confab

I guess one important consideration in the bang/fun calculus is: How much time to you want to spend screwing with it?

Tom400CFI

Because you wouldn't "throw out the cold cuts"; you'd sell them before they go bad.

The 'Vette you have has some value...it'll have less after you "run it into the ground", as you say. I'm not sure why that is so difficult a concept; if you lust after C5^'s so much....sell your car and go get one!

Why waste your time w/a car you don't love?

.

Retired Mechanic

C4 ZR1 full throttle ahead brother cause the C6 looks ugly in my opinion.

jay23ls

You guys are always talking about C4 vs C5. Now its C4 vs C6

The inarguable answer is the one GM's gives us which is each gen was made to try to sell more than the last. More room, more comfort, more tech basically more mass appeal w/ each gen.

So what you'll like depends on whether you want more of that stuff. Do you want more of that OP?

Most would agree, including myself, that more tech and comfort makes some cars less fun to drive. Based on that, my choice would be the C4 ZR1.

confab

Why buy old junk? Just wait and get a C15. That's a real car!

Renfield

I was only suggesting that mark970 could've been more specific about the sucky-ness. I agree with him whole-heartedly.

Personally, I dislike the looks even if it was the best Corvette ever made. So a C5 is a non-starter for me. Pure aesthetics.

I also wouldn't consider a C4 with the hideous afterthought high center mount brake light. Pretty picky, right? It's easy to be picky when you couldn't care less what 100 other people think. Or even one.

Which is why I don't post opinion questions like this one.

Considering GM still can't get it right in 2017 (how about that A8 tranny? LOL), I wouldn't hold my breath that the C5 is superior to the C4 in any way. Just a bit younger, and a lot more complicated.

hockeyhead019

lol looks like we got waaayyy off topic here...

@OP if you're a waxer, go with the C6, not sure if you were trying to compare to the base C6 or a Z but they're both new enough to have plenty of support and a mechanic who can find their way around them easily.

I think it's a win win honestly, the looks and the LT5 of the ZR-1 C4 are great. The new tech and LS in the C6 is no slouch either. I would recommend you drive both and see what you like/dislike.

Paul Workman

aklim

Unless you have more spent than you will ever get in your wettest fantasy.

I lust after the latest technology but may have to settle for something more reasonable. I want a Fatboy Lo but with the miles I have and will put on, it isn't worth it to upgrade.

That just it. I never will love my car. Even though you give me a 2018 C7 that is loaded. When the next gen comes along, I'd want it. My car is a toy not a lifestyle

Tom400CFI

Copy that. I wouldn't own a "toy" car with which I had that kind of relationship. In fact, I had that car (the C6) and I sold it precisely because I didn't love it. Why have it? What's the point? You're missing 99% of the experience.


It's odd to me to me that someone who feels that way, would be giving passionate advice to others about which car they should want, or which car is "better".

JrRifleCoach

ZR-1's are collector cars. If you drive one, best be proficient at wrenching.

Cause you're not going to find many willing to work on it

mark970

i'm not even sure why people are so drawn to the Zr-1...Def not worth the extra $35k price to buy new (yeah they were $75k in 1995)

this is Car-n-Driver test report....

"In our recent test of the '95 Corvette LT1, the car ran to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 13.7 seconds at 103 mph. Compare that with our last test of the ZR-1, in May 1993: 0 to 60 in 4.7 seconds, a quarter-mile time of 13.1 seconds at 111 mph"

sorry, I'm not seeing the big deal..not when comparing the money you pay

http://www.caranddriver.com/features...latform-page-4

JrRifleCoach

Hey I'm not bashing the Z here.
Just sayin that costs of ownership for an unknowing (non-mechanical) owner will not end well.

mark970

that made me chuckle....me on the other hand i just dont see the appeal other than as a "collector" car. I'm not a performance minded guy so the numbers mean absolutely nothing to me...well other than the $$$$ numbers

81c3

Its something you have to experience... the car is not the only part of it... the people who are involved are a smaller family of guys/gals... very cool level of camaraderie.. Back to the car... Once you drive one and feel the power, you might change your mind on not being performance minded... How can you own an iconic American Sports car and not be somewhat performance minded anyway?

mark970

well, i cant argue your points...all i can say is i smile like a kid every time i turn the key...
i'm on my 4th C4 (got my first one in 1999) and I've never cared about "numbers" because the LT1's perform just fine for my liking.

as far as the ZR1 family...yeah i can understand that and yeah feeling power through the entire...ah power band (correct term here)??? would be noticeable but seriously, i'm ok with my LT1's but then again, i'm pretty simple


but numbers for a second...for an additional $35k you only got 4 tenths of a second 0-60. you got a 105hp boost (405hp) but 4 tenths? is that worth $35k?

81c3

Your thinking is in line with many people who were Vette shopping back in the day... That's some of what contributed to the demise of the C4 ZR-1 Also, there was not a whole lot of difference in appearance from a regular C4... That made it hard to justify the price increase as well.

What makes them special today is the limited amount manufactured and the LT5 being so different from all other Vette engines. The bang for the buck today is probably alot greater than it was back then. There was a guy on here that paid $22k for an LT-1 IIRC.... That gets a very nice ZR-1... You can actually spend less and still get a very nice example.

A major difference in the LT-1 & LT-5 is the way the engines were built... Every LT-5 is hand assembled and the clearance tolerances are so much tighter that any LT-1. Many records were set with the LT-5 that stood for many years.

I would suggest you read the book Heart of the Beast and learn about the LT-5 ... Its a great read.

mark970

well, it got its nickname "King of the Hill" for a reason! I'm not a hater...it's just not on my radar... and i will grab that book when i see it...i do like Vettes and i follow the history all the way back to 1953 (I'm somewhat of an enthusiast). If i had a disposable income I would have a 58, 62 and 67 in my collection

96LT4

I drove C4's for a solid 15 years...I now own 2 of the best C6s GM ever made....will not go back to a C4. As I get older, they get less comfortable to get in and out of, and road trips just sucked.

aklim

I got a Vette because it was easy to transplant the motor I had from the wrecked F-body that I bought new and kept adding mods. At that point, it became a cheap (relatively) platform because I had people who could work on it for cash, know where to get parts, etc. Right now, more and more, I have to scrabble around to find parts, fewer people know enough to work on it, etc. In short, it is a platform that WAS cheaper and easy to get it to make power and the gadgets weren't too bad for things at the time. Today, there is a new shiner toy. However, having invested 20K into this toy, it would be a waste to take a bath on it during sale so it is hung on to and played with till something catastrophic happens and it isn't financially feasible. I am NOT like the kid that has a room full of toys he doesn't even know exist. I buy a toy, play with it till it is broke then find a new toy. By the time I do, probably it will be a C6.

Unlike the government, I don't advocate you get something and give myself something better. I tell you honestly what I think and if you don't like it, I can't help it and won't change my position just because I have that too. I can honestly say that if my C4 went over a cliff, I'd cash the check and probably add a few bucks more to move up into something more advanced because I like the new toys better. Again, I am into new gizmos and not in love with much except the wife and dogs. These are just FWB.