Behind the Wheel: 2009 Pontiac Vibe

I recently had reason to take a trip back to Massachusetts, and to make the trip I rented a car (as I often do). For this trip, I ended up with a 2009 Pontiac Vibe – which, at least mechanically, is the same as a Toyota Matrix.

I had actually considered buying a Matrix some time ago – in fact, when I was looking for a car it was a toss-up between the Matrix and the Mitsubishi Outlander. (Obviously, the Outlander won for me.) However, I’d always been interested in this little car, so when the rental agent brought it around, I was pretty excited.

The four hour drive back to Massachusetts, combined with a weekend spent driving all around the state (both highway and city driving) gave me plenty of time to get to know the little Vibe – and I have to say, I was very impressed!

First things first – the car I rented was, I believe, the 2.4L model – although to be honest I can’t confirm this. But this little car was so darned… fast that I have a hard time believing I was driving the 1.8L model. Several times while driving it I squealed the front tires (it was, alas, only a front-wheel drive model) inadvertently – something I was quite surprised by, since I’m used to driving an AWD vehicle, and it’s virtually impossible to squeal the tires when you have AWD.

And this little car was fast. Seriously fast. It just wanted to go… which was a little troublesome at times, as the car would happily go well above the speed limit just about anywhere – yet the ride was so smooth and quiet that you didn’t notice the speed until you looked down at the speedometer.

Speaking of which, the instrument cluster on this car is probably one of its biggest downsides – it’s quite dark, hidden as it is behind a big hood in the dash. It’s difficult to see during the day if (like me) you drive with your lights on, as the dash relies heavily on backlighting to be visible, and when you turn on the lights, the backlighting gets dimmer. (There is an adjustment for this of course, but then you must adjust it for both day visibility, and again at night for night visibility.)

The interior of the car is actually quite nice – there’s plenty of storage for the little things you need around you when taking a trip. The stereo is, I assume, different in the Pontiac Vibe vs. the Toyota Matrix – I believe the Vibe gets the “standard” GM radio/CD player. Which isn’t to say that it’s bad – in fact it’s quite nice, with a line-in port for your iPod or other portable music device, and the CD player even understands CD-text (so it can show track names, if you’ve burned a CD with the CD-text option turned on).

For the four hour drive to and from Massachusetts, the Vibe’s seats were very comfortable – I daresay they are even more comfortable than my own Outlander’s seats. The rear seats are… well, they’re rear seats in a small car, enough said.

One other downside of the Vibe/Matrix is the rear C-pillars – they are VERY thick, and block rear visibility quite a bit. This is not uncommon in small hatchbacks like this, but it is still rather annoying if you’re used to better rear visibility.

All-in-all, the Vibe is a very capable car, very peppy (though high-revving) in its performance, and an all-around well engineered little car that I quite liked. If anything, it’s a little too peppy – I’d get the AWD version if I had the choice, to put that power through to the ground a little bit better. (The 2.4L engine makes 258 HP, which is a lot of horsepower for such a lightweight car.) Of all the cars I’ve tested in my “Behind the Wheel” series, I think the Vibe is my favorite thus far.