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I actually have never read the article but have owned almost every corvette except the 53 and the C8, worked at a corvette business and can tell you that out of all of them the early C4's are turkeys. Some C3's were turkeys but the government mandates made them that way.
Even the big block 427/435 C3 only trapped 106MPH
STOCK. They felt fast made lots of noise and are fun to drive but most of them aren’t any quicker than an early C4 most of them are slower.
IHBD, are you saying that you are the original owner of an 85' C4 and its been in a garage since? If so I would really like to see pics of that car, it would be awesome.
Even the big block 427/435 C3 only trapped 106MPH
STOCK. They felt fast made lots of noise and are fun to drive but most of them aren’t any quicker than an early C4 most of them are slower.
Good Point I have a Road and Track article that pitted the 427/C3 against the 86/C4.
Ill upload some pictures from the Magazine when I get a chance.
The 5.3 0-60 of the 427/C3 was about what they had.
The 86/C4 was around 5.7 0-60.
C4 Leaps off the line ahead of the C3 but the C3 comes roaring back at the end.
They also Test a Baker C4 that has only a exhaust mod that run. 5.5 0-60.
Cheers
1975 Datsun 280z's were full injected, multi port with mass air flow sensors. Porsche 914's were injected too. Did someone say performance. 200hp out of V8 in a vette, please. 6 cylinder foreign cars were pulling that back in the early 80's.
I know you guys love vettes, I own a few too but realize that GM was asleep for a decade in the 70's which effected early 80's cars too.
p.s. I do think the C4 is one of the best looking vettes ever made.
Congratulations, you found one EFI Datsun. When did Datsun's get rid of points ignition? 914's had CIS with a mechanical Vane air flow meter. Not EFI. Chevy had a system like that in the '50's.
No 6 cylinder was doing 205 hp in '84 other than Maybe a 911 Turbo? You're Z car was 200 hp with a turbo. You should check out it's 1/4 mile time, compared to the '84 C4 that was "a decade behind".
johnfin, I'm SURE one could cherry pick cars that had some tech, prior to the '84 (while also, lacking other tech) -like the EFI Beetle that IHBD pointed out (how long did THAT last?). But to assert that the '84 'Vette was "a decade behind" is absurd. You've lost perspective on what was actually available in 1983. Have a read, to re-adjust your perspective back to 1983/4. :yenod:
The whole article makes it obvious what a radical change the '84 was to the car scene at that time, but I'll drop this, right here...for perspective. Second paragraph from the article/link above: "Item: 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!"
HUH! Any '84 Datsun articles that say.....anything, like that? '84 'Vette was MT COTY. Where was the then-new, '84 Datsun 300zx? It was "a decade ahead", right?
A "Decade behind"?? Try again.
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Last edited by Tom400CFI; Dec 19, 2022 at 07:52 PM.
I actually have never read the article but have owned almost every corvette except the 53 and the C8, worked at a corvette business and can tell you that out of all of them the early C4's are turkeys. Some C3's were turkeys but the government mandates made them that way.
A significant difference is that the C3s were going downhill on virtually every measure while the C4s improved significantly over the course of the generation. That the early C4s would have been as dominant in what was essentially showroom stock racing over Porsches, Nissans, and Ferraris says much about the platform. Paul Newman's Nissan was a mostly professional effort in a highly modified class. It is not a good comparison. As for some road measures, Ferraris were terrible from a quality and reliability perspective. Nissan was living it its heyday for quality product (a reputation that is largely gone today). Porsche did have excellent boring techniques with very fine tolerances. It took the CNC machining revolution to catch up to Porsche (and Toyota) levels of quality.
Nothing like coming to Corvette Forum to read an article trashing a Corvette written buy a guy who clearly doesn’t have much first hand knowledge about which he is writing. Sad
Unfortunately, there are very few 1984 Corvettes left here in Southwest Florida because so many have caught fire and burned. I can't think of any other model year of any generation of Corvette which has fared worse over the years. When I first got into owning Corvettes (bought my first Corvette, a 1986 C4 convertible, in 1997), I was warned by others to avoid the 84 at all costs due to its supposedly fire prone and troublesome nature. Near me, there was a beautiful two-tone bronze (don't know the name of the actual colors) displayed outdoors for sale. Unfortunately, it caught fire and burned, sitting forlornly in the seller's yard for awhile. My parents have an 85 C5 coupe with the port injection.
[QUOTE=IHBD;1606048693]It's been 50 years, but I remember working on these cars.All 4-cyl 914 had EFI. 914 never had CIS. (The 914-6 had carburetors.) The earliest 1.7 had the MAP system. The 2.0 also had MAP. The 1.8, IIRC came out in 74 and had the flapper EFI but it was an electronic port injected configuration. EDIT: Bosch called it L-Jetronic. The VW Type II got L-Jetronic in 1974, and the bug got it in 1975. The last year for the bug in North America was 1979, all convertibles by then. - QUOTE]
My 1984 Audi 4000S Quattro had CIS with its 5-cylinder 2.3 engine
The whole article makes it obvious what a radical change the '84 was to the car scene at that time, but I'll drop this, right here...for perspective. Second paragraph from the article/link above: "Item: 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!" [/QUOTE]
As Corvette fanatic whose first Corvette was a C4 and who currently owns two supercharged C5s, it pains me to say this, but the 1975 Datsun 280Z could reach 160 MPH (with typical Japanese precision, that was also the highest number on its speedometer). My buddy reached 160 in his Z outside of Mesquite, Texas. Even the 1884 Corvette was only capable of 140. Also, the 1983 Porsche 944 had port fuel injection. In addition, the 1986 Porsche 944 Turbo with 2.5 liter 4-cylinder produced the equivalent of 247 SAE horsepower (it was officially rated in Germany's DIN) when the 1986 Corvette produced "only" 235 horsepower.
So why did so many 84's burn up, what was the issue? And also dont get dogged down with EFI and datsuns, Others like renault had MAF and injection in the 70's. The point to the whole thing is that Vette didnt have it until 1985. The 84 was just buying time to get it right.
Having never owned a C4 personally, I have worked on several over the years. Tough but what isn’t.
owning a 1968 C3- rough and tumble, roadster and chassis flexes….
A C4 is worlds better over the C3 from back in the day.
Imaging being in the showroom in 1984 and that came out and was light years ahead.
I was 8 years old and remember it in the auto show in Chicago….
As Corvette fanatic whose first Corvette was a C4 and who currently owns two supercharged C5s, it pains me to say this, but the 1975 Datsun 280Z could reach 160 MPH
No it couldn't. That's pure, BFS.
The car had neither the gearing nor the hp to get it there. How does 119 sound for a top speed? Sounds a little more realistic, to me. R&T TEST RESULTS
Originally Posted by CorvetteBrent
(with typical Japanese precision, that was also the highest number on its speedometer). My buddy reached 160 in his Z outside of Mesquite, Texas.
No he didn't. Why do people post dog-**** like this?? Either "Japanese precision" speedo error caused you two to believe the unattainable, or the whole story is made up. I'm going with, "Made up".
Why? 149hp ain't gonna get you 160 mph. NO WAY, NO HOW.
Originally Posted by CorvetteBrent
Also, the 1983 Porsche 944 had port fuel injection. In addition, the 1986 Porsche 944 Turbo with 2.5 liter 4-cylinder produced the equivalent of 247 SAE horsepower (it was officially rated in Germany's DIN) when the 1986 Corvette produced "only" 235 horsepower.
What's that got to do with the price of bread? And in spite of that, the 944 was used to mop the track, by the C4.
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Last edited by Tom400CFI; Dec 20, 2022 at 11:14 AM.
So why did so many 84's burn up, what was the issue? And also dont get dogged down with EFI and datsuns, Others like renault had MAF and injection in the 70's. The point to the whole thing is that Vette didnt have it until 1985. The 84 was just buying time to get it right.
No, the "whole point" was that MotorTrend's '84 COTY wasn't, actually, "A decade behind".
I think that the '84's burning up is a bid of an exaggeration by the one poster. I'm sure some caught fire....I don't think it was an epidemic. ("Cleaned out all of Florida"?). Come on.
I LOVE that you brought Renault up....as a "tech leader" though! That's good stuff. When did these MPFI cars you like so much, adopt electronic ignition? That's a rhetorical question. The point is, they were ALL wallowing "forward" in the early '80's -each in different ways. Some dumped their resources into EFI, other's Mech PFI, others into combustion chamber design, others into hi tek ignition systems and lean burn strategies...they were all trying something to make it work and meet criteria. The results (across the board) were pretty universally, terrible. While VW was dicking around with EFI on beetles to meed criteria, they were still using points and did so into the '80s.
If you think renault is a joke lets pair up a 1984 C4 and a 1.5l Renault R5 turbo at sebring. Or the A310 alpine. Did you see the look on the Germans guys face in the video when they asked him how it compared against the Porsche 928. He paused and blushed. We are working on the HP the GM guy says. Lets pair up a 928 and a C4, yea right. Yes a decade behind. Look at the pic, the bottom of a 69 240z looks similar to a 84 vette. And yes in 75 it was multiport injected. In the early 80's I probably would have bought a vette based on the size and looks of the car ( I own one now). If I was buying one for performance it would have been low on the list.
Datsun gave up on points style ignition in the 70s. Not sure the exact year (probably with the 260Z, which introduced FI to the mix).
Yep; 74 260Z was the first year not using points for the distributor...around the same time GM went to HEI. Thought I heard the C3 was the first in 72/74...something like that.
I know what you mean. I owned this '80 for 14 years before I made the mistake of selling it in 2009. I grew up with the C3s and C4s and always had a thing for the '80-'82 body style. I enjoy my '86 now and just like to cruise around in it from time to time. I am familiar with the L-98 from having owned an '89 IROC-Z.
'84 'Vette was MT COTY. Where was the then-new, '84 Datsun 300zx? It was "a decade ahead", right? 
