quickpix

I recently bought a '93 C4 Artic White/Torch Red convertible LT1. I really love this car and everything about it from its looks to its performance. What is it about the C4 that so many "Vette" owners put down and razz it? Why such a dislike for the C4's? I can't figure it out! Can someone please enlighten me? Thanks and please be honest! ;-}

John A. Marker

It is more of a generation thing. C5, C6 and C7 owners have more money into their cars and newer technology. It is the little kid syndrome....I have more than you. Prior to the C4 your engine was basically old school moving up to big blocks and larger carburetors. Also the beginning of the generation was at the height of our great government EPA chocking HP. If you go back to past generations you will find solid rear axles, manual steering and many other things that made them a beast to drive.

But it was also the C4 generation that brought in fuel injection that was computer controlled as were many of the functions. The C4 was the basic building block and platform for the future generations and improvements. Each generation a marked improvement right out the showroom door. The new C7 is the current peak of the evolution and is an unbelievable car in handling and power when you just get in and turn the key.

Shake off the critics. You will find just as many if not more non-Corvette owners that will stare and admire our cars and would give their right arm to be driving a C4.

MyOtherCar

Look at it this way, when the C10 comes out, all the C8, C9 and C10 owners will be throwing stones at the C7's. By that time the C4's will be classics in the dustbowl of automobilia.

As mentioned, it is just people looking down their collective noses at others. No sweat, because what comes around goes around

corvetteronw

I have been around long enough to see this happen to each generation. One of the docs I used to work with traded in his 54 on a new 82. If I recall he only got about $3,000 for it.
Guess which car is worth more now?
High school friend only got $700 for his 1957 283 base with 3-speed stick shift around 1971. No one wanted it!

ccrazor

One thing I learned back when I first got my C4, a lot of the nay sayers knew nothing about the C4. They believed people that had never driven a C4, because it wasn't new it must be garbage.. The 84 takes a lot of this abuse, and I own one, if you check, the 84 was ahead of its time compared to the majority of other makes.. This was maintained with every other year of the production run.. The one thing that I ask them is what they drive, and then ask them what mileage they get.. I have on one occasion got just over 30 MPG with my 84, but that was on a rainy when I had to behave.. Calculated between fill ups, not by gauges.. The only thing I think about this, is that I bought the car because I liked it and I don't car what some moron thinks about it..

JD Shredds

It's not really different with most cars, to be honest. Every car out there has people who diss on it. The C4 is just in that perfect window to be the red-headed stepchild. But that time will pass, the C4 value will start rising and people will realize what a great classic car it is. Look at it this way: It will be the first classic of the "modern" Corvettes. It's one of the most important gens in the history of Corvette.

If another Corvette owner is dissing on your C4, he either has no appreciation for Corvettes as a whole, or his head is too far up his own you-know-what. Or a little of both. True Corvette enthusiasts love them all, even if they "pick favorites" as we naturally do (and no need to point out the most common favorite in this sector of the forum lol).

Love your Corvette for your own enjoyment and know that many, many other Corvette owners will appreciate it too. And a hell of a lot of the general population, too. Haters gonna hate.

cessnaguy1965

I too, can achieve almost 30 mpg with my 94 6-speed coupe. I tell everyone that it is the worlds sexiest economy car. And it beats the crap outta being seen in a Prius.

65Z01

When the C5 was new it got a lot of ribbing about it's "big azz", it's "extra wide seats" and such. If the "critics" have owned a C5 their ears may just be a little sore.

If a Vette owner is a real "car guy" you won't hear any denigration of the C4. Remember that introduction of the '84 Vette finally put Corvette in very good standing with the fine performance cars of Europe.
If you look at the skid pad numbers of the latest Vette how much better are they than those of the '84, i.e. the first C4 was indeed a "revolution" in handling.

Scooter 94

Diss away. I don't care. Love my C4.

Guess it's only natural some folks buy a Corvette with the intention of impressing others. I feel sorry for folks like that whose self-esteem is apparently small enough to be improved by a 3000 lb. hunk of aluminum and plastic

Oldballs65

I hear ya bro. I'm the proud owner of a '96 LT4 6 speed. I git 26 mpg at 70mph. (My '84 944 couldn't do that-sold!) I got this car cuz I love Corvettes. I got it cuz I like it n don't care what snooty haters think...it's what I think bout my car that counts.

It's my first Vette, but def not my last. Love yer C4 fellas n it'll love ya back! I git nuthin but compliments (even from cops) on it...damn...I think I'm gonna cry.

Side note: my Porsche 944 was the red head stepchild in Porsche circles too...often called the 'other' Porsche or notta 'true' Porsche by enthusiasts (usually 911 purists) because its front engine/rear transaxle n not air cooled. Guess what? The 911 ain't the first model Ferdinand made so the 911 ain't so pure, just most liked. 944 also brought the Marque outta bankruptcy!

rocknroller

Nothing wrong with the C4, if you want a sports car, it is an INCREDIBLE value. The design is beautiful.

Most people who "diss" it, are in their little cliques, like High School, and tend to go along with the cool crowd.

In fact, the only dissing of the C4 I see is on this forum. I've yet to have someone say anything negative while standing next to me. Quite the opposite actually.

Goldcylon

The funny thing is I never diss another generation. However, you will always find Richards and AZZHATs reguardless of the community you belong in. Ignore them

canuck buick

I believe it is because they are so similar to the firebirds an Camaros of their generation and the lack of curves from the c3 period, which gives us a lotta car for the buck.

corvette Stu

I love it when the C5 and C6's pull up next to me at the track and they can't shift there 6 speeds worth a $hit and when they barely bet me or lose. They shake there heads and ask me why ? I just usually at them because there usually the ones who look down at the C4

corvette Stu

So do you think the same thing will happen 20 to 30 years from now when they say the C7 are so similar to the new Camaro ?

hcbph

I've had a 94 T-Bird for close to 20 years and have heard a lot of the comparable on that one also. When I've heard something like that, I usually just tell them they'll never know what they are missing and let it fall by the wayside. It's their loss, not yours that they're not smart enough to know a good thing when it bites them in their butt.

H P Bushrod

Who cares what the others think about the C4. If you like it (like I do), that's all that matters.

howardjm

I own 3 C4's and think the other generation owners talk smack and look down at the C4. I went to a Corvette show and the sign for the C4's stated that they are starter Corvettes. I think the C4 will increase in value and the C5 will be at the current C4 status.
Also I did belong to a Corvette club and dropped out after 1 yr. We were collecting Bunnies for the childrens hospital and I hade my 89 there, the oldest car on the lot. The owners of the C5's and C6's of the club would not even acknowledge I was there. They all seemed stuck up as HELL!. Also we did track laps on a NASCAR track and I led the pack with my 89 and my son-in-law was driving my 92. I asked the other C5 and C6 owners how it felt to be beat by a C4.

Paul Workman

This thread has come around more times that a carousel pony!

You long term C4 guys, see if this about sums it up:

1. Snobbery: Probably the most prevalent cause - and if you think it is limited to one of the Corvette generations, you should hear the snobbery from the Ferrari or Porsche crowd - that includes ALL Corvettes, new and old! Fuggum.
   
2. Piling on: It doesn't require any actual knowledge to diss something. As long as the one doing the dissing repeats what he believes some other "knowledgeable expert" says, then he's 'golden'. (Same people like to hear their themselves talk. Ever notice that?)
   
3. Ride quality: The early C4 was the first production car in the US to pull 1G on the skid pad. But, (according to on of Dave McLellan's books on the C4) development tests were conducted on test tracks and regions of the country where weather was not an issue. This, turned out to be a mistake, especially on the early C4s, when customers began driving their C4s on the pot-hole riddled streets of the northeast, especially. AND, because of the harshness, there was a lot of problems with dash plastic fasteners loosening up to where squeaks and rattles developed which gave way to (I think) most of the dissing and "hoopty" aspect. This issue was successfully addressed in the later mo C4s, but the reputation of being a hash, squeaky ride had stained the C4s regardless of year or model.
   
4. Cabin dimensions: The average person's height and weight has evolved toward taller, bigger people. The story Dave tells goes that manikins initially used to establish cabin dimensions including leg room and seats were from an earlier era (read: the average person was shorter/lighter). The die was cast, and although the seats and some minor refinements followed, the complaints regarding leg room and seats being too narrow persisted until the end of the C4 run/beginning of the C5 era.
   
5. Horsepower: HP was just beginning to creep out of the doldrums resulting from unleaded fuels and EPA requirements. So, by comparison to Vettes 25-30 years hence, even family grocery getters post hp numbers higher than the early C4s (especially). However, compared to any of the competition of the time, Corvette compared very well. In fact the SCCA eliminated Corvette from their showroom class race competitions because Corvette was always the winner. (This lead to the Corvette Challenge series cars that stood apart from the SCCA - barring nobody from competing: a proud moment in history for the C4 Corvette among all commer sports cars!

Improvements during the 80s in some of these issues engine performance most of all, didn't evolve as quickly at Corvette as they did in Europe. Consequently a gap between the European rivals and Corvette continued to widen in the 80s. But, that was about to change.

Long story short, a select group of engineers within Chevrolet/Corvette set a goal to build a world beater Corvette that could beat the best in class of what Europe was building at the time. Lotus, recently acquired for a time, was charged with building an entirely new, purpose-built (race) engine for the Corvette. And, because of their unique experience with designing and building all-aluminum motors - designed to run at full throttle most of the time, Mercury Marine was given the contract to build the new Lotus DOHC, 4-valve/cylinder design, aka the LT5, and the ZR-1 was born.

It's no secret that, as Dave McLellan said at one of the Bowling Green gatherings; "The LT5/ZR-1 stuck a finger in a lot of GM people's eyes!" Or, as he also says (of the LT5), 'it got GM Powertrain off their (hands) to inspire them to come up with a more competitive design. (The LT1/4 were inspired by the LT5 performance, and the LSx and Northstar motor shares significant DNA with the LT5 architecture.

The C3 had over-run its course, and sales put the entire Corvette line in jeopardy. However, it was the long awaited C4 that saved Corvette, in the early 80s; without which Corvette production might well have ended.

One more thought: For all of those that look back 25-30 years to bash the Corvette, I would venture to say most of them have neither driven, much less owned a Corvette, AND the C4 has more capability than 90% of those mouthy idiots can appreciate.

So...Enjoy your Corvette. Ain't nuttin like um!

rsmith4604

Quickpix........My first vette....having fun with it so far. It came with a hardtop, but it's same vette you have. I don't care what anybody else says...I'm having fun and it's all I could afford. It's a money thing. Just enjoy it and remember it won't be our last vette.....there will be others.