I mean absolutely no disrespect to the 82 Corvette, but I have always wondered why it is that the 84 Corvette is so looked down on, mainly for its Cross Fire setup, while the 82 that has the exact same powertrain is revered as a wonderful car and is sought after by collectors. Why is this????

I've heard/read a lot of complaints about our XFires, but i dont know where they their bad rep from. Mine has been performing better then expected, even with someone like me, no real mechanic here. I bought my car when she had 73k on it, by now, 12 years and 30k later, i had no issues, other then usual stuff, like generator and a CCC blow up (the "computer" had to be replaced).. I think, people have a hard time adjusting them and dont 'trust' the CCC to do it's thing. Dunno, i love mine.

Save the Wave!
-Stefan

To the best of my knowledge and also because I own two C4's as well, the 82 gains it's popularity partly due to it's unique options and appearance for the C3 generation, as well as it being the last C3. While the 84 was a new breed at it's introduction, it was quickly out shined in the following years with the 85 and 86 TPI models. I personally love the torque in the powerband of my 86 and the car seems much more refined than the earlier models. I'm not knocking any particular model, though. Just as I feel the 86 is better than the 84, likewise my 95 is a superior car than the 86 except for the Z51 handling package.

First off, the 82 isn't the best of the breed, a good example is the C5, the last model off the line is probably the best they made during the whole C5 run. The 82 is considered a "gentleman's vette" by most, low power, smooth ride, and great gas mileage is how they described it, but that also points to the bad parts, (low power) not very fast for a vette, (smooth ride) lack of handling for a sports car.

Once you get to the 84, you had everyone waiting for a major upgrade in performance, and handling, well the performance was the same, and the handling was just a little better.
What you also got with the all new 84 was lots of digital dash problems, and styling took a big hit (in my opinion). Plus other first year quarks!

Then came the 85 C4, the CFI is gone. TBI was GM's baby, and they sold it like it was the cats meow! well to me the HP gain wasn't worth the hype...


You also have to remember that the CFI has always gotten a bum rap, no one wanted to learn how to work on it, so that made it garbage. If GM were to put CFI on the new C6, how long would it take for all the aftermarket company's to swamp the market with tunable ECM's, intakes, larger TB's, complete exhaust systems.... You get the picture. And every wrencher out there would be an expert on how to get another 10 hp out of it...How different would the world of the CFI be if GM had used it for 5 to 10 years, on just about every model they offered...
Plus it would have interesting to see Ford and Chrysler follow with their own versions...

_________________
Arizona Corvette Enthusiasts
Gone, but not forgotten

Dawg, I don't know about the GM hype. But while I love all my vettes for different reasons, I love driving my 86 tpi w/ 4+3. The performance is like night and day compared to the 82 CFI. Both are stock motors. I think the 4 sped also has alot to do with the excitement factor too. Wish my CE had a stick. Hey, aren't all vettes great!

one reason why 84 is not highly reveered has to do with production #s probably.I have noticed though that a lot of people who desire to "trick out " their suspension will go with a c 4 setup. As for the 82 being a gentlemans corvette because of the smooth ride , I personally just dont see that. I feel it is a very rough riding car- feel EVERY bump. nothing like newer cars,vettes. heck all my trucks ride better than my wifes CE

Well if you compare the ride of today's trucks or other vehicles to Corvettes of 20 years ago there is a big difference in ride quality. But then again, todays vehicles didn't exist back then. And we're not comparing a corvette with a Lincoln Town Car, we're comparing Vette against Vette. A better comparison for the 82 Corvette would be to compare it to a 1960 Corvette. For which there was great improvement in ride quality, among other things. Keep in mind with time & technology, progress is made. Today's C6 might possibly be a sled in 20-30 years. In 1982, the the 82 Vette was the "Cat's Meow".

I didn't log in before as I am the guest in the previous post. I still must respectfully dissagree with the ride comments- Ive rode C-2,C-3, C-4 , C-5 and I see little to no difference between 1963 thru 1982, ----1984 thru 1996 is a little better. .

I love mine.I was in the market for a vette a year ago and my money was right.I could have got a new C6 but I wanted a C3 and the more I looked The more I wanted a CE.I knew I had to give up the 4 speed but I got what I wanted and even after a year of daily driving it's still a blast!!!And for some reason it don't rattle at all,real solid but then again it's a low mileage car and just like all my muscle cars of the past I go through it every couple of months and tighten up all the nuts and bolts.