RE: Japanese Imports vs Vettes
 

I believe the Japanese car manufacturers at the time had an agreement with the government that horsepower would be limited to 260? This is the primary reason why the NSX did not match other supercars at the time. Still, its shape is still attractive after all these years and it is one if (if not the most) reliable high performance sportcars ever made.

RE: Japanese Imports vs Vettes
 

Yeah.....but I still think the Corvette is the most attractive of them all! This is how I went out cruising the night I had a "Slow & Show" attitude.... :D

Attachment 2997

RE: Japanese Imports vs Vettes
 

Well, I can't argue with that!:D

RE: Japanese Imports vs Vettes
 

Ooohweee, Pecemkr!
Your ride is looking sooo good.

Got to love it!!! :)

RE: Japanese Imports vs Vettes
 

:D thanks Dave....thanks Rita :D

I just love taking fotos of my black baby! :)

stop encouraging me or i'll post more hahahahahaha :D

RE: Japanese Imports vs Vettes
 

Oh, please do!! I love your car, and you can never look at too many pictures of it. :)

RE: Japanese Imports vs Vettes
 

hahahahahaha :D ur great Topspeed!!!
Here's another one :D

Attachment 2994

RE: Japanese Imports vs Vettes
 

:DMan, that thing looks like it can roundhouse kick Chuck Norris into next Tuesday just sittin' there parked!!! Thanks for posting that, my friend, and any others you might have I'd love to see!!

RE: Japanese Imports vs Vettes
 

OK, let the bashing on the new guy begin!! hahaha...Anyway the main reason I am here on the site is to grab some info and learn a little about the C5 vette...I am 27 years old and have been around v8 muscle my whole life...My family,friends, and everyone I knew including myself were strictly narrow-minded v8 owners and import haters..It was not until I was about 21 or so that I first even looked an imports way to see what these little turds were about...
So here I am 6 years later and pretty much all of my "hot rod" cars I have owned have been hondas....I can say after you expand your mind a little to something else besides v-8s, you can actually learn a lot about them and other brands of cars you thought you would hate forever...The build quality on hondas is second to none when comparing anything domestic...I learned at the time that I could build a faster honda (on the budget I had) than pretty much any domestic car I had in mind and be much more reliable,cheaper on gas, insurance,etc,etc... So with all that being said I built and currently own an 11 sec civic that I have less than 4k in the entire project(incl. the price of the car)...Not bad by anyones standards if you ask me....
Ok, no that you all hate me :D I hope that you could at least take a little info in from someone who was on both sides of the fence...Imports will never take the sound, style, or just the cruising around trophy home in my book just as well as yours, but if I was ever again gonna build a "budget minded" race car, no doubt it would be a civic.., sorry...
And yes, now that I am a little more financially stable to own a "real car", I am looking for a 97-03 chevrolet corvette...So any helpful + or - about what to look for will be appriciated.....Thanks for reading...[8D]

RE: Japanese Imports vs Vettes
 

Welcome to the party! I think anyone can build a fast car for $4000. Get a 198? - 199? Camaro, install a 150-shot of NOS, throw on some drag radials and you're good to go. The mustang guys are also very good at making sub-12 second cars on a very small budget. I'm sure you've seen them at the drags, too.

These are the common problems that should've been resolved in an older C5:

Column lock failure (steering wheel locks-up): If it's an auto (A4), then the dealership should've removed the mechanism and installed a block-off plate. If it's a 6-speed (MN6), the dealer cannot do the same, so make sure the previous owner installed a Column Lock Bypass (keeps the locking pin in the retracted position). Update: I hear that the dealership can now remove the mechanism in a 6-speed C5.

Leaky differential gaskets: These should have been replaced, as factory seals leaked by 20,000 miles.

Door lock modules: When they fail, arming the car with the remote fails to lock one or both doors. This is a relatively simple installation, but make sure both door locks work.

Fuel gage/sender unit malfunction: Make sure the fuel gage reads accurately when the tank is below half-full. Earlier years had problems. Typical fix is either Techron fuel additive or a new sender unit.

Oil pressure sender unit. If this fails, the oil pressure gage will show 80 psi. If so, the sender unit needs replacement.

Horn not working when the steering wheel center hub is pressed ground wire becomes loose, $30 fix.

Air pump relays: There are two that are connected to the air pump. The one that fails most often is the one that's hardest to get at - behind the intake manifold. Either relay failure can cause a check-engine light to show up. $200 at dealership.

That's all I can think of right now.

The horsepower for 97-2000 is 345 with 350 lbs-ft of torque. The 01-04s have 350 HP and 375 lbs-ft (MN6) or 360 lbs-ft (A4s) of torque.

The improvements in 2001 are listed here:
http://www.corvettemuseum.com/specs/2001/index.htm

I believe in 2000, an airbag switch was added so that you can have a kid ride in the passenger seat. Without this switch, the airbag could cause serious injury to young children. Also, at some point, active handling and HUD (heads up display) was added (maybe in 2000?).

Good luck!

Dave