Everything you are complaining about is cost.

The parts are available to modify, you just have to pay for them.

 

:skep: :skep:
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Id take an L98 over an LT5 anyday! :U

NOT!! :lol:

 

mes amitiés de France à tous nos amis Canadiens,

malgrè le fait d'etre aller à la fac jusqu' à 26 ans, je ne maitrise pas totalement la langue d'outre manche, ce qui ne m'interdit pas d'apprecier les dialogues sur ce forum de passionnés de corvettes.

Amities

nb : avec le climat de l'Ontario ,utiliser un corvette tous les jours ne doit pas etre évident !!!!!!

 

To refraise this just a bit...

When I am "driving" my C4 - there is no other engine that matters except for the one that makes your car go. The best engine is the one you got in your car. None other matters.

 

Joe90, The LT5 isn't that complicated. I can do the wires and plugs in about 1-2 hours and it's much easier than doing the wires/plugs on a LT1/LT4. It's just a DHOC engine. Any extra time or money spent modifying the engine will soon be forgotten as you cross that 6,000rpm mark.

As far as costs go to modify, you can add headers, port and polish the intake, a new TB, 4.10 rear, add a little tuning and you have 400rwhp. 400rwhp on an LT5 goes a little further then 400rhwp on a L98/LT1, just because of the wide torque band. And the car will idle just as smooth as ever.

For what it's worth, I think bottom end LT5 parts are a bit too pricy too. As far as I can tell tho this thread is not about what engine is best/most cost effective to modify, it's about the best C4 "factory" engine. I would think that the LT5 with 400hp, ultra smooth idle, clean burning (no EGR on 90-92 models), 30mph on the highway, and bullet proof design more than qualifies the engine for the title.

 

I'm sure i will get flamed to death for posting this but never really cared before so why start now.

I like the ZR-1 it is a cool car and helped the R&D people get their act together for the cars that came after like the Z06 ETC. I would also not mind having one and if i lived in a mansion with a huge 15 car heated arehouse for a garage i would probably own one. I also think it is the "best" stock engine put in a C4.

Having said that i have no desire to own one at this stage. There are several other corvettes (including and LT-4 Vert) i would rather have first. I like having a 91. The L98 feels great in any type of what a rational person would consider normal driving. It is fairly simple to work on. The aftermarket for it is huge. And it's cheap to do things to in comparison. I actually prefer the L98 to the Lt-1 just on simplicities sake. I would put up with the opti and all that other stuff to have an LT-4 as i can feel a real difference driving one of those. When i drive an LT-1 yes it is faster i jsut don't like the feel compared to my late L98. Mine feels faster than the LT-1 to me and i am not heavy into racing.

It is all about what you want. Me, i have to have a convertable so an LT5 isn't even in the picture anyway. Even if it was i'd rather have the piece of mind in having a regular SBC under the hood. I think SOME (notice not all) of you ZR-1 owners are WAY too defensive about you car. We here in the C4 section all respect the ZR-1. Like i said i like it and if i could own 15 cars at once it would probably be one of them but i can't so i don't. I really like the ZR-1 for the fact that it helped the engineers turn out great engines that came after it like the LS-1 and LS-6. and whatever beast they are putting in the C6. Why anyone would pay what they were asking for a ZR-1 new at the time bewilders me as i really didn't see the extra 75 ponies and then even the 94 and 95 with a few more horsies as being worth what they were asking. But now they are a good used car bargain. If i was in the market at the time (i wasn't even old enough to drive let alone afford one). I would have taken a base vette and think what you could do with even 10 G's let alone 30 as far as performance goes. Or i would have for 70 thousand or whatever looked at a used italian car probably.

I think a lto of other people at the time felt the same or i think the ZR-1 would have sold better. I know they allocated only a certain amount of engines for 93,94 and 95 for several reasons but i feel the overiding one was demand. When people saw they were getting 300 HP for about 1/2 the price of 375 or 405 i think that steered people away. 60K + was and is a lot of money and i think it was hard to justify for the vast majority of corvette buyers. Now a used one for 25K i can completely understand wanting to own a piece of corvette history. Good deal.

This is just my opinion and we are all entitiled to them. For me a 91 L98 vert made the most sense when i bought it. If i could turn back time i would have spent a little extra and bought an LT-4 vert. That is the ultimate stock C4 to me. I don't even like my car if i have to drive with a top on it which is why it sits at my house on sunny days like today when it is 40 degrees out. But when i can put the top down and cruise i could do that for days on end. It's all in what you like. Personally a 1996 LT-4 MN6 Vert is about as good as the C4 gets and would get my nod anyday regardless of price over the ZR-1 but again different strokes.

Having said that :cheers:


[Modified by robertpel9, 10:27 AM 11/18/2003]

 

In order: LT5 LT4 LT1 L98. Each has its strenghts and weakness.

 

I have avoided reading this post cause I feared it was gonna become a pissing contest....that said... *zip* :jester

Honestly... LT5/LT4/LT1/L98/L83. Based on stock form performance and power. Because each came in a C4 stock. I own a 86 L98 SO its not even the "good" later year L98s. But the fact is....its a vette and thus life is good. Secondly, I can make my L98 faster than your L##. There will always be someone faster. Love what you have. I do. And no one...can change that even if I would rather have an LT5 or whatever! I am sure all the L83 guys love this...as do the L98s...as do LT1s..and LT4s...and LT5s. Cause no matter who you are you are someone disagrees. Quit comparing...its a vette. Its a family...now lets go kill some ricers!

Ohh and to show no hard feelings...Jeffvette...I see you live in Seattle...you can take me for a ride in your LT5 anytime you want! :D
:cheers:

 

Robert, just a quick note. When the ZR-1 was introduced in 89-90 it was a 150hp increase over the L98. Also when it was introduced it was the best handling production car on the planet, including Italian exotics; all at a fraction of the price. Pretty substancial in my book. Lucky for us tho GM caught up in a few years and introduced the LT1 and narrowed the gap.

 

i hear ya and like i said i think the ZR-1 is a great car. It's just not for me. there are a lot of plusses and minuese to each C4. for me like i said i don't know how i could pick anything over an LT-4 Vert if we are talking stock automobiles. I think it is the very best the C4 had to offer. Now if they put a LT-5 in a vert perhaps i would think differently but honestly i'd rather have an L83 vert ( i know they don't exist) then a L(anything else) coupe. Verts rock. The question originally posed was what is the best engine that is the LT-5 if you take out all other variable. I think the best overall engine in a C4 though is the LT-4. And i am not biased because i own neither.

 

For my friends and I...money IS the thing that makes modifying hard :yesnod: If money didn't make things hard, I'd be in the 9s by now :cheers: :p:

 

#1 LT5
#2 LT4 (but #1 in my heart)
#3 LT1
#4 L98 (but #2 in my heart)
#5 L83

 

Personal hygiene aside...since when are the french "non-conformist"?

History shows they are real quick to conform to any army that crosses their border!

Keep wavin' that white flag, Mike. We'll be there for ya!

Oh...and the LT5 was the best available factory engine for the C4!

Made in Stillwater, in the Great State of (land-locked) Oklahoma, home of the Oklahoma State Cowboys, by Mercury Marine. Right next door to Kicker Audio. Does my heart good to know that every LT5 was built by "Red-necks"... just like me!!!!

And with ALL due respect to the O-State Cowboys...

GO SOONERS! :seeya

 

I like the LT5, but the LT4 felt just as fast to me...until 100+ that is :)

 

Nice comment. This is the C4 general section, not P&C. Keep it to yourself if it's not relevent to the conversation at hand.

 

Then I guess people should stop making comments all together... since its not part of the topic at hand :crazy: .. oops sorry I used a crazy face, its not part of the topic so I take it back. take a :chill: pill man, this place is also for fun.



[Modified by TheStef, 7:31 PM 11/24/2003]

 

LT5 is doing things the hard way. too expensive. the LS6 is the near perfection of the pushrod when price and weight and demensions come into play along with the almighty emissions

with that said, i still want an LT5 because its 10x "cooler" and LS6 wasn't in a C4. The Lt4 is probobly the best thing GM has done other than the LSx
series.

working on a DOHC motor is much more dificult. also gaskets, small stupid parts are much harder to find and much more rare. I can build you a bad butt LT1 top to bottom buying 1 peice at a time on ebay. LT5 is ehh. its rare, but you need to pay.

So if your budget is nealy unlimited, the LT5 is the obvious answer.

for us mere mortals, the LT4 is the poopie. its the perfect blend of LS1 and LT1


[Modified by TreyZ28, 11:36 PM 11/24/2003]

 

Maybe which engine sounds best at speed would be a side topic. All of the engines have their +'s etc.. The L98 looks great etc.. and doesn't have the opti-spark. I have an LT1, and it's fine, just a little low on torque for me.
I've been in a ZR1 with watson headers doing 135+ with a 26 year old fearless Marine at the wheel. You can't beat the sound of that motor when it unwinds. Regarding non-convertible and slamming the French...how about a nice uncorked ZR1 coupe with a cute French girl in the passenger seat. Then you can still have top down fun!! Do I lose some % rating for this one!! Just trying to keep everyone happy.

 

Best bang for the buck is the LT1