Its true, of all car models there isn't a more universally hated generation than the C4 Corvette. The Z31 Nissan 300zx was a hideous, slow, unreliable excuse for a car, but Z-car fans don't hate it nearly as much as Corvette fans hate the c4. The ONLY model that comes close to the hatred a C4 emanates is the 996 Porsche 911. Aside from the 996 turbo, there isn't much reason to own a 911 from that generation, but that's a story for another time.
Lets talk about some of the reasons the C4 is hated:
- It was under-powered.
- It was unreliable.
- It was ugly.
- It didn't have the massive muscular fenders of the C3.
- The chassis was way too flexy
Most all of these points can be defended, but almost all are flawed arguments. Early years had as little as 205 horsepower, and by modern standards this seems like hardly enough to get moving. Contrary to the anemic power levels though, the 1984 Vette dominated autocross events across the nation. This eventually leading to the creation of the "Corvette-Only" series, while the Vette was banned from regular SCCA racing. As the C4 aged, power levels increased drastically, including a 405 horsepower LT5 in the ZR1.
Unreliable? Just google "Optispark got wet" to see the horror stories. The issue may not be directly caused by the unit itself, but rather poor placement directly under the water pump, and careless owners washing their engines causing the units to fail. Aside from the bad stigma, many C4's have made it into the 200+ thousand mile club.
It is a little ugly compared to other Corvette generations. Being an ugly Corvette, however, is somewhat equivalent to being the worst starting running back in the NFL: Its really not that bad.
It didn't have big flared fenders like the C3. That being said the C3 Corvette was terrible. If my dad was Hitler, I wouldn't be too upset when someone told me I didn't look like him.
The chassis flex was probably the worst thing on the list.While the chassis may have been much stiffer than the outgoing C3, the praise stops there, though I may just be spoiled by the hydro-formed rails in my Z06. GM clearly made the flexy chassis work, still, as evidenced by the SCCA domination.
With prices on C4's being so low, I had to get out and see what all the hate was about. The closest one I could find was a 1996 red automatic coupe. Personally I hate automatics in general, so I didn't have much hope for this car. People always talked about the one benefit to the C4 being the "Fighter-jet cockpit feel" when driving the car. I genuinely think this is just a phrase C4 owners use to make their cars seem cooler. Either that or they accidentally substitute the word "cockpit" when they meant to say "cramped" as the interior is relatively similar in shape and layout to the C5, just tightened up to make it hard for fully grown adults (read: Americans) to fit into.
Honestly though, I was most surprised by how the car actually drove. The LT1 made plenty of power and torque. I have no doubt that a well driven 6 speed LT1 Corvette could hold its own against any stock automatic c5, and even the automatic 2005 Corvette. The C5's and C6's may win out in the end, but the C4 is certainly in the same ballpark, and that's impressive in its own. Even with literally 100 less horsepower than my Corvette, I have no complaints about the power or power delivery. Getting on the throttle provided a very smooth and linear feel, though I was interrupted by unexpected shifts multiple times during my drive. This was most likely due to my inexperience in an automatic, rather than an issue with the car itself.
The handling was fantastic as well. For a stock base coupe, the car felt very planted and confident during spirited driving. My passenger was starting to get nervous far before I felt the car would get squirrely. Large mid-corner bumps, however, were another story. Corvettes in general don't really handle mid corner bumps very well. The first time I hit a bump mid corner in my 2001, I thought my rear tires got lifted off the ground. The C4 is no different, but it does feel as if they stiffened up the suspension to compensate for the flexy chassis, which makes the mid corner bump feel much worse than later model Corvettes. Many people consider the transverse leaf spring to be the cause of this issue, and going to a more independent rear suspension by way of coilovers to be the fix to the problem. This solution most likely fixes the problem by adjusting the valving in the shocks, rather than eliminating the leaf spring, so a properly valved set of shocks alone may help as well. GM has found a way to make the leaf spring work very well, it does a phenomenal job managing body roll and keeping a compliant ride, so don't throw it out the window just due to its archaic design.
Compared to any pre-2011 Ford Mustang GT, the LT1 Corvette is faster in all aspects. Sure, they're in slightly different classes of performance cars, but when you compare the fact that you can get a C4 for a fraction of the price of the GT, why wouldn't you? If you could buy a 3 bedroom house in a nicer part of town for less money, who would opt to pay more for the smaller house in a bad part of town, just because they were originally looking for 2 bedrooms? I would argue that until the IRS equipped 5.0, the C4 could easily be considered more fun than most any modern Mustang!
People often talk about dollar per fun when it comes to the Corvette. I've always hated that phrase when it comes to C5 Z06's because I think it downplays just how good those cars are. The C5 represents a car that's both better AND cheaper than a lot of alternatives, not almost as good for a whole lot less. The C4 better represents the dollar for value phrase, as it provides as much fun as a 2014 Mustang GT for well under $9000, often times as low as $3000-$5000 still in decent shape.
Next time you're talking Corvettes, don't bash the C4 too hard. It's not the worst car in the world. It isn't even the worst Corvette in the past 30 years, that is a spot held firmly by the automatic 2005 Corvette. Would I own one? Absolutely, but to be honest, they're still just too close in price the the C5. It would be hard to justify spending $9000 for a nice C4 when I could spend a little more and get another C5. This is more an issue of undervalued C5's rather than overvalued C4's, as a $10000 C4 still provides insane performane for the money. To the person who has a maximum budget of $9000 on an all around performance car, it would be hard to recommend anything else besides the once hated C4 Corvette.
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