My '78 seems to oversteer more than I'm use too. Is this a characteristic with these cars or should I be looking for something in the suspension? As a side note I've had the car for almost 2 months, and haven't driven a car of this age in 30 years.

 

If you are on the gas in the turns it will oversteer. With the foot off the pedal it should understeer.

 

All else being equal, you tend to feel an over steering condition more quickly in a vette because you are sitting so close to the back axle compared to a sedan for instance. So even though the two vehicles are over steering the same amount you will feel what is happening more quickly in the vette JMHO.

 

I felt the same way and took the car in to be looked at and was told my steering was perfect and over the last year of driving it I have become more used to it and it doesn't scare me like it originally did

 

For me I had to beef up my front suspension, larger front sway bar, and that helped a lot.

 

Good advice. If everything is up to snuff and you are not comfortable with the oversteer the car exhibits, put a big front bar on and the car will plow/understeer at the limit.

 

As a stock machine with stock size wheels/tires/equivalent you will experience that.....

NOW if you give up on antiquated wheels/tires and go with suspension mods, THAT changes everything.....

otherwise, it is not up to modern performance standards.....

 

I thought that was the case - plus my 1st vette was a C5 soooooo.

 

Make sure the wheel alignment is correct.
Any rear wheel toe out, or excessive front toe in, for example, will make the car feel squirrelly.

 

Do you have a huge aftermarket sway bar in the back?

 

No, stock

 

Have not had it checked yet.

 

All factory road cars bias to understeer. It's not a new car/old car thing. It has always been this way. It is inherently safer for the front end to push when grip is exceeded. The reason it is safer is the car can generally be brought back in line by lifting off the throttle or applying some brake. If the car oversteers, the rear end will start coming around and can be hard to bring back into line with reduced throttle or braking. It frequently gets worse on throttle lift/braking depending upon the car's attitude and velocity. Oversteer also makes the car very nervous and a bit scary to drive, particularly on wet roads. You can make your car oversteer by applying power quickly to start spinning the rear tires in a corner but that's kind of boneheaded unless you are in a drifting competition.

It's most important to get the alignment checked by a competent shop. Next, do not over-inflate the tires, particularly in the rear. This is more of an issue with Corvettes in the pre-radial tire era, not on your year. Bias ply tires ran a couple more psi than radials and using the factory-recommended pressure for a bias tire on a radial can make a real difference.

 

I just notice that the track is wider on the rear of the car than the front - this must be considered too right?

 

Considered for what? The rear track width is about 3/4" wider on the rear for all C3s. It seems this way for most cars I've ever seen specifications on. I know of none with a wider front track -not that they don't exist. There are probably some with the same front and rear.