Calm Screamer2

I just returned from a well deserved vacation in Daytona Florida ( my girl friend lives there). Her neighbor (Bob) worked for GM on the design team for the Corvette during the C3 years and some of the C4 years. I told him I had an ‘82 and asked about the rumor that GM deliberately sabotaged the performance of the Crossfire engine in 1982. He laughed and said “No”. He said that the performance of the Corvette had been going down for several years with the 1981 model being a low point. He said the ’82 was to be a fresh start for the performance trend to begin going up again. He also said that the dual throttle bodies were just for looks. “The dual throttle bodies were an after thought to try and dress up the engine compartment. It actually degraded the performance, but it was a political thing.” He said they had used a single throttle body previously in several cars, and it worked much better. He also said they had a lot of problems with that crossfire engine due to the fuel puddling in the intake during cold weather operation. I told him “Since I don’t drive it when it’s cold I don’t have a problem.”
He was a fun guy to talk to and I plan to pick his brain a little more the next time I’m down there.

82dukman

:cool: info and welcome to the forum :seeya

Casper

I can agree with some of that but didn't the hp drop down even to like 175 at one point. '79 or 80? Some one with a Black Book handy can look it up. I'll check in a few when I get home and check in tomorrow.

gq82

Interesting, but have to agree w/Casper. The low point for hp was 1975 @ 165hp. Through all of the mid 70's and early 80's the hp rateings for the 350 was around 200hp give or take. Look at the difference between the L48 and the L82. The L82 had slightly more hp but at a much higher rpm and made less torque, so basically there was little difference in the power the s/b's made through these years.


[Modified by gq82, 6:18 PM 1/7/2002]

CWUin82

Welcome to the forum. Interesting bit of information. Thanks for sharing it.
My take on the story is GM could have made it a performer if they had really tried. Who knows what might have happened with a couple more years of research. :chevy

Gameshow Bob

TPI happened with a couple more years of research! :jester

Desertdawg

Great info... :cheers:

I noticed that this is your first post. What a way to start your CF life...
Nice intro dude.
No post a pic already :D