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As soon as the 1984 Corvette gets mentioned the very first thing people say, often people who have never owned or driven such cars, is that the Crossfire 350 is a POS. The fact is, if the new Corvette had come out when it was supposed to as a real 1983 model year car, it would have been the fastest new car available, regardless of price.
Its rivals at the time for speed were the Porsche 928, Ferrari 308GTSi and BMW 533i. In stick shift form all three were high 15s cars, maybe the Ferrari could have done mid 15s. The Crossfire Corvette was a safe low 15s, it also had a few mph on all three for top speed and on average was 0.5 seconds quicker in 0-60 mph. And the last V12 Jag XJ-S, an automatic only car which I think was gone by 1982, was also a high 15s car.
By the time the 1984 Corvette did come out Ferrari had their Quattrovalvole and Porsche their 928S, which gave those two cars a slight edge in acceleration and top speed, but they did cost two to three times what the Corvette cost.
Shockingly, some Crossfire owners even had reliable service from their cars, and enjoyed driving them.
Iv'e owned a couple 84's and have loved them so very much. Its not the fastest car in the world, but in its day, it was a car that would compare with the world's best. the 84 is still my favorite year C4. Maybe I'm crazy or just sentimental but I love them!
I had a brand new 1984 and actually loved the car. I traded it on a new 1986 Z-51 coupe.
In 2011 I purchased a 1984 and completely rebuilt the car. I added a different cam to the engine and ported the stock intake. It did wake the old crossfire up a bit. I also added a 2500 stall converter while I was at it.
I still love driving the car and the way it feels. I am definitely a fan of the old crossfire.
As others have said above, you have to go back to 1982 and the technological / pollution laws limitations of the time. Like this: Road & Track tested a 1981 Ferrari 308GTSi and got 0-60 in 7.9 seconds and 16.1 second quarter mile. A 1984 Crossfire car can knock one second off both times, for a car that's closer to 20 grand, than 60 grand. BTW Road & Track got the exact same Ferrari figures when they tested the 1982 Collector Edition Corvette.
https://www.facebook.com/ClassicV8MuscleCars/photos/a.879646058828702.1073741830.879611465498828/899142943545680/?type=3&theater
Sure, you can make more hp out of the small block V8, but earlier carb cars had looser pollution laws, later cars had better tech to beat emissions. It's like in sport, you are only as good as your opposition allows you to be. It was quite an achievement for Corvette engineers in 1982-84 to beat the best Europe had to offer in top speed, acceleration and fuel economy, with the same laws and at a much lower price.
Last edited by LU8; Mar 31, 2017 at 06:23 AM.
Reason: added info
people just repeat what they hear, even if they don't know a ting about ANY year Vette. At the drag here in Indy, I get beat by new stangs and cameros. Anyone says anything, I tell them that race is like me raceing a stock 1956 chevy or ford.
It's amazing how the 1982 Collectors Edition Corvette and Porsche 944 both got nearly the same fuel economy, 21.5 vs 22 mpg. The Porsche was a 2.5 liter 4 cylinder car with an overdrive 5 speed weighing over 600lbs less. This isn't an EPA number, it's the overall test mpg from Road & Track.
That is a pretty wild considering the Corvette has a V8, compared to the 4cyl that's in the 944. I have an 85 944 and it gets about 25mpg on the highway. Closer to 21 or 22 in the city. Not terribly fantastic numbers for a 4cyl, but given the time period and the performance one gets from the 944, its something I can live with. The 944 is a superbly balanced car and it is amazing to drive on a road course or through some winding back roads. It also makes for a fantastic touring car!
Both the 1982 Corvette and 944 were a/c cars and both hit 0-80 mph in 14.3 seconds. Of course, the Corvette was an automatic and the Porsche a stick shift, but interesting similarities in difficult times nonetheless. It's a shame no magazine took the cars to Willow Springs for a lap time comparison.
Test stats in those days threw up some interesting things. If a car was an automatic and its engine made a lot of torque, it was usually faster than the stick shift version. Like Motorweek's test of an auto and 4+3 1985 TPI Corvette. Also, the Datsun 280 ZX turbo was much faster as an auto than a manual. And Road & Track's '82 CE Corvette had the same 0-100 mph time and 125 mph top speed as the '81 BMW 528i.
The 944 was known for its very smooth balancer shaft 4 cylinder, and was respected in the '80s. Objectively the 944 and 928 were probably better cars than the 911, and the 944 the easiest to drive. I know it went up against the Z/28 for the best handling car in America (done by Car and Driver I think). The Z/28 had already out handled the 928.
A friend of mine had a gold '84 when I was stationed at McGuire AFB in the mid '80's. That thing never failed to start and ran all the time. I've drove a couple of Crossfire cars ('82 & '84) and the experience was never a letdown. I'd buy a Crossfire car in a heartbeat.
And one more comparison. Road & Track got 15.3 seconds in the 1/4 mile for both the Porsche 911SC 3.0 and the 1984 Corvette. 1983 model year was the last year for the 911SC, so the new C4 would have been sold at the same time, if things had gone to the original plan. In 1978-1983 the 911SC was the benchmark for high performance, so you couldn't call the 1984 Corvette slow.
I think the feeling comes more so from the performance gap between 84 and the 95 ZR-1/96GS. The performance chasm was gigantic and you can't help but look at the XFirez and even the Early-L98s as wasted time to make really fast cars. I totally understand the sentiment though, because you're right about the cars of the time. Problem is and will always be centered on that, to me at least. Which is why I own a 96.
All things aside, that XFire manifold is the coolest looking intake on any modern Corvette.
My Crossfire rant (^-^)
