rfn026

Here's he B2K story.

Richard Newton

0Callaway Chris

Richard, thanks for posting. Here's Part #2 of the 16 part series...

0Callaway Chris

Here's a link for the NCM Bash Schedule, which includes several Callaway-related activities, including the seminar with Reeves Callaway & Mike Zoner, plus the "behind the scenes, insider's tours" of the Callaway Collection:

http://www.corvettemuseum.org/event/...nstance_id=563

0Callaway Chris

Here's Video Clip #3 in the series:

Tom400CFI

"The 1984 Corvette made no pretense of being fast."

Saaaayyy WHAT!?

Misguided quotes like that -especially from a "reputable author" are irritating and misleading. HERE is what a credible reviewer said at the time the '84 came out:

"It is hands-down the fastest American automobile, capable of 140-mph top speeds, 0-to-60 times under seven seconds, and 15.2-second quarter-mile forays at 90 mph. In fact, these figures qualify the Corvette as one of the half-dozen fastest production automobiles in the entire world!"

It lived up to it's mission, in 1984.

rfn026

We have to place the '84 Corvette into context. It was not the car that Dave envisioned. It would later become that but it wasn't there in '84.

The '84 was really designed around the tires. The inspiration cam from the Porsche 928. It was all about the handling. Even that became problematic when a VP forced the Corvette team to remove the T-top, otherwise known as the central reinforcement.

In order to get the handling back they had to build those huge sills you have to climb over every time you get in and out of the car. That was one of the reasons they had to skip the '83 model year.

The '84 was able to pull 1.04 g on the skid pad. That was just incredible. It was all about the cornering.Aas a result the '84 Z51 package was really rough on the street. It was fast but not very comfortable. That changed in '85.

The '84 engine was simply a carry over from the '82. No one has ever thought of the '82 Corvette as being a quick, or even fast, car.

The L98 was a huge change. Now the Corvette was fast. I even like the L98 better than the LT1. If there hadn't been so many warranty issues with intake leaks we might never have gotten the LT1. That and the Lotus engine GM put in the C4.

I don't trust any of the magazine performance figures of the day. The cars we got were very different from what was on the showroom floor of your Chevy dealer. Every press car I know went from Bowling Green to the Tech Center in Warren Mi for "adjustments".

Who knows what they did. They certainly weren't about to tell us.

It's nice to be a Corvette fan but there is also cheerleading. The '82 and '84 Corvette engines were not the high point of Corvette performance. As the C4 Corvette was developed it got better and better.

Drive and '84 and then drive an '96 GS 6-speed. They're not even like the same car. Except for climbing over that huge sill to get in.

And if you think getting in a C4 is hard just try one of the C7s.

Richard Newton

Tom400CFI

Of course it has to be in context...of the ERA. That is what you neglected w/your ridiculous statement in your article. Of course it wasn't what Dave envisioned. What car hits the show room floor as ANY chief engineer envisions? None. The C5 (with more content) is what Dave envisioned, for the C4. Took 13 years for that car to be produced.



Actually it's a "ride quality" issue, not "handling" issue. Car will "handle" with stiff enough springs and a flexible chassis...and the C4 (along with 3rd Gens, Fox bodies) is evidence of that.


Well, that ain't true either. Even though the '82 is markedly slower than the "5 more hp" '84, Motorweek said of the '82; "It's hard to believe that a 3400 lb automatic can move that fast."
and
"There is certainly no want for adequate power in the '82 Corvette".

Someone thought of it as being fast...in it's time. Even though it was slower than the '84.



Malarkey. Lore. BFS. The cars' published times are nothing special, and can be easily beaten by owners. And they are.



Who said otherwise? What you just did there, is called "stating the obvious". Of course the newer car is better. '84 culture/expectations were not '96 culture/expectations. In 84, the car was most definitely....presented (and accepted) as "being fast". Context.

.