zachalyse

Selling my 91 and looking to move up a few years. What do you guys think is the best year of the C4 and why?

Nathan Plemons

92 of course! :yesnod:

Seriously there are a lot of things I like about the 92, although there are some drawbacks to it as well.

IMHO:

92 has the better steering wheel, same as your 91, no the later 2 support style.

92 has the better seats, again like your 91, no "fat man" seats, these support you better for manuevering

92 has the same size tires all the way around. Although this was an option in later years it was standard in 92. This lets you at least rotate front to rear, extending tire life.

92 does not have a passenger side air bag. This means that it actually has a glove compartment. Storage space is a premium in these cars as it is anyway.

92 had the earlier style ZF 6-spd tranny. I'm not sure what year they changed but later models don't have straight cut gears, they are significantly weaker.

92 still has the figher pilot cockpit dash. Later years it is flatter, I guess so the passenger can mess with the A/C / radio controls. It's just a looks thing.

Drawbacks:
92 is the first year of the LT1. Although it doesn't have any major "quirks" per say it's the heaviest of the LT1 cars.

92 has the earlier style optispark distributor. I'm still convinced that these are every bit as reliable as the newer style, they just cost more to replace if you have to.

92 does not have map pockets in the doors. They created these after they did away with the glove box.

92 had a double sided belt which although very quiet and doesn't slip is costly and a dealer only item.

In general the best advice would be the buy the newest one you can afford. If you really like your 91 then a 92 is basically the same thing with an LT1. If you want something that looks and feels a little different then go with a 94+

What I really want would be to get a 93 ZR-1. It had the 405 HP engine, still had the good steering wheel, seats, and glove box. Tire size isn't an issue because ZR-1's had different wheels out back anyway.


[Modified by Nathan Plemons, 7:29 AM 3/26/2004]

QuikZilver

92 and 93 have a lot in common. There are some differences:
1. Later 93's have the single sided belt.
2. Slight differences in valve train assembly, no increase in hp, but 10 extra ft./lbs. of torque.
3. Quieter valve train assembly thanks to new valve covers.
4. Different machining process on wheels.
A lot of the answers you are going to get will show those of us with the LT1 generation cars being very fond of our year. If you would have done a poll, you would have gotten a voting based on how many owners of a certain year answer the poll.
As for the 94-96 years:
94: Change in seat design. Don't hug you as well as the previous seats. Map pockets added to doors. Passenger side air bag added. Dash design changed, softening the cockpit feel of the 90-93 models. White lettering instead of amber on gauges and interior components. Engine is carried over with new computer which requires flashing instead of prom programming.
95: Change to "gills". Last year for OBDI on board computer system.
96: Around turn signals is now body color instead of flat black. LT4 makes its appearance. Collectors Edition and Grand Sport special editions are offered. OBDII makes its appearance.
Guys/Gals with the 94-96 will know more about the changes that were made to improve their year over the previous years.

Good luck and hopefully welcome to the LT1/4 models!

:cheers:

YellowYbody

Well 96 is the best as there were improvemnets every year. 94 had the most one year improvements.heres which each year has over the 92.

93, Quieter engine operation (not exhaust sound) was made by a new heat sheild, plastic isolated valve covers. The exhaust lobes on the cam were reprofiled which bumped torque up to 340 lb ft.

94, Slighlty redesigned interior that gets rid of the grey interior trim, new door panels and new seat, I believe the 94-96 sport seats are the best looking C4 seats. Auto Transmission is electronically controlled for better shifts, fuel injection went sequential which give you better mileage, lower emmissions, driver express down window, more powerful ignition, passenger airbag was added, leather was standard, convertibles got a glass rear window, A/C went to R-134,

95, Stronger connecting rods, stronger seat stitching, trans temp was added to instrument display, Standeard brakes were upgraded to ZR1 13 inch rotors, new fuel injectors reduced leakage after shut off, stronger torque converter, new clutch controls (auto) for smoother shifts,

96 new optional engine LT4 was availiable 330 hp (rated) only avail with 6-speed, LT1 avail only with auto, new throttle body, Z51 returns, FX3 is improved, computer goes from 60 to 140 trouble codes, collector edition and GrandSport models avail.

These are the major improvements, each year had more but these are the most significant. As for better looking interior thats up to you as it is your car, I pesonally like the 94-96 interior myself, I think the guages had yellow needles 92-93 and orange 94-96. Hope this helps. I have a 94 by the way, and mostly wish I had the bigger brakes.

bizaro

I love my 93 :cheers:

DarkRed95

A lot of good info here maybe this will help:

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/4310/vetfacts.htm

As a general rule newer is better. Good Luck and keep us posted.

runner140*

Improvements were made each and every year. Go with the 96
if the price is right. :rolleyes:

Darkmke

When I was looking I checked into all the 92-96's that I found. As I drove and looked at them I realized that I liked the newer (94-96 interior). I ended up getting a 95 an I'm very happy with it. The upgraded brakes did play a little into that :steering:

I would alway try and get as "new" as you can. I feel the last year a car is produced tends to be the best since they "fixed" everything they were going to. :jester

VR'92

well. 92 is the best year of course! :D

YellowYbody

OOPs! forgot that in 95 the optispark became vented, which kept the inside of it dry. A vacuum line from the manifold kept water from getting in, but realize that it comes down to the optispark no matter what year is just a distributor and needs to be replaced like any cap and rotor. Just more expensive and harder to get to. :banghead:

GS 163

Had a 94 LT1, now have a 96 LT4. Wouldnt have it any other way. :cool: :cheers:

bogus

Nathan's reply is quite accurate.

A few points of clarification:

1) The ZF was weakend... it was also made here. In 1994, GM took over construction and quited it down some. To quiet it, they changed the cut on the gears. They are not straight cuts, either way, it's just that the angle was changed to make them less whiny.

2) The dbl sided belt on the 92 to E93 is a real PITA. But, for about $75.00, you can convert over to a single sided belt. I don't believe there is a sound difference.

3) The BEST Corvette of the period is the 94/95 ZR1. The later motors had more power, the original ZF and the updated interior (if you prefer the look).

Personally, I prefer the earlier dash and seats.

The LT1 engine was modified in 1993 for some more torque... it was a camshaft change.

Lone Ranger

1995 because they are the most evolved C4 while still being OBDI logic. '96 may be more evolved but are OBDII, which can be harder to tune. With OBDI you can tune your PCM yourself with a cable, laptop, and Tunercat software, and you can also scan it yourself with Datamaster software. This can be done with OBDII (96+) but it is easier and less expensive on an OBDI car. You can convert a '96 to OBDI though, the main difference is under OBDI it will ignore the crankshaft position sensor's output.

anjdog2003

95 six speed.


:thumbs:

GR8FUL1

I like my 96. I would look at the different yrs and pick the one you like best.

FoolCrzy

1996 LT4!

:steering:

redwing76

C-4's 91 and 96. Thats the top of both models.
From a everyday operating point of view I'd stick with the L-98.
The LT-1 is an upgrade but it has built problems some of which were fixed in the 95 and later cars.

mitymek

i would say the 96 lt4 car as an obvious no brainer choice between those years.
theres a problem tho.
they are priced very closely to the 97 c5s.
and i personally would have to take a good hard look at that major leap.
if you know c5s well and arent interested in them then its the 96 lt4 cars.
if bang for the buck is a factor 92-93 c4 vettes are THE best bang for the buck of any sports car on the market today imho :yesnod:
what i wish my 92 had that came on newer ones?
1- pke-i just cant beleive that option isnt on every vehicle made today.
first introduced by gm on the 93 c4.
2- the upgraded cd unit that plays cdr media.think as early as 93 were better.
the 92 unit can be sent out and upgraded btw.
3-computer controlled transmission shifting instead of cable-beleive 94 was first for that
4-my engine does have ticky noises when standing next to it with the hood up.i blame it on the fuel rails but ive read the 93 cam exhaust lobe was rounded on the backside to make it less of radical drop,reducing noise.(torque increase was supposedly an unexpected benefit also),plastic valve covers were used but personaly i dont beleive it helped noise,just cheaper and lighter-give me the aluminum ones anyday over plastic.
93 used a sandwiched heat shielding on the manifods which sounds like a plus,would like to check those out.
thats about all i can think of so far.
there was some exhaust manifold differences you may want to check into also.
theyre all great cars :cheers: