Hope's '03 Vibe GT - No Longer Owned (Now some chick who smokes in it and put stupid girlie stickers on my custom painted dash!)

Well the day arrived to trade her in. On April 20, 2005, just after she turned 2 yrs old, my 03 Vibe GT was traded in for a new 2005 Subaru Legacy GT Limited Sedan. Stock with a turbo and everything!

Unfortunately, I traded it in BEFORE we got Phil's 04 Base Vibe here, but the dealership was nice enough to let me borrow it for some pics. :)

I was featured in the Fall 2004 Pontiac Performance Magazine as an interviewee. Click here for the article.

These are pics of me and my Vibe GT taken August 2004. Since everyone assumes that I'm a guy, I figured I'd post a pic or two of me with my car. There are plenty of us car chicks out there, we're just outnumbered by the guys. :P

What's NEW!
Good news! I finally got a web hosting site for my pics so you will no longer have to endure all the pics of me or my friends! lol. Actually, I installed body side graphics from decalkits.com. They gave me a sponsorship this past summer and I hadn't done anything with it. I'll also be installing Blue Batmobile's taillight red outs soon.

Above:I bought my Vibe GT on April 19, 2003. It came with the monotone painted cladding, power package, 6 disc in-dash CD, 17" wheels and tires, ABS, side airbags, winter package, cargo net and carpeted trunk mat. I have since added some minor mods to the exterior, interior, and engine.

Current Projects

Well, I bought the SS hood in July 03 and never came. I waited for 3 months and still no word or answer from Car Flair. Turned out these guys are bogus and are ripping people off! The number's now disconnected, their websites don't work, and they are just full of CRAP! NEVER BUY ANYTHING FROM CARFLAIR, AUTO SPORT, ALTEZZA LIGHTING.COM OR KRERA RACING!

I decided to take my little cousin out to have some fun with e-brake slides beginning of March 04. I miscalculated and the road wasn't as wide as I thought! So, I overcorrected my turn and went right into the ditch! I wasn't very happy with myself to say the least. My front lower fascia bent and the paint is chipping off from where the plastic caved in. It'll have to wait til summer before I can get it fixed or replaced. My estimates so far are anywhere from $600 to $1000! YIKES! Below Left: My cousin next to the vibe before the little detour. Below Right: The lower front fascia. Note all the packed snow in the lower grill. I had to dig out most of it by the time the pic was taken.

Interior Mods

Interior Panels: After only 2 days, I took out the interior panel pieces and painted them bright red. I primered, painted several coats, and then applied several more coats of clear.

Above and right These are the interior panels repainted a dark red metallic courtesy of Lou at Peger Auto Body in Fairbanks, Alaska. It matches the leather red inserts much better and adds a more professional look. He did an excellent job, even picked out the color! Unfortunately the pictures don't show how bright and metallic the red really is.

Sound system: I really like my factory 6 disc in-dash changer and wanted to keep it. But the factory speakers were so pathetic! In May 03, I installed a 700 watt Planet Audio 5-channel amp to power the 4 door speakers and sub. I replaced the front speakers with Pioneer co-axials, including the grills. I then upgraded the rear speakers with Sony 3-way X-Plodes. To complete the package, I added a Kicker 8" Solobaric sub in a ported box. It's not huge, but it sure sounds great!Above left: stock Kicker ported box. Above right: red painted Kicker ported box.

Well, as some of you know, in January 04, my amp blew and started to smoke. It was pretty much toast and since I bought it online, it wasn't covered under the manufacturer's warranty. So, I had to bite the bullet and get a whole new amp set up: 4 channel 400 watt Pioneer for the doors and a 2 channel 200 watt Rockford Fosgate for the sub. Turns out that between the 2 weeks of subzero temps we had, and the under powered solobaric, it fried my 5 channel amp! The solobaric sub draws more power. After going 3 weeks without my tunes, it's certainly nice to have them back!

Seating Surfaces: It was a big disappointment that leather was not an option for the Vibe. I ordered my Katzkins leather interior from Attention to Detail at the end of May. I wanted to stay with the graphite, red, and chrome color scheme so I ordered dark graphite leather with red leather centers. Note the red contrast stitching and custom silver VIBE logo. I also added a heated drivers seat for winter. The Picture on the Left shows the difference between the stock cloth interior and the leather seating surfaces.

Door Sills: The easiest mod so far has been replacing the factory door sills to MOMO brushed aluminum sills. I took off the ugly plastic sills and stuck on the nice MOMO sills. I plan to do the same with the back doors.

Foot Pedals: Above: These were also boring and dull. I swapped the originals with MOMO red and carbon fiber Tuner pedals and foot rest. They tie the red and graphite interior scheme together.

Future Interior Mods
Hopefully I will be able to add a few more things to the interior. I want to change out the door panels to leather (included in the interior kit). Chrome handles from Toyota. Maybe a nice leather ebrake handle and boot.

Guide to TRDVibe
Page 1: Current Projects/Interior Mods (Current and Future)
Page 2: Exterior Mods (Current and Future)
Page 3: Performance Mods (Current and Future)
Page 4: Miscellaneous Pics of my Vibe GT and Toyota Tundra (Updated Regularly)
Page 5: Miscellaneous Pics of me and my friends (Updated Regularly)
Page 6: Repainted engine cover and TRD strut tower brace install
Page 7: Grafxwerks banners and custom decals
Page 8: NEW! Pics of the lower bumper damage from this winter's ditch dive
Page 9: NEW! Painted Calipers finally!