Oldguard 7

Recently I posted a topic about old corvette prices were they too high and then the issue changed into BBvsSB and so on. Do you think engine performance makes a corvette a corvette? Let's hear what you have to say.


[Modified by Oldguard 7, 11:19 PM 12/13/2002]

Twin_Turbo

No, not only performance, handling too. IMO it comes down to the total package, power is nothing without control. I do not think that the lo-po vettes are cars w/ a vette badge, they're vettes too. I like them all.

Marck

73 LS-4

The low performance years, weren't really all that low of performance when you compare them to the other cars made that year, it's hard to find anything that was real fast in 75 for example. In just about every year the corvette was made it was one of the higher performance cars, so I deffinitly consider these years as still corvettes. If we based the deffinition of a corvette entirely on engine perfomance, we wouldn't be driving sportscars, but musclecars instead since a large part of their deffinition is a powerfull engine.

:cheers:
Pat Kunz

nunus79

Vettes are expected to perform. Performance is definitely an important part of the total package. Its your duty as Vette owners to keep em clean & shining & as menacing as possible. LOL!

SuperFast80

No offence at all because I know you intended to play Devil's Advocate here but this topic is silly. A 1975 Corvette is as much a 1992 Corvette is a 1957 Corvette.

But I'll wait and see the comments from the peanut gallery. :crazy: :lol:

SmokedTires

Corvette are an image of power ! GM even puts thinner head gaskets on the Corvette to boast higher compression & power over the same engine in other GM cars to the vette an edge ;) .

I love Vettes, and I love horsepower ! The kind of just go so well together :D .

Robert N

:iagree:

Corvette prices are driven by mystic. THe older the car, the fewer seen, the more mystic, the higher the price. Add a BB or a solid SB and chrome bumpers, the allure increases as does the price.

A Corvette is a Corvette is a Corvette.

sharkthehunter77

performance must be put into context. each year the 350's have existed i believe there has been another car produced that has been "in the ball park". The 427 big blocks were closely matched with the Cobra 427's. The c3 big block had all the other muscle cars to contend with. C4's dealt with the first wave of japanese sportscars. The mighty Zr-1 and modern Z06 both are competitors with the Viper. All vettes have had to deal with Porsche's and freerai of their day
My point is i am not sure stock for stock the vette has ever had enough horses to blow away every comeptitor. The big deal with vettes was allways they brought much more of a whole package to the show as well as good performance. Any c2 or c3 will out handle its American contemporary( and modst European ones as well). I feel that the car has allways lived up to its name and i dont think mustang people go through this stupid AZZ argument. If someone else prefers big block then more power to them, they can pay the outragious big block prices to buy one, buy their gas with 8-12 mpg, fix'em when they break, buy tires when they burn through them,....etc etc etc. The vettes wins because its the right car with the right package withe the best look with reliable GM.Chevy crap on it!!!!

A C

Engine performance doesn't make a Corvette a Corvette. It just makes certain Corvettes more expensive to buy. It's very easy to outdo any stock Corvette motor (just see the cars right here on the C3 forum).

AC

Cajun99

My take on this is if it's a Corvette...it's a Corvette. Period.

The motors, as stated above, were relative to the times. Even though I own one of the slowest production Corvettes of all time (it's stock), and my C5 could blow it away in reverse, I don't consider my '75 to be any less a Vette than my C5 or even an L71. It's still a Corvette, just slower and more mass produced.

Paul L

Flav,
Mr. Peanut here ;) . Let these people have access to your archives for goodness sakes. E.g. Road & Track:

January 1968
L-79 327cid 350(gross)hp, four-speed
0-60mph 7.7 secs, 1/4 mile 15.6, 92 mph

Flash forward, same mag

April 1979
L-82 350cid 225(net)hp, automatic (TH350)
0-60mph 6.6 secs, 1/4 mile 15.6, 91 mph

I do wonder at times why people think the later Corvettes were slugs compared to their earlier cousins. The GM engineers did a magnificent job in keeping performance up despite smog regulations.




[Modified by paul79, 10:57 PM 12/13/2002]

Smokehouse69

Yes performance became more of a challenge but some good engineering and better tires sure made a difference in performance of the "lower" powered cars. You can look at the 0-60 times of the 68 model and the 0-60 times of the 79 and see where a lot of it came from. They must of boiled those poor skinny poly/glass F70's on that 68. :D

Paul L

I agree totally. But the later C3s were not the slugs that many think they were. In their day where pretty hot. Today they are very slow.

WA 2 FST

More than that even, I believe its a low-speed gearing issue. 1/4 mile trap speeds do not lie. Both cars (assuming they weigh about the same) are making very close to the same HP as evidenced by 91-92mph trap speeds.

The '79 just makes better use of its power (tires and gearing) than the '68, but the '68 does not make any more power or it would have run significantly higher trap speeds.

I, too, believe that a Corvette is a Corvette.

With respect to the engines, _every_ US manufacturer took it on the nose to meet smog requirements. And look what that has done for us today. We have a 346ci engine from GM that makes 405hp (net), we have a blown 281ci V8 from Ford that makes 390hp (net...and is underrated), and we have a modern day big-block from Dodge that makes 500hp (net). And all these motors pass smog as well as anything around.

I would like to point out that a "smog motor" can make insane amounts of power. I recently sold a small-block (331 ci) car that put out over 700hp net, ran on pump gas if I wanted, got 22mpg on the highway, and was not a gross polluter. We're talking about something that could run 9s with proper suspension and gearing. Sure it was equipped with a blower, but so what?

Same thing can _easily_ be done with a smog legal SB. It can also be done with a smog legal BB.

If we're just talking straight-line and top-end performance, then you would have to toss just about everything built out there prior to the ZR-1 and Z06 and go all the way back to the L-88...which _stock_ didn't have the top-end gearing the former cars do (and thus probably couldn't do more than 125-130mph with 4.11s in the rear and 4 speed trans).

That's just not right. The Corvette has always been a great "performance for the dollar" SPORTS car. It is not a muscle car. Never has been, and never will be, although out-of-the-box it performs better than its contemporary late-model muscle cars in straight-line acceleration tests.

Whether any of us like it or not, if you're running pump gas (which a real street car does) then the newer cars are faster, stock for stock. This does not make them better than the older ones...just a new and improved version. That's how technology works, typically. ;)

But what is available out there in the aftermarket for SB and BB will allow someone who _wants to_, to make their C3 run with anything out there on the road.

If you fall into this category, then I say GO 4 IT! :thumbs:

For me, this is an important part of Corvette ownership...but it is not to all, and I respect that.

:seeya

Ganey

The CORVETTE is a PERFORMANCE sports car so the engine is important.

For GM, it is a low volume car & ceasing prod. has been discussed several times so we are lucky it remained in prod.!
The base engine has been very popular (keeping it in prod.) & could be said to be along the lines of a MB SL, w/ "adaquate" power as RR says, for taking your g/f for a drive. Wait, that was a wild guess. What is left out of the stock power discussions is TQ. At least all C3 got a V8 & handling.
Nevertheless they are all Corvettes.


CORVETTES are performance sports cars designed for PERFORMANCE enthusiasts!
Since this is a relatively small group, there is a limit to what the factory can do since they need to keep the volume up. There was an effort to personalize them by offering many options. Then there was the deproliferation of options.
It would have been better if they all had as a base engine something like the L-82 , LT1 , etc.

I could never be happy w/ any stock car, even a L-88 or ZL-1.
When I am buying a car, I am far more concerned w/ the body than the engine since the engine will be built/replaced w/ more power.

Pick a body/chassis you like & build an engine for it !

:cool:

SanDiegoPaul

For me it is the sensation of having to crane my neck over that 1/4 mile long hood and front point when I'm parking. I'm only 5'7" and for me, those shark fins on the fenders are something I need to LOOK OVER to see what I'm doing.

Kinda makes me feel like a kid in Dad's car looking over the steering wheel!

The world class shape of a C3 is tremendous and I love mine dearly. :rolleyes:

Ryan77

Anything with the crossed flags emblem on it is a corvette to me (from the factory I mean. I've seen them put on an Escalade :rolleyes: )

71vettman

I like every corvette ever made. I'd just like to point out that the 68 vette that was compared in 1/4 mile times was with 327 in it, not the 427. I think it would earn a much better time with the 427 and not to mention a good set of tires.

SuprJames

Corvette to me has always been a balance of power and handling built to compete with more expensive European sports cars of the same era. This, IMO is what seperates the Vettes from American muscle cars. Vettes are always the first to be outfitted with GM's latest technology. This is what makes Vettes Vettes to me.

This is why when I decided to start modifying my Vette I wanted to stay with new tecnology. There was nothing wrong with my Vette in stock form. I just got tired of not being able to look at the Mustang beside me revving it's engine. A Vette is a Vette no matter what the state is though.

vettinator3

In my opinion, a true corvette can not be an automatic. The manual transmission lets the driver experience the car, it lets the driver control the car. No matter how big the engine, a corvette is not a true vette unless it is a stick.