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I voted for exhaust. The first thing I did 28 years ago was replace the Air box. Highly restrictive. When the C5 first came out every review of the car was, remove and replace the air box.
Few details on it would help us. What's done to the car already? Auto or Manual?
Manual cars the first thing to do is a Skip Shift Bypass/Delete, Short Shifter.
If it's completely stock regardless of Auto or Manual a Throttle Body Bypass is cheap and can be done with the Coolant Hoses on the car just need a 1/4" dual brass barb to put inline. A Tune on a stock car wakes them up, they are mild from the Factory. Tune helps the Auto cars quite well then again that depends on the Tuner.
My vote is a Tune. All kinds of things you can do just a matter of how much you know about these cars and LS Engines.
Welcome and thank you for sharing the JOY and the priceless expression on your face of buying your first corvette with us. You did the right thing which is join this forum. Do not forget to wave to other corvette owners
I voted for exhaust. The first thing I did 28 years ago was replace the Air box. Highly restrictive. When the C5 first came out every review of the car was, remove and replace the air box.
There's ways around that Air Box, cut the baffles out.
Post #12 of this thread here:
First unless it is documented get in change all fluids and upgrade any worn parts like the brakes, shocks,Belts, sway bar links etc. Plugs and wires and all filters should be changed.
Then drive it and think about the mods then. Make sure you have the car updated and it is as reliable as you hope before pumping money into mods when other things may be more greatly needed.
There is always time for mods later.
Often first mods are tires and wheels as many cars have old tires.
Welcome to the forum! Congrats on your new C5! Rather than a mod, your first thing should be to make sure the car is taken care of. Do you have the service history for the car? If not the first thing should be to swap all the fluids. What is the date code on the tires? If they're more than 6 years old, you need to replace them regardless of current tread depth. Recommended tires will vary depending on how you plan to use the car. That brings me to my questions. What mods have been done to the car? How do you plan to use the car? What are your goals? Is it a manual or automatic? How much mileage does it have? You want to have a plan before you start throwing money into mods. There's a ton of excellent advice available here, but we need information in order to advise you properly. I hope that you enjoy the car for many years to come, and don't forget to SAVE THE WAVE!
Last edited by MWWarlord; Mar 25, 2026 at 02:33 PM.
I voted seats because they completely change the driving perspective that you feel each time you sit. Also c7 seats keep rising in cost so best to get them now instead of later when they'll cost even more
@Virtual IP congrats on the new C5 and if you have some extra spending coin left over, there are a few c7 "competition" seats that are currently available to buy on eBay...they just cost a lot