brassplyer

Never ridden in a C4, what's their stock handling capability like compared to a stock C3?

maj75

The best stock version of the C4 will outhandle the best stock C3. Wheels and tires are a huge reason. Chassis is much stiffer. Drivetrain was improved, especially the 6 speed manual. I had a 1994 C4 with the factory adjustable suspension and it was much better handling than my ‘69.

bashcraft

There is no comparison. The C4 makes the C3 seem like a Model T.

69427

Particularly the C4's rear suspension. It eliminates the snap oversteer that plagues C3s under hard cornering.

F22

The C4 was the first 'modern' Corvette. The C3 basically inherited nearly the exact same suspensions the C2 had from 1963. I had a '95 C4 and it would slay my '74 in the corners or in the canyons.

20mercury

I had a longtime Corvette friend who told me that he spent all kinds of money upgrading the suspension and more in his 69 for autocross racing. He had a buddy who had just bought a C4 when they first came out, 84 I guess, and this buddy offered to let my friend drive his new C4 around the autocross course. My friend told me the first time out in the C4, he significantly beat his best time ever in the 69. So, not surprisingly, GM makes every subsequent Corvette better than the last, not to mention technology is continually improving.

I had a 93 Corvette and loved it. It always seemed like an oversized go kart to me. Sorry I sold it. But, I like the C3 styling best.

mrvette

Yeh, I feel same way, I had a '87 C4, but did note one thing, the car had a lousy steering radius, C3 '72 is much tighter,......strange but true....nothing matter with my C4 either....

ignatz

GM brought back the snap oversteer with the introduction of the C6 Z06. I guess they missed it. I discovered it within one week of my brand new car.

Also I was never able to beat my C3 on race tires with my completely stock C6 on street tires so I don't know that my (highly modified) C3 was all that bad after I did all the right things. Just had to keep at it.

69427

I did not know that. I appreciate the update.

L-46man

Frankly the C-4 and Z-51 was quite the handler...

Old expression ; C-3's are for driving...C-4's cheapest track cars in the world.

F22

The joke about the Z-51 package on the C4, was that it gave you the ability to know which side of a dime your rolled over on the road.

20mercury

Funny and thanks!

I was told the C4 FX3 selective ride and handling gave you a choice between
A. "a very hard ride"
or
B. "bust your ***"!

cv67

As said the C4 is night and day better...some of the early cars rode pretty harshly.
I avoid the FX3 or Z51, parts are a bitch to get and those cars are already stiff. They dont look as cool as the C3 but do most everythign else better.

minitech

Open craigslist for your area and search “Corvette”. There will probably be several C4s for sale and you can go drive one or more of them to check them out.

I agree the C4 was the first modern Corvette.

Iceaxe

^^^THIS^^^

I was heavy into autocross in the early 80's and still remember the first C4 to show up at an event. It easily destroyed everything and walked away with stock fast time of day.

At the time C3's ran B Stock and the C4 ran A Stock, where the Porches ruled, it didn't matter as the C4 hammered everything in sight. I remember at the end of the day being extremely impressed with what I had just witnessed.

YMMV

69427

That was pretty much my same observation back in the eighties.

Bikespace

I was heavy into AutoX in the late 90s, right before 9/11 shut down the airbase track. There were a pair of C3s that often showed up. They weren't faster than most cars, maybe about even with the muffler-less Dodge Neons that were the cacophonous scourge of the course back then. But they were beautiful cars, and it looked like the drivers were having more fun than just about anyone else. I hope to get mine to that level someday. I'm wheels, tires, and an engine rebuild short right now (at least).

I haven't driven a C4, and I doubt I'd remember if I even saw them at the track. I've driven a C5, and I wouldn't keep one in my garage if you gave it to me.

brassplyer

Interesting. Based on looks, handling?

Bikespace

It's the whole experience, really, and my statement was a bit of hyperbole. C5s don't leak, usually, so it could live outside. But I really wouldn't kick a C3 out of the garage for one (I have as many garage spots as I do C3s), nor would I trade for one. Even a C5 Z06, which is now a $15K car, and will always outperform my C3 now matter what I do to it, does not really interest me, despite being a huge improvement on the C4 in every way. If you were to give me a C5, I'd take it to the track a few times, then sell it to fund my C3 hobby.

I didn't mean to derail this thread. I love the C3 experience, and anything that handles "better" (i.e., like a boring modern car) and looks worse, is not an improvement on that.

brassplyer

During my recent search for a Vette the first one I looked at was a 2001. It was local and the price seemed tempting but it ended up that the particular circumstances seemed dicey so I never pursued it beyond an initial looksee. I sat in it and heard it run some but never got to drive it since they were ostensibly trying to get the rad fan working - which was one element of the diceyness - the ad claimed it had "zero issues". Feedback I encountered is that you need to be adept at doing diagnostics and repair with a C5 or it can eat you alive trying to keep the aging high(er) tech going. And I really wanted a C3 anyway. So maybe I dodged a bullet. I was intrigued by the performance numbers of the C5 but as it happened I stumbled across a fantastic deal on my '80 with an already hopped-up, fresh drivetrain that I imagine is at least as quick and probably quicker than that C5.