motodog

looking at getting a corvette again. had an 85 auto and really liked it but had to sell. now looking at an 94 with a 6spd. looking for input from owners. thing to look for ? ect. car will be a weekend driver. I like to mod so stock is not really a concern. plans are canyon runs to drag passes with cruises and the like. also was looking at a 40th anniversary lt4 6spd albeit lots more $$ but it was a thought. thanks guys

STL94LT1

Love my 94 M6 LT1! Bought it new July 1994.

QCVette

'94 6 speeds are great cars. I have had 2 of them.

Currently have '95 and '96 6 speeds which are very similar.

The '94 is the first year for some things like the computer that has sequential injection and can be flashed instead of a replacement chip. First year for R134 refrigerant. First year for the late interior seats and white lettering on the dash. And some other changes too.

They are pretty strong cars too. They don't break very often even with abuse. A lot of people drag race them without issues.

The things I look for that could be expensive are the paint and body work, interior pieces, clutch and transmission. There are some things that are less expensive too like an antenna that doesn't work right, headlights that make noise/jerky motion/not work, an electronic AC head unit that the buttons need cleaning, intermittent window switches, etc. The Optispark is always a point of discussion. There is a lot of bad mouthing it and concern, but I have not had any problems with mine (8 cars and several hundred thousand miles). I think of it as a distributor and if it breaks, fix it. There are reports of aftermarket failures and successes.

Also be aware that a 40th did not come with an LT4. Only the '96 6 speeds did. Maybe the one you are looking at had it swapped, but be careful what you are looking at.

Good luck with your search.

MatthewMiller

To add to what QCVette wrote, 1996 was the only model year where an LT4 was available. It came in all manual-trans Corvettes that year. Either engine is very nice and that ZF6 transmission is really nice. The LT4 makes more power and extends the useful rpm range up a little higher. Either engine accepts lots of modifications nicely, but the LT4 is stronger if you're keeping it stock. Once you put aftermarket heads and cam on them, either engine is pretty much equal. The LT4 is also more desirable from a collectable perspective (looking down the road into the future, as no C4 is worth very much right now). However, if you're doing significant mods at some point then collectability is no longer an issue anyway.

motodog

thanks for the feedback guys. I was concerned about the optispark. if it fails ill probably go remanufactured oem.

blue94

Owned my 94 since early 96, plan on keeping it until I cannot get in it. I did change the opti to the second generation when I did a head/cam upgrade.

Rexracer77

The only problems I see with these cars is the same problem with all the C4s. Some really bad GM engieering. The Opti isnt nearly as bad as its made out to be, that was one of the easiest things I have worked on, on my 2 cars. Its everything else, which if you have had a C4 you already know about.

Great cars, if your willing to work on them.