[LU8]

I came across these UK magazine test times. I think they are interesting in terms of what a showroom car can do, given that Corvettes and other fast cars tested by Car and Driver, Road & Track etc. are often prepared, even though magazines request normal cars. I recall Car and Driver's 30,000 mile 1985 Corvette automatic report, where they discovered as they were just about to give the car back a bunch of GM repair orders stashed in the storage compartment showing that the car had been through a few transmissions, and had the odometer tampered with before C&D got the car.

In any case with the cars tested below they were obtained from the Belgium agent, so I would say there's less chance they were improved prior to testing. I have thrown in early and late C3s for comparison.

'82 TBI 350

1968 L68 427 4 speed 0-60 6.1 seconds top speed 145 mph (Motor)
1984 TBI Automatic 0-60 7 seconds top speed 139 mph (Motor)
1984 TBI Automatic 0-60 7.2 seconds top speed 138 mph (Fast Lane)
1984 TBI Automatic 0-60 6.6 seconds top speed 142 mph (Autocar)
1986 TPI Stick 0-60 6 seconds top speed 151 mph (Autocar)
1989 ZR-1 (380 hp) 0-60 5.6 seconds (Autocar)
1992 LT1 Automatic 0-60 5.8 seconds top speed 162 mph (Performance Car)

The LT1 car did a 14.3 second 1/4 mile at 100 mph in wintery conditions.

Around the same time Autocar tested the 1986 Corvette, they also tested a BMW M635CSi (M6) and got 0-60 in 6 seconds and 150 mph top speed.

I have long thought the TPI cars to be great value for money, and recalling when the LT1 350 came out many thought it wasn't much slower than the ZR-1, so I have always had doubts over the ZR-1's power rating.

I should state in the above Autocar tests the ZR-1 beat the 1986 car in 30-70 mph acceleration 4.5 to 6.3 seconds.

[SS 1LE]

That ZR-1 test is awful, driver mod needed. A friend had one and it ran consistent 13.0's and they hit 60 in under 5 seconds usually...

[00 Z/28]

They're not fast by today's standards what so ever. That said, they are light and handle fairly well. My dad has a clean low mile 1984 with the Crossfire injection and the somewhat rare 4+3 manual transmission. It's a surprisingly fun car; sort of in the way that a Miata is fun; you can push the car to it's limits without killing yourself. The dash with the digital gauges and the switchable digital readouts was way ahead of it's time and pretty cool.

[LU8]

Originally Posted by 00 Z/28

They're not fast by today's standards what so ever. That said, they are light and handle fairly well. My dad has a clean low mile 1984 with the Crossfire injection and the somewhat rare 4+3 manual transmission. It's a surprisingly fun car; sort of in the way that a Miata is fun; you can push the car to it's limits without killing yourself. The dash with the digital gauges and the switchable digital readouts was way ahead of it's time and pretty cool.

True they aren't fast, but that's progress. The comparison between the 400 hp C3 and the fastest TBI C4 shows that. Even though the C4 has half the horsepower it's only 3 mph slower on top speed and only 0.5 seconds slower to sixty, but with much better handling, a/c, pollution controls etc. Similarly, today's Corvette has taken things to a new level.

The early C4s were very easy cars to drive, a newbie could go to the track and drive comfortably fast easily. You couldn't say that about a Porsche 911 or Ferrari 308 GTS. With the C4 it was very neutral handling, lots of grip, torquey engine, very easy for a beginner. Also, although the TBI car gets criticized for being slow, in 1983 it had the same performance as the stick shift Ferrari 308 Quattrovalvole, at under a 1/3 of the price.