[VLOCT]

@ Amitoj,

Thanks man. Hope everything is going well.

@ dr. abhijeet,

We'll have the same problem of liking too many cars. Buying cars also depends a lot on the family situation. Buying 4 cars in one year is a recipe for losing a lot of money fast.

If you can, ask yourself these questions and answer them honestly;

1. What kinda driving do I like?

Sporty - typically hard suspension, must maintain these cars meticulously.
Comfortable suspension - compromised (relatively speaking) on handling.
Family driver - pick a car that looks good. They're all pretty good nowadays.

2. What's the family situation?

Babies/kids - 2 doors are outa question unless, it's a personal car.

3. Aesthetics - are you fanatic about good looks?

This is where it gets tricky and expensive, typically.

4. What's your driving skill?

Still improving your skill - not a good idea to a get cars like 'vette, M5s etc unless you have total self control.

As you can see, I never tire of advising people to be brutally honest about your requirements, skill, family situation and budget. Wasting money on cars without knowing what one wants is well, you know what. You'll never recover it unless, you have plenty of it, of course. You need to do loads and loads of research before you plunk a single penny.

I'm fortunate enough to always maintain a family car and usually keeps my expensive personal cars at least 5 usually more, years.

Like Chevelle, have patience and find out what you really enjoy. Sports cars are simply not for everyone although, most people dream about it. Once you drive them though, you might sing a different tune and many find it unyielding and harsh, incorrect ergonomically and do not enjoy them at all.

I'm sure in time, you'll find the perfect type of car for you. It usually takes a few years, if you're an enthusiast and depending on how finicky you're.

[chevelle]

Originally Posted by VLOCT

Like Chevelle, have patience and find out what you really enjoy. Sports cars are simply not for everyone although, most people dream about it. Once you drive them though, you might sing a different tune and many find it unyielding and harsh, incorrect ergonomically and do not enjoy them at all.

That is exactly what is bothering me about the Corvette.

While it is my dream car, my current muse and what not, i am still not so sure how will it work out when i use it as a DD. I do have a back up sports sedan in case it goes wrong, but $30k-$35k is still a big chunk of money and would hurt a lot if it goes down the drain. but i am slowly but surely getting used to the idea that I will use it as a weekend or long trip car if it doesn't work out as daily driver though from reviews it seems like a good daily driver.

Nevertheless since i want it, i will have it even though it means waiting a year to find the 'perfect' one and making other compromises.

[Gandhi]

Originally Posted by VLOCT

FINALLY;

Look what I got my hands on!!

Wow, what a beauty. Congrats. I posted my car's pics at wrong time, you stole the thunder .

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Congrats, That's a good looking car, do post an ownership report

Thanks. Sure I will put an ownership report soon.

[VLOCT]

@ chevelle,

You don't need to worry about the 'vettes. They're great daily drivers and are a heck of a lot more comfortable than lot of other sports cars. I haven't had any seat time in a C6, but I'm sure they follow the 'vette tradition of great drivers' car.


@Gandhi,

Sorry man. Absolutely didn't mean to steal your thunder. Enjoy the new car. It costs a lot more than mine and requires a whole lot less maintenance. The C4 Corvettes are from an era where they still had chassis lubrication points. They have to be maintained meticulously. I'm looking forward to finding the quirks of these cars, can be annoying and pleasurable at the same time.

Cheers.

[vivekiny2k]

Originally Posted by VLOCT

@ chevelle,

Thanks Chevelle. All your test driving just lit a fire under my butt to go out and get that 'vette before the good one's disappear. She's just awesome and a true 'vette.

you guys need to stop talking about vettes , fires everywhere

http://www.examiner.com/slideshow/ne...slide=52494966

[VLOCT]

@vivekiny2k,

The new Sting Ray should be something. Really glad to see the name resurrected.

[vineethvazhayil]

Originally Posted by dr.abhijeet

FYI- I have bought 4 cars in 1 year I have been here.. Not good.

The problem of having too many choices?
I'm in the same boat, If I could, I would've a garage of 10 cars . Thankfully I cannot, and so I do not. So what do you have right now? The ones in your signature?

[NinadJoshi]

Originally Posted by VLOCT

FINALLY;
Look what I got my hands on!!
Picked up this sinister looking '96 Corvette, the last year of the C4 model, my favourite.
Look for a detailed review, very very shortly. Too busy having a blast.

2 Thumbs up! Congratulations, and here's wishing you many miles of fun!

[VLOCT]

Thanks Ninad. Hope everything is going well.

Cheers.

[Jomz]

@ VLOCT.

Nice car. Good choice on a C4. Is the the Grand sport or base??
C4 has hit it's bottom on depreciation, from now onwards I think the price would only go up.

GM had really good seats on the C4. All other 'vette models have seats meant for large old people - which is 80% of the new Corvette buyers.

Cheers and happy motoring

PS, Saw your intro post on the corvette forum

[VLOCT]

@Jomz,

Thanks Jomz.

The real Grand Sports were offered only in one color combination, Admiral Blue with the central White strip. The LT4 engine and tranny (ZF 6-speed manual only, no Auto offered) used for the Grand Sport was however, offered on the base Corvette and identified as LT4, and also on the '96 Collector's Edition. I have the LT4 'vette which was what I wanted. My intend is to use it at least 3 times a week and so was not looking for the Special Editions and, you get all the performance with much less money. I must say, the deal I wrenched was special. These typically go in the $13.5 to $17k range for good ones.

LT4s are among the best kept secrets in GM and only offered in 1996 'vettes and only for 2009 cars total, including the Grand Sport and the Collector's Edition. Almost all LT4s have been dynoed at 350+ hp@5800 rpm and 350+ lb.ft torque. GM deliberately published derated values since the C5 was due in 1997 with the LS1 rated at 345 hp. Only in 2001 did the LS1 get back to the 350 hp target.

There are lot of pretenders claiming their cars to be Grand Sports just because they have the LT4 package. The true Grand Sports still command a premium. If you want something truly special though, you gotta get the '95 LT5 (last year) used in ZR-1s rated at 415 hp. LT4s will keep up with them till around 100 mph. After that, well, lets just say you probably want even see the Zs tail as their secondaries open up. A 1992 ZR-1 with 17k miles just sold for $32k at the Mecum Auction, a bargain for their level of performance and seeing that the current ZR-1s are well north of $100k. There is an amazing '92 Torch Red for sale on the Corvetteforum.com. If I had less toys, it'll be in my garage right now.

C5 and C6s are not my cup of tea. I prefer the tub like seating and the driver cockpit of the C4 that makes you think you're in a jet fighter and about to take off. Like someone posted on the Corvette Forum, when asked about whether his LT4 (3300 lbs) would race with the M5 (500 hp, 5300 lbs-talk about pork), his reply, "No, I just eat them". Priceless.

[Jomz]

Just looked up the LT4 engine.

It seems that engine lived on with special editions of camaro & firebird.

"All 135 production engines for the Firehawks and Camaro SS were completely disassembled, balanced, blueprinted and honed with stress plates. One in 5 engines was tested on a Superflow engine dyno and every car was tested on a chassis dyno in addition to performing a short 6-mile (10 km) road test."

Now.. that is what engineering is.

Taken from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lt4#LT4

[VLOCT]

I believe the Firehawk and Camaro SS got the detuned version of the LT4 as is normal practice for GM. GM always made sure that in stock version none of the GM cars challenged their top dog.

[Jomz]

Well, that is wrong info ^^

"The 1997 Firehawk LT4 model, made by SLP Performance Parts and sold through Pontiac dealerships, had 330 hp (243 kW) and 340 ft·lbf (459 Nm) of torque"

Reference

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontiac_Firebird

But you are right. In 1997 the C4 was no more in production, the top dog was C5 with 345 Hp. Which was un challenged by the SS or Firehawk.

[chevelle]

VLOCT, do you worry about its spare parts availability since they won't be in production officially. I guess you will have to pay a little more than normal for aftermarket parts.

Are you going to do any precautionary replacements of parts on this?