At times I regret lowering my LT4 (front & rear). Although it looks great & feels great, you just can't drive the car w/ reckless abandon like you could at stock height. I find myself driving more cautiously because of the lowering and that does take some of the fun out of the whole experience. My very recent addition of the QA1 shocks sure helped though...in fact, my regret level has been lowered significantly since I put these on.

might as well add in the open lid & k&n gig. makes for the fabulous trio of stupidity that this forum espoused just a couple years ago :lol:

then again, that's where the magic the search function here can bring up necessary dissention.

Great thread!
Should be required reading for all new C4 owners.

My philosophy is "stock engine/upgraded chassis".

That way I avoid major regrets....and so far my only regret was installing Edelbrock IAS shocks. Fortunately, they came off as easily as they went on and another Forum member was glad to buy them. :thumbs:

Larry
code5coupe

this is where many of us part ways. imo, stock performance is an embarrassment. thats L98 and LT1, unless of course someone got lucky with some steroid factory freak. the engine needs a major upgrade in today's enviornment. C4's should all have had 400hp right out of the factory. so i say to gm they balled us from behind, particularly the L98.

My CE Roadster was modified by the original owner, I am the second owner.

It has Corsa cat back exhaust, a chip, and a K&N, a CAGS bypass, and maybe a few other mods I am not yet aware of.

If it was up to me, I'd have left it stock, except maybe the CAGS bypass.

I would have considered showing the car someday, and these mods would hurt its collecter's value. They can be undone, but it would be expensive.

Whatever modest bump in performance the exhaust gives, I think I would have prefered the quiet of the stock LT4 pipes.

Bill

"Chips" don't apply to '96's. You may have had the PCM re-tuned...

I understand your desire for upper-echelon performance in today's environment, but you must remember that the L98's were awesome when they were new...which was 22 years ago!!
Even the LT1's and LT4's (and they are at least 11 years old) were incredibly powerful stock engines in their day.

To say we were somehow cheated when Chevy made these cars so many years ago is being unfair, in my view. I say, "Thank You, GM" for giving so many of us this fantastic, affordable machine.

Larry
code5coupe

Mods I regretted.......
 

Installing wings on the car.
Remorse beset me almost immediately;

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...e/rearwing.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3.../frontwing.jpg


But, I fired up the grill, and ate them the same day.
:thumbs:

:iagree:

No one ever beat my STOCK 1989 L98 automatic in numerous tests, so it was far from an embarrasment to drive.....in its day

Oh my LT4 has done pretty well also....

:cheers:

Rear spoiler (wing), it's coming off soon.

why do you regret this mod?

I put chrome valve covers on, but it just doesn't look right. Maybe some black composite ones are in my future...
My exhaust is also way too loud, but I'm working on that...

True duals to Monza mufflers. Removed the cats and it makes babies cry. It sounds great but it's too loud. If I give it any throttle when taking off, it sounds like I am going 60.

The Trans-Go shift kit is pretty stiff. That helps me not hit it very hard when I take off from a dead stop. :rofl:

The exahuast will be a good fix. I like the shift kit though.

How about the Vortec cold air intake that scoops the cold air right off the ground along with water that will hydro lock your $22,000.00 engine package? Oh and then taking it to a shop that has had it for 7 months? Guess the shop doesnt count as a mod though.

Yea,but it was fun while it lasted.

I've evaluated the mods I've done and they have all made for a better car for my driving. I never plan on entering into the ncrs events with this car. Different strokes for different folks. The engine mods include the usual, borla cat back, upgrade on the optispark, wires, chip, and air filter about cover it. I did a clutch last summer and kept the original style Dual mass flywheel, Im glad of that. Soon I will be installing new stiffer springs, bilsteins, and poly suspension bushings. My plan with this car is to upgrade with caution. I hope I dont regret the poly, some guys love em, some go back to rubber. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

How about some more info on this please? I have the front license ram air and it makes me nervous thinking about water getting in there. I have only heard of one other person, a C5, hydo locking the engine with a ram air intake.

Thanks :cheers:

Putting another layer of sound insulation (over the factory) on my 92 vert.

You get as much mileage out of these pics as I do from the wife's Toyota huh ;)


If I'd installed the Hypertech and not the previous owner I would have seriously regretted that.. the only thing I ever noticed was maybe a slight bump in torque around 2k rpm with less power up top and a generally rougher-feeling engine all round. It's an expensive fan-reprogrammer basically. For a manual car already tuned very well, definitely not worth the 400 bucks these things go for anyway.

This is a great thread. I need to replace the exhaust system on my '90 coupe, and have been debating just replacing everything w/ stock parts to headers and true duals. Sometimes I think, just leave it stock, other times, go for it. So I am torn, I don't want to waste money, and I am afraid that if I want to sell the car later, having headers will make it harder to sell.

Sorry if this is a hijack.