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Some of the points made in the article are valid, but in the end, my C5 vert has been a great car since the day I drove it off the dealership floor in 2004. I’m the original owner, it was my first Corvette, and I have improved it and customized to my liking. Even though I added my 2019 C7 Z06, I still drive it on a regular basis. It’s not the fire breathing beast like the C7Z, but it’s a great driving car that even by today’s automotive standards, is very light and quick off the line.
I thought about selling it or trading it a few times over the years, but in the end I’ve invested too much sweat equity into customizing it to let it go. I know what it’s worth and I know what it’s not worth. I’m not a boomer and I don’t drive it to impress people although I still get a steady flow of “Nice Corvette” comments. The funny thing is that it has become my unofficial golf cart as my cart bag fits perfectly in the C5 trunk vs. sliding around the rear hatch area of my C7Z coupe. Here are a couple photos of it in its natural habitat - golf course parking lots.
My c5 is a bit of a “fire breather” but at the expense of a filled trash can. Pretty much everything on the car is BARELY good for stock levels of any metric.
You’ve a nice enough looking C5 but it kinda proves the point - the design has a hard time standing on its own. It’s reliant on ‘chintz’ to get a second look or even much past a glance.
The viper for sake of argument requires ZERO tack on crap to break necks. It also open tracks wonderfully in stock form.
Jalopnik is, and has been, utter garbage for years. I'm actually disappointed in myself that I actually went so far as to give them a click and even read a few sentences of the article. "Bloated???" How can any person call a C5 bloated...
Annnnnnnd there's always the guy with the convertible posting random pics of his car in an unrelated thread....
My c5 is a bit of a “fire breather” but at the expense of a filled trash can. Pretty much everything on the car is BARELY good for stock levels of any metric.
You’ve a nice enough looking C5 but it kinda proves the point - the design has a hard time standing on its own. It’s reliant on ‘chintz’ to get a second look or even much past a glance.
The viper for sake of argument requires ZERO tack on crap to break necks. It also open tracks wonderfully in stock form.
The flat out hp-torque/handling performance discussion was not even part of the criticism of the C5 bash of the focus of this thread. The points you make are worthy discussion items.
The point of calling a car crap based on an opinion of design is really questionable. I, for one, favor the low-key, low profile sports car that doesn’t scream for attention. This is the very reason the C4 and C5 are my favorite generations cosmetically. The Viper is overblown and is obviously designed to call attention, like the loud redneck entering the party screaming, “Let’s party!” While the C4 is the quiet guy that simply walks in the room and mingles.
I don’t have my Vettes to impress anyone. I like the soft, flowing lines and the low profile of a business machine that sells performance.
The author’s basis of his article is the very reason I love my 99 and 91.
I mean I liked it enough to buy one...but it was either a late c5 or an early c6 when I did it and I don’t have great things to say about base model c6 stuff either lol.
Im opinionated but I also hold a degree in transportation design and am quite good at it; so you’ll have to excuse my desire of the “sketchbook” type Viper that’s much more in your face and off the wall.
In short, having to slather the C5 in guise to gain attention reflects exactly the opposite. Which you said you enjoy and that certainly holds merit to fly under the radar. However, it also aligns with the article in that the car is a bit soft and uninspiring. I’m simply comparing to the other vehicle mentioned within the same.
- Also, of you READ, I called the article crap. Not so much the car 😉
My c5 is a bit of a “fire breather” but at the expense of a filled trash can. Pretty much everything on the car is BARELY good for stock levels of any metric.
You’ve a nice enough looking C5 but it kinda proves the point - the design has a hard time standing on its own. It’s reliant on ‘chintz’ to get a second look or even much past a glance.
The viper for sake of argument requires ZERO tack on crap to break necks. It also open tracks wonderfully in stock form.
I really don't worry about whether the 25 year-old design of my C5 gets a second look anymore. I received a lot of compliments when I first bought it and it still surprisingly gets a lot of good comments even from non Corvette owners. The same could probably be said for many cars from the same time period not getting second looks these days. A lot has changed in automotive technology since the C5 platform was designed in the early 90s especially in performance, lighting, and improved interior features. Because I decided to keep it, I made sure to upgrade all the creature comforts and to improve the suspension and performance without massive mods to the engine and drive train. As a result, the car drives better now than it did when I drove it off the dealership showroom floor in 2004.
Glad you're happy with your Viper. I've checked out a few over the years and my neighbor had one as well but it didn't pull me away from Corvettes. It was raw and it was loud, but I never really got into the design or Dodge/Mopar products. Comparing a 2004 Viper and a 2004 C5 convertible isn't really an apples-to-apples performance comparison as a 2004 Z06 would be a better open track comparison. My C7Z requires zero tack on crap either (excuse the Forgeline wheels) so that brings order to my universe if my C5 convertible and tack on chintz mods continue to offend.
In short, having to slather the C5 in guise to gain attention reflects exactly the opposite.
Funny, I get quite a few complements about my completely unmodded (exterior) plain Jane silver coupe all the time, whether it’s at the pump, getting washed, or at the track—from car people and the less knowledgeable alike.
That little boys stop and wave at me driving by means the car has a pleasing shape. They may wave harder at a Viper, but to suggest a C5 is inherently unattractive is stretching it.
I mean I liked it enough to buy one...but it was either a late c5 or an early c6 when I did it and I don’t have great things to say about base model c6 stuff either lol.
Im opinionated but I also hold a degree in transportation design and am quite good at it; so you’ll have to excuse my desire of the “sketchbook” type Viper that’s much more in your face and off the wall.
In short, having to slather the C5 in guise to gain attention reflects exactly the opposite. Which you said you enjoy and that certainly holds merit to fly under the radar. However, it also aligns with the article in that the car is a bit soft and uninspiring. I’m simply comparing to the other vehicle mentioned within the same.
- Also, of you READ, I called the article crap. Not so much the car 😉
Sorry…didn’t mean to imply you were calling the C5 crap. You have a Vette after all. I should have been more clear in my reference to the original article of this thread. The jolop guy was calling it crap because of how it looked.
My c5 is a bit of a “fire breather” but at the expense of a filled trash can. Pretty much everything on the car is BARELY good for stock levels of any metric.
You’ve a nice enough looking C5 but it kinda proves the point - the design has a hard time standing on its own. It’s reliant on ‘chintz’ to get a second look or even much past a glance.
The viper for sake of argument requires ZERO tack on crap to break necks. It also open tracks wonderfully in stock form.
You know what they say about opinions.... It's funny, I felt similar to you when I owned my 2001 C5 convertible. Fifteen years later and after multiple BMW's, Audi, etc.. I love my C5 Z06. I accept it for what it is. One hell of a car for a steal of a price. I like Vipers, but I hate the sardine can feeling cockpit.
The best thing I ever did was unfollow Jalopnik years ago as it’s not even pseudo collegiate level journalism. Hot garbage comes to mind.
That said:
The C5 is overly soft in design. He’s kinda right about the bloated yet clean. It’s somehow bigger than it needs to be in all dimensions and never taught.
I never hated it, OR the interior so much until (ironically mentioned in the article) I bought my Viper. Specifically my 2001 Viper for sake of time period argument. It now is absolute trash to me, and it’s not like the Viper is over the top nice.
Once I got used to it, everything in the Corvette felt cheap and flimsy. It’s like just enough to be passable. I also understand one car was $74k new and the other $46k or so. You can tell where GM spent money and where they didn’t - at all.
Design wise it’s no contest. Not even a little bit. BUT the C5 is quite functional as a car and easy enough to use. I have just been finding it to be more and more under built mechanically and more and more of my stock c5 seems to hit the trash can as more stock designs create hold ups or failure points.
Despite it’s POTENTIAL performance, it’s probably best enjoyed as a boomer sled hauling golf clubs to the course while trying to one up the neighbor.
So maybe, just maybe, the article isn’t all that wrong.
I guess Jalopnik is right. The ugliest, bloated, and most outdated, $15K used 17 year-old car in my neighborhood. I should be embarrassed to own it, yet alone drive it in public.
I’ll wait for you to fill the thread with 20 pictures of a stock one for the same reaction. Every time you post that thing it drives home the idea it needed changed.
I changed mine. Some of my mods echo yours. It’s still not changing that the car was somehow underwhelming and NEEDED that level of personalization. Not sure how hard that context is to traverse...
I’ll wait for you to fill the thread with 20 pictures of a stock one for the same reaction. Every time you post that thing it drives home the idea it needed changed.
I changed mine. Some of my mods echo yours. It’s still not changing that the car was somehow underwhelming and NEEDED that level of personalization. Not sure how hard that context is to traverse...
The context isn't hard to grasp, I just don't understand why you spend so much time here and choose to own a car you really don't enjoy. I don't expect anything more from my C5 and certainly don't compare it to modern cars or consider it a classic Corvette. It's a 17 year-old mass-produced GM product plus they made close to 250,000 of them. Hardly a collectible. I chose to keep mine even though I added the C7Z and am waiting for the C8Z. Why obsess this much over car designs from 25 years ago? It's like you have 20+ years of buyers remorse. Life is too short. Enjoy the Viper!
I’m not sure I’m the one caught up outside of the obvious lol.
My c5 is turned down to @640rwhp currently. Its fun, it’s loud, it’s obnoxious and slightly flashy. Good car for a “blank platform” build. That makes it it inherently vanilla in terms to start is all. Sooo basically there’s more money in it than I’d care to eat and would rather keep fixing and upgrading. BUT if I was able to start with the other first, you’re absolutely correct this thing would be LONG gone.
Still might. Will see. Maybe I’ll replace it with an Elise / Exige lol
My c5 is a bit of a “fire breather” but at the expense of a filled trash can. Pretty much everything on the car is BARELY good for stock levels of any metric.
Just so everyone is clear, Jose Rodriguez Jr, the writer for Jalopnik, has one car and posts about it's excellence frequently. He has a 1997 BMW 318i (E36). In fairness, it's not a terrible chassis, and the E36's have proven themselves very grassroots motorsports worthy as well as the C5's have. He is definitely a "slow car fast" guy, which is good, and I can appreciate that. Fact is though, the E36 interior, for being "premium" is really not much better, all things considered, especially in a 318i. Who are these people that buy cars for interior? Shy of the C5 seats (and I understand why GM did what they did), it all worked just fine.
Just so everyone is clear, Jose Rodriguez Jr, the writer for Jalopnik, has one car and posts about it's excellence frequently. He has a 1997 BMW 318i (E36). In fairness, it's not a terrible chassis, and the E36's have proven themselves very grassroots motorsports worthy as well as the C5's have. He is definitely a "slow car fast" guy, which is good, and I can appreciate that. Fact is though, the E36 interior, for being "premium" is really not much better, all things considered, especially in a 318i. Who are these people that buy cars for interior? Shy of the C5 seats (and I understand why GM did what they did), it all worked just fine.
This! Most of the competition wasn't much better. People think expensive automatically equals great, but it doesn't. Go look at some of the contemporaries of the C5. They are all similar.
The M3 is nothing but black plastic and leather.
The Supra is nothing but black plastic and leather.
The seats are a low point, but not the end of the world. Everything is built to a price. That's how business works. The money was clearly spent on the powertrain, which to me is where it belongs. I daily my C5 and have no complaints about the functionality of the interior.
We're also looking at this through a lens crowded by 20 years of growth and progress. And on a user-submitted post from Jalopnik. Not exactly top tier journalistic excellence.
In 1999 I had sitting in my garage a 5,000 mile original Viper, a new Porsche 911 996 Cabriolet, and a new C5 convertible. At that time, the interior comparison was really not a "thing". The Viper was very crude and not a road car, the Porsche more refined and marginally more comfortable, and the Corvette was very competitive and for half the cost of the Porsche. The one I drove most and even bought a couple more new ones later was the C5.
08-26-2021, 02:39 PM
