As mentioned in another thread, I found myself in a Corvette the other day wanted to give my driving impressions. This is an 04 Auto with about 37k on the odo. My car is an 87 S4 with about 91k on the clock now. I got to keep it over night and also drive it in to work the next day.

1. 928 seats are more comfortable. The relationship of my body with the seat, steering wheel, and pedals felt better in my car.

2. The 928 suspension is superior. It absorbs bumps better (I still have the original suspension-no new shocks). The vette handled very good as well, but the suspension was much stiffer with overall less travel in my opinion. The tires could have played a part, but not much. The Vette had 17's up front with 18's on the back. My car has 17's all the way around. The vette did not have run flat tires.

3. The vette steering was different, the steering effort was just too light compared to my car even though the 928 steering effort is heavy when moving slow.

4. The Vette's front rotors were warped slightly, so I didn't perform any full on panic stops. The pedal on the vette was firm and the pick up before the brakes actally applied was very small. That's about all the info I can give on the brakes with no hard repeated braking to compare to. I have inlcuded a picture of both front wheels showing the rotors and calipers. The rotors seemed bigger on the Vette, but the 928 calipers looked more massive to me.

5. The Vette was faster (which did not suprise me). Much better torque from the 5.7 liter mill. The specs say 345 HP stock at the crank. I think the torque was 375 ft/lbs. The Vette is also lighter. My car doesn't "feel" far off after 3k but I think the Vette would still pull away even at speed. However, I gave John (soontobered) a ride in the Vette and it just wasn't as fast as he and I thought it should be. It was in great running order so I don't think it was just a bad example. It should be noted that my car is not completely stock (x-pipe, advanced cams, RMB, aftermarket cats, increased stall speed, no air pump ect.). The Vette is bone stock, even the paper air filter.

Obviously I am a biased 928 owner. If my car had the same straight line acceleration of this Vette (without having to spend thousands on forced induction) then I would be in heaven. As it is, the Vette was a nice car to drive around. I liked the car overall. I loved the effortless pull off the line and starting off in FIRST gear all the time even in drive.

 

Nice write up. We had a '98 C5 FRC (6spd only) and my wife drove it a bit and said she preferred the 928's in EVERY respect. Of course she is not looking to go mach 2 w/ her hair on fire either... So for her comfort is paramount and ride quality which goes along w/ that were both SUPERIOR to the C5 w/ the 928's hands down...

They are fast cars! No doubt. Every bit as fast as my GTS's. Though in roll on the gap narrows by a LOT!

 

James,

I hope we make it down to your neck of the woods again for our next 3rd Coast gathering. I would like the Martin Logan speaker demonstration this time around if you please. LOL.

My buddy with the other white vette I have posted pictures of before has a 2000 fixed roof coupe-6 speed. It just dynoed 401 RWHP on a Mustang dyno a few weeks ago. He has 384 or so cubic inches, Z06 heads, and a slighty bigger than stock cam shaft-but not much. He also swapped out the gears with 4:10's. I've ridden in this car and it runs really good. That might have been what skewed my perception of the one I got to borrow.

 

According to some people the C5 saved the Corvette line by being light-years ahead of all the previous generations.

For a good read, pick up All Corvettes Are Red by James Schefter. He was a jounalist who got to be the "fly on the wall" in every meeting and testing activity from concept sketches to production cars rolling off the line. My fav part is how GM officially killed the program but the managers kept it secretly alive with under-the-table budget hijinks. There's a lot of eye-opening detail.

But all in all, I'd rather have a 928.

 

Corvette...the only car that makes a 928's *** look small.

 

It's funny, since on paper the late-model Vette's are within a inch or so of the dimensions of the 928, yet the vette _seems_ huge in comparison, especially given the very modest interior seating for 2.

At least it's lighter - so many cars these days are huge pigs even in comparison to our fairly hefty GT.

 

Have you seen a 928 next to a new Mustang? Holy cow are those things huge!!

 

Funny you should mention that, I saw a 928 (85/86 red no rub strips) in my town several weeks ago, stuck in traffic between a fat SUV and a newer 'Stang. I actually did a double take to make sure that it really was a 928 and was re-shocked at how sleek, low, and "running shoe" (to quote my wry and observant wife) the 928 shape is compared to ordinary cars.

Then the flip side: I spotted the same 928 two days later on the back lot of the local Porsche dealer that I occasionally troll through. It was next to a Cayman with a Boxster parked behind, with a minty green early 924 a few spots over. Now the 928 looked long and GT.

 

S4 and a Mustang (Linderpat's) at Hershey.





Boxy cars look bigger.

 

Mike,

Talk to the keepers of the flame up in the D/FW area and come on down! Love to have the crew out to the house again! It was a blast before and I know it will be again!

The Martin Logans are SINGING! Now they have a 70" Sony RPTV between them w/ the center channel mounted below the screen! YEA BABY!!!

 

My friend has an '05 Vette. It is faster, no doubt, but the ride quailty is crap compared to my 928 with Bilsteins and stock springs (18" wheels).

But for what he has in that Vette, I could Twin Screw mine and say bye-bye. And yes, the day is coming.......

 

^^^^^
NICE! '05, is that the first of the C6's or near the end of the C5's???

The C6 is starting to grow on me, but still...yuck... Give me half a dozen NICE 928's for the price of one C6!

 

My co-worker owns a well-maintained black on black 99 vert as they call them. Anyway, the chick magnet stories that this car tells is amazing...

He also gave me a chance to drive it around columbus for about an hour one day for lunch. It was definately a blast to drive on a nice sunny day and it definately had power even for an auto. I was also very impressed with his average 24mpg....since that is getting to be pretty important now adays...

To be honest, I felt it handled as good as my 79...however, my 79 has red konis and the upgraded s4 suspension...to be fair..

In the end, I could see having a convertible vette parked next to my 928 for the taking the wife out on a sunday drive or date...my .02

 

My C6 seems way wider than a 928. Probably because of the expanse of hood you see out the windshield, but it is a wide car. Most of the ten 928s I've owned have had sport shocks, so the suspension on the Z06 doesn't seem much of a departure for me. The only thing I find uncomfortable about my Z06 is the heat coming off the central tunnel after driving it a while. I installed a thicker center plate with thermal coating between the tunnel and the exhaust, but it still can get hot.

As far as performance, there is no comparison. Nor should there be, since the 'Vette is 13 years newer than my '93 GTS, has 505 HP and 476 lb/ft of torque. The vette has huge tires, corners like it's on rails, and drives like a bat out of hell. It also gets 27 mpg on the highway at 75 mph+.

The 928 is a very comfortable, good looking car. My Z06 is a performance machine. I use it at the track, at the drag strip, and for open road racing at speeds over 170 mph (with the A/C running). I like them both. If I feel like tearing up the road, the Vette is my clear choice.

 

It would be my clear choice if I had an extra $80K laying around too...LOL