Still farily new to C-5 ownership and my wife and I just got back from a 3,200 mile trip around the midwest in our '98. What a great car - has 95k miles and performed flawlessly throughout the journey. Ran a steady 190 degrees the entire time and didn't burn even an ounce of oil - A lot of people we talked to thought was a bad idea to take a vette on such a trip but we found it to be comfortable (has C-6 Seats which helped) and plenty of room to store all we needed (inluding the wife's shoes). My only small complaint would be road noise is significant in these cars so will eventually put some sound deadener in floor to help with that. Now for my question:

Clutch seems to be working fine but noticed that if you don't depress it for 50 miles or so the first time you do go to press the pedal there is a noticeably firmer feel to the pedal. Immediately after pressing it one time it will operate with ease until the next time you don't use for 30 min. or so. This would be when I'm in 6th gear cruising down the highway for extended time and need to downshift.
Is this normal or is something going out?

 

Sounds like a time for the "Ranger Cleaning Protocol" Check out the video...very easy to do and even if it doesn't cure your problem it is the first step to try to fix it, plus regardless you should be doing this as a monthly maintenance just like changing your oil.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-z...-and-cure.html

 

100% on the mark. Change the fluid and flush it till you get clear ne clutch fluid out of the bleed port.

BC

 

You, sir, just made my day.

 

Also, for the road noise, consider different tires. Michelin PS/2 are pretty quiet.

 

Thanks everyone for the assistance and pointing me in the right direction. I like it when I can fix something myself and inexpensively is even better. Heee-haw!

The car currently has Falken tires - good to know that Michelin's run quiet. Noise is not too bad on a good ashphalt road but noticed that the roads which appear to have a higher concrete content in the aggregate produce a LOT of noise.

Trios - I'm glad you found some unintended humor in the verbiage (i had to re-read what I said to get it).

 

You can take steps to minimize the noise i.e. insulation, different tires, but the reality is, the car sits 6 inches off the ground, is made of plastic, and has performance tires with ~2 inch sidewalls....don't set your expectations too high.