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Pretty much stock 97 except for the wheels. Now for the headlights, they are weak at best compared to the new technology 20 years later.
I'm thinking it's worth the upgrade considering the safety issue and the deer runs our new roads cut through. I do like driving at night.
I'd like to consider my car stock (and I kept the wagon wheels just in case), I would still consider my car stock with new an improved headlights? Would you agree?
Some stock items are simply not that good, the headlights being among them. You can always keep the old parts if you find a buyer who is religious about "stock".
Other not so good items (given today's technology): the electronics (no screen for navigation) and the shifter. Don't think twice about upgrading. To me, "stock" is important when it comes to the engine: has someone tweaked it or added items to make the car go faster? That can be wonderful, but it can also indicate that the car has been stressed. "Stock" is insurance against that stress.
As others have said many times, this is not a collector's car, so stock has no meaning regarding collectibility.
Pretty much stock 97 except for the wheels. Now for the headlights, they are weak at best compared to the new technology 20 years later.
I'm thinking it's worth the upgrade considering the safety issue and the deer runs our new roads cut through. I do like driving at night.
I'd like to consider my car stock (and I kept the wagon wheels just in case), I would still consider my car stock with new an improved headlights? Would you agree?
Like you, I focus on keeping my C5 stock as much as possible. But unlike you I do not like driving at night in a car that many drivers have a hard time seeing in the daylight. So I have taken a passive approach to headlight upgrade for those rare times I have to drive at night. I switched to brighter bulbs in both high and low beams (Sylvania Silverstar ULTRA) and installed Radioflyer H-4 harness that allows low beams on when the high beams are used. Probably not as good as the aftermarket lighting now available but it meets my needs.
I am just curious and don't mean this to offend, but what is the reason you want to keep it as close to stock as possible?
Just not into all the modifications that others like to do. But I enjoy others concepts of what they want to do with their cars visually and mechanically. Me, I like the way GM styled the car with no wings/low presence wheels/ plus the HP is all I can handle on my 04 vert at my young age of 74. I will/do replace worn/broken parts with better after market stuff that this forum and my go-to mechanic agrees with.
Just not into all the modifications that others like to do. But I enjoy others concepts of what they want to do with their cars visually and mechanically. Me, I like the way GM styled the car with no wings/low presence wheels/ plus the HP is all I can handle on my 04 vert at my young age of 74. I will/do replace worn/broken parts with better after market stuff that this forum and my go-to mechanic agrees with.
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Technically if you change something it is not stock anymore. But upgrading the lighting system is a popular and good mod to do for safety reasons. If you go with something that still utilizes the pop up feature of the lights, then I’d say it’s a good move. I just like the pop-ups.
I like the look of the C5 with no headlights showing, but at night I wasn't crazy about the frog-eyes look of the lights. I went with these and am happy with the look and the light. The low beams, quite honestly, are all the light you would ever need. The high beams are ridiculously bright.
Just not into all the modifications that others like to do. But I enjoy others concepts of what they want to do with their cars visually and mechanically. Me, I like the way GM styled the car with no wings/low presence wheels/ plus the HP is all I can handle on my 04 vert at my young age of 74. I will/do replace worn/broken parts with better after market stuff that this forum and my go-to mechanic agrees with.
NFL:
Ok, well I can understand that. I think the light upgrade is a good idea, the older I get the harder it is to see when driving at night and a c5's stock headlights are just not that bright. I was out last night with it to take my lovely fiance' out to eat and I had trouble seeing some corners I needed to turn at where it was not very well lit on unmarked asphalt. I kind of made the decision last night that a good headlight upgrade is warranted.
I don't really use the term "mods", rather I personalized my 2004 (original owner) to my liking with what I consider "improvements" that make the car more pleasurable, and in the case of my bi-xenon, HID projector headlights, safer.
The OEM halogen lighting is based on 1997 design. A lot has changed in the automotive industry over the past 20 years with improved lighting being one of those areas.
I never plan to sell my C5 vert even after I add newer Corvettes, however I have kept all of my original OEM parts in the case I ever choose to return to stock, although I doubt that would ever happen. Plus, I don't worry about the "Stock Police" showing up at my door.
Technically if you change something it is not stock anymore. But upgrading the lighting system is a popular and good mod to do for safety reasons. If you go with something that still utilizes the pop up feature of the lights, then I’d say it’s a good move. I just like the pop-ups.
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