C4 Corvettes

Bobzilla wrote: I still think the L98 should have been in the truck line. low rpm redline, torque from idle to redline. Should have never been in a sportscar. Hell, it'd make a great motorhome engine! Or maybe that's the engine I put into a box-body 'burb?

The L98 was a great truck engine, too bad they didn't put it in one. As bad as the L98 is, it was quite an improvement over the dreaded Crossfire engine.

I do like C4s myself, but the price of C5s is coming down enough that it may be worth going that way instead. C5 seating is better as well. Wait a minute, am I starting to sound like an old Corvette guy? Get off my lawn.

Since I've already had the C4 experience, I'm personally ready for the C5 experience.

I've spent a decent enough amount of time in c4s and c5s (hundreds of miles but not thousands) and the c5 is a MUCH better car egonomically, and the worst c5 performs better than 85% of all the c4s ever made, stock to stock. Some of the c4s are downright boring in the power department.

Even though c5s are getting 'cheap', it's still hard for me to say it's the thing i would pick if i had 10k to buy a 'used sports car'.

However, if i was looking for a cheap track car i think it would be much harder to overlook the ~$2500-4000 c4s out there.

As much as i am annoyed by c4 ergonomics, it really only matters on the street. I suspect that a c4 'starts to make a lot of sense' on a road course.

I'm seeing the older C6s for $20k and would take one of those I think over any C5 other than the Z06.

Cotton wrote: In reply to Harvey: I think we've been down this road before, but it's an 80s car. Come sit in my 85 911, 87 MR2, or 88 C4 and I doubt you'll love any of the interiors. IMO the 911 is the worst in my opinion, but back then Porsche didn't give a E36 M3 what people thought about ergonomics and focused on the driving/performance aspects. I mean the ergonomics in the 911 are so bad you almost want to think they're just berkeleying with you, but no we call that "character".

I've driven my friend's 70s era 911 and been in several first gen MR2s and don't remember being as unimpressed with them as I am with the C4 Corvette interior. Then again the C5 is not much of a step up either. I dunno, maybe I'm just a little down on the car because they would do godawful stuff like that red interior with the red carpet.

In a heartbeat, if I could afford one.

In reply to Harvey:

The 911 is just strange, like hvac controls in three different places (dash, lower dash for AC, then floor handles to pull for the heater). Ignition key on the left, no dead pedal, no tilt wheel, which makes it as hard to get into as the vette, but in a different way because the seat is high, but the wheel low. Almost nothing is intuitive and I actually had to break out the owners manual to figure some of it out, which I can't remember doing for any other car.

I'll admit my vette is basically red on red on red.....LOTS of red. The 911 is silver with blue leather and cloth inserts with the Porsche script, and the MR2 is blue and silver with blue cloth, so none are very typical, but the vette's is the loudest. All the red took a little getting used to, but now I like it. I do still prefer the blue of the other cars though because, unlike most people, I love blue interiors.

Anyway, I'm not arguing with you or anything, just offering my own personal observations. I'm sure these cars strike people in a lot of different ways.

I have always liked the C4. It was THE car when I was a little kid that everyone wanted. Honestly, I'd even take a (gasp) Crossfire Injected one if the price was right. The sky is the limit with a SBC 350.

Dad's got a crossfire auto car. To be honest, that is a decent combo for a cruiser/grand tourer. tons of torque, geared low so it's never out of the torque band.... not a bad car. Sportscar it isn't so much.

Nobody had C4 Vettes in my neighborhood when I was a kid. It was all g-bodys so that was my 80s fixation and why I owned a Grand National. I think probably lack of any nostalgia is what makes me look down on the C4 interior so much and novelty is why I am okay with the 911s and other european cars of that era, because I kind of expect them to be odd. Not saying this is at all fair or reasonable at all.

No one had ANYTHING fun growing up except trucks. There were a couple fox-bodies and an f-body or two. But nothing fast.I was ok with the layout of the interior. The lack of feet room for me was what was killer.

I actually like the high side sills with the low floor. It makes the car feel more unique than most other cars, and makes it seem like you are sitting really low. But, some of the late cars still seem to be priced way to high.

In reply to Vigo:I rarely see C4s for $4000 and less. Some of them look like they should be crushed.

Edit: Actually, some of us should strip them and weld a cage around them like jmc14 did.

I purchased a running and driving C4 for $700. I drove onto my trailer. The exterior and interior were complete junk. I've stripped it down and am almost done welding/bolting on an Exo frame. I plan to drive it on the street. : [URL=http://s1143.photobucket.com/user/jmcbigbelly/media/c4blastside8-7-2014_zpsf7c59cf3.jpg.html][/URL]

I've been wondering what would be more fun, a C4 or a the first generation miata. Thats where my mind is these days....oh and now for a random C4 observation: I like the seats in the early C4's better than the wider seats in the later ones.

Mr_Clutch42 wrote: I actually like the high side sills with the low floor. It makes the car feel more unique than most other cars, and makes it seem like you are sitting really low. But, some of the late cars still seem to be priced way to high.

Me too....c4 interiors feel more like a cockpit.

In reply to Vigo:I rarely see C4s for $4000 and less

Local to me:

http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/cto/4717494380.html

http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/4730894445.html

In reply to Vigo:

Damn it man. Those are way too close to me...if I only had any money.

I contemplated trading the Mustang for one this past summer. Didn't happen but I still like them.

jmc14 wrote: I purchased a running and driving C4 for $700. I drove onto my trailer. The exterior and interior were complete junk. I've stripped it down and am almost done welding/bolting on an Exo frame. I plan to drive it on the street. : [URL=http://s1143.photobucket.com/user/jmcbigbelly/media/c4blastside8-7-2014_zpsf7c59cf3.jpg.html][/URL]

Oh how I wish.

In regards to 911 ergonomics: I still don't know how to work the HVAC in mine, the sunroof switch is completely unlabled which is OK since you can't see it when seated anyway, and there is an unlabled switch next to that one that I still don't know the function of. Charm indeed.
Back to C4's. There was a teal colored one for sale on my way home today and I wanted to stop soooooooo bad.

Nick_Comstock wrote: Thanks for the input everyone. I will definitely keep my eye on them in the future. I know a C5 is better in almost every way but for some reason they really don't appeal to me. I think it's because I watched a lot of Simon & Simon as a kid.

Simon and Simon was a Camaro:

Perhaps you're thinking of Face's Corvette from the A-Team?

Vigo wrote: I've spent a decent enough amount of time in c4s and c5s (hundreds of miles but not thousands) and the c5 is a MUCH better car egonomically, and the worst c5 performs better than 85% of all the c4s ever made, stock to stock.

I spent a decent amount of time in C4s and my first C5 experience can be summarized as this:

"Wow, this thing is a car!"

You can get in and out without weird gymnastics, the dash display and switchgear don't look like a MAD Magazine spoof from the 60s, you don't get the sensation that the chassis flexes more than the suspension does.

In reply to vwcorvette:

But S&S also had that 2-door little blazer with a removable roof. I wanted that so bad, but it was a unicorn evidently.

/threadjack

In reply to vwcorvette:

OK, well I guess the early eighties was a long time ago...but the one I'm thinking of was not Faces. I'll have to do some research.

mazdeuce wrote: In regards to 911 ergonomics: I still don't know how to work the HVAC in mine, the sunroof switch is completely unlabled which is OK since you can't see it when seated anyway, and there is an unlabled switch next to that one that I still don't know the function of. Charm indeed. Back to C4's. There was a teal colored one for sale on my way home today and I wanted to stop soooooooo bad.

there is a mystery switch on the 80's 911's that took us nearly a decade to figure out. AFAIK we finally figured it out that it switched which mirror you were adjusting... We had always assumed the passenger side was manual.