 2zz cars after you do. 
2zz cars are weird. It's one of those cars that 'feels faster the faster you go'. It falls out of lift every gear change until top of 3rd (80 mph?) and after that will stay in lift every second from 80-145mph (as fast as i can verify a stock Corolla XRS will go) and run even with cars that are 1-2 second quicker in the 1/4.
In reply to Vigo :
You are not helping me convince my self that I should just live with the regular 1.8 or the 2.4 and that the 2zz really is not worth it. 
Regarding putting up a 2zz against a Miata. There is no way the Matrix would win but I wonder just how bad it would loose by. I am thinking it may not be as bad as we think. It will loose alright but by how much?
I am thinking that may be using the GRM challenge format as the test. Drag race, autocross and concourse. . .. Ok concourse may be silly so rate how they are to live with on a daily basis for the third "test". I am betting the Matrix with the 2zz would not do as bad as we think.
The 2zz is absolutely worth it, and to add to what Vigo said, the 03 Matrix hits Lift at 6200 where as the other 2zz cars engage at a much higher rpm. My stock Matrix will stay in lift if you shift it fast enough and rev it the full 8500 rpm
In reply to dean1484 :
I have owned and autocrossed an STS 1.8 na miata with springs and shocks, and currently an STS XRS with springs, shocks, and rear sway bar. The Miata feels faster around the cones, but with the Matrix I currently run low-mid pack in STS, even edging out some of the Miatas.
I'm surprised more people don't compare it to it's natural predator, the Mini. Beating half the Mini's in STS with what is essentially a tall Corolla hatch, at 8200 rpm, is very satisfying.
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