prinzSD455

Depends how much the car means to the owner. In my case I bought the car three years ago from my dad who passed away from lung cancer a couple of months ago. In my case it means more to me to keep my vette in remembrance of my father, so spending money to maintain it is worth it to me.

RedLS1GTO

First, as somebody else said, get a new mechanic. No way a tune should be even remotely close to $1k.

Too bad those old beer cans will absolutely destroy the LT4 in every way possible.


To the original question, the answer is that you stop spending when you want to. I would venture a guess that if I started adding up all of the previous owner's recipts as well as mine that there is well over $30-$40k wrapped up in my 96 (on top of the car itself). Could it ever be sold for that? Not a chance in hell, but I don't regret one bit of it and I doubt that the previous owners do either.

dizwiz24

You need to instead ask yourself at what $$ level would you stop enjoying your c4 as much... Whatever that answer is, its a lot.

Ive seen pictures of your car its beautiful.

C6's are a dime a dozen especially where you are at in florida.

Everyone is driving one down there. Any fool and his money can go out and get one (at a good deal).

They arent making c4's anymore. They are the rarity (at least ones in good shape).

The C5/6 crowd pissed me off so much in CFOT that I dont want to be associated with those guys. i was tired of them bringing my car into a discussion where they didnt agree with an unrelated viewpoint I held.

yes, my c4 will destroy your z06 whats your point?

I encourage you to look to people like, AKS Racing, who has a 9.3 second 1/4 mile supercharged c4.

Now...if I wanted a DD with trunk space and storage room, maybe id consider c6.

Could you imagine what your c4 could do if you strapped in a boosted LSx? talk about a literbike beater.

For my goals a highly mod'd c4 is the car for me. Its like strapping into a rocket ship. Nothing beats the feel of this thing on southeastern ohio roads (which means...no traffic, curves, hills, 55 MPH speed limits)....

dizwiz24

:raise BS Flag.

N/A yes you are right. For a lightweight high compression road race motor, I agree with you.

I dont agree with you if you are talking boost. Well unless you are talking about someone who swaps in an iron block LSx truck motors, you will make similar power from a boosted LTx than an LSx.

Why?

steel block (the aluminum block guys start to loose HP due to 'block flex' beyond a certain level. Usually in the 700rwhp+ range)

extra head bolt around each cylinder.


Reverse flow cooling.

aftermarket head castings such as AI ported trickflows and comp. ported AFR's. Sure they arent as good, but they close the gap to LSx heads which is the place where the LSx magic is. Its not anywhere else.

Why dont we see a lot of 900 rwhp+ ltx's here?

We've lost a lot of our cowboys. lcvette, for reasons unknown to me, built a 900 rwhp turbo ltx, only to immediately tear it down and sell all the parts.

Now, if you go to camaroz28.com, you will find more guys pushing the envelope of LTx performance.

You cant tell me a 7500 RPM camm'd solid roller 396 LTx pushing 22 psi boost meth injected is going to get shut down by a bunch of LSx's. I dont see it happening. Both are good motors.

Now, the reason why there are SO many guys making insane power in the LSx is because there is such incredible aftermarket support. At good price too.

I wish I had an LSx for this reason.

However, no way would it be worth doing a swap for my eventual goals. I believe the LTx will get me literbike beating performance potential - just like the LSx.

dizwiz24

I cant agree more. So I buy a late model C4 and supercharge have it supercharged for half of what I put into a used C6?

I could have a dumb car payment every month on a C6, but do I want one? No.

Id much rather mod because I got to put the money into the car's systems where I wanted to vs. what GM's engineering and marketing team *thinks* I want.

i want literbike beating potential and gm cant deliver that to me.

RedLS1GTO

For the .000001% of people who are building a boosted 1000hp drag race only car that uses exactly ZERO stock engine parts (even the block will have work done to it), sure, the iron block is better.

For the other 99.999999% of applications, the LSX is lightyears ahead of the LTX.

EDIT:
Not to mention, there are a LOT of 9 second LSX cars out there, including forum member robz with his N/A 388ci LSX in a C5Z going a confirmed and documented 9.339@142.57.

From the C5Z06 fast times thread:
Note how many of them are stock displacement, and there are at least 3 cars in the 9s with the complete stock longblock.

PLRX

That is a fact but, we have some knuckleheads in here.

Elrick

I am wondering how much gain you are going to get from a "good"dyno tune. Does $600 bucks justify the gain. I just sold my 86 and bought a 96 lt4. In the end it cost me about 2k out of pocket but the difference is unbelievable. you can't bolt on or dyno in this kind of performance gain and it wasn't that much money. If you can't afford the c6 then look for lt4 and spend the money modding that. Mine is pretty much and once I get it looking good and driving great maybe I will think about some performance mods but I think you would love the difference. I do have a dyno slip from the previous owner and it was 352 hp. The mods that were done were an SLP cold air intake, SLP cat back exhaust, granatelli MAF, some expensive plug wires and plugs, hypertech program. I really don't much about mods, dyno's or what it takes to get a really fast car but I can say that the l98 to the lt4 is a great upgrade worth considering if you want to stay in a c4 and not break the bank. good luck

cv67

With the same mods, yes every time. They are THAT good.
Those blocks and cranks can take way more boost and abuse than the Gen 1 or LTx blocks can.

At that power level doesnt really matter, most cars with 450+ at the tire have a hard time hooking it up anyway.

1963SS

I was only kidding about the Old Milwaukee cans. Really didn't mean to start a fight. This IS the LT1-LT4 forum and I was just defending our marque.

Of course the LS engines make more power. The LS1 made marginally more power than an LT4. The LS2 did better and all the way up to the LS7 champ. The LTx engines did save Chevrolet from worldwide ridicule and did make some serious power for a pushrod engine.

But, since this is America and the land of the free and the home of the bullheaded I personally like the looks of the LTx engines better. I also think a 1948 Harley Panhead is the best looking engine ever put on 2 wheels. It's technology is a little dated also but it's still pretty.

I like clean unobstructed valve covers. The LS guys hang coil packs all over them. I like the look of the LT style plenum and streamlined dual throttle body. The LS engines have all these curly-cue runners that remind me of a Jamaican drug dealer's dreadlocks or a confused plate of pasta. Not for me but thanks anyways.

I would like to put a LS style PCM on my LT cars and will probably attempt it this winter. I know FAST is great but the LS will do all the same stuff. But then again, that's just IMHO.

yakmastermax

How do I know if my car has hidden HP to unlock with a tune? lol
Is it really just as simple as dataloging?

dizwiz24

Insults aside...

what makes the LSx better:

1. heads
2. pcm (of course you can easily replace your stock computer with a DFI or something like that)
3. intake
4. aftermarket support

nothing more.

the heads and pcm can be had in the LTx aftermarket world.

So what if a blown LSx makes 50 rwhp more than me. Its going to come down to gears, driving, tires, the car, driveline, weight, etc as to who's going to win the race.

As for LT1's not being reliable.. please spare me. Go read up about aluminum block flex sapping away horsepower.

Im not sure why there is this belief that the lsx is God. Yes, in its stock form its better. Heck, maybe youd spend less money mod'ding it.

Its what 'fits' in my 93 and will bring me to the point of not getting enough traction anyhow somedays so whats really the point ?

LKN M3

PS, sorry to hear about your dad.

Dixiecrat

If you LOVE your car money is not the concern !

Strick

I think it's all been said here. I'm one of the guys that likes the feel of the C4 and mine is part of my estate. Look at me, I'm changing my LT1 to an LT4 this winter. Cost.......I've been collecting parts and making deals and enjoying it all. I love making the fun pedal more fun. Owning a C4 you either love it or want to sell it. It's like flying, some love it some hate it. One more...baseball you win some , you lose some, and some get rained out. With the C4 if you don't totally love it move on and don't touch it.

prinzSD455

thank you.

L82shark

well played... I love it!!!