Hello, I just picked up a 95 convertible in Florida and drove it home, approximately 1000 miles to Virginia. Car behaved beautifully. I had it mechanically checked out before I flew down Ft Myers to get it.

It's a pretty Polo green with tan sport seat interior. 64,000 miles on it now.

I have checked out CorvetteForum and Corvette Action Center. What I need though is a place where I can ask some questions on the car, mechanical and otherwise and get answers (any answers) and hopefully some that mechanically make sense. From what I've read here, I'll find my answers.

On another note, I read on some of those other forums, while investigating the car, that it really is a car you wear and how close, etc. it feels. My take on it is a little different. I've got Miata's and RX7's. The Miata is really a car you wear. The vette you actually sit IN. Outstanding handling like a Miata or RX7 but BIG. Huge gobs of power, fun handling. I'm going to have with this counterpoint to my other handlers.

OK, thanks for reading so far. I'm going to post my questions now in the mechanical section.

Ralf

Welcome aboard! Great to have you!

I am glad you feel the way you do about us here! I hope we can live up to those expectations.

I know what you mean about the miata. But I fell more comfortable in the Vette. I dated a girl years ago with a Miata, and I am just a little too big to be comfortable... then there is that entire lack of power.

I have never had the privledge to drive any RX7. I want to take a 3rd gen for a spin. That would be cool, but I know they are fragile.

You will find that the C4 is mechanically very stout. Sure, parts will break, but they won't break as readily.

My 92 coupe is Polo Green with Tan! Is your vert a 6spd or manual? Mine is a 6spd. Gotta love that ZF6!

No matter which yours is, get the transmission fluids changed ASAP. The ZF6 requires a special grade of 10-30 (engine) oil. Castrol makes an optional oil, TWS 10-60, but is only available at your local BMW dealer!

For the automatic, use Mobil 1 ATF.

The engine, use a good synthetic, I recommend Mobil 1 or Valvoline Synpower. Amsoil and Royal Purple have their followers and seem ok.

For brakes, I highly recommend Valvoline Synpower (same with power steering!).

Sounds like you got a real cherry ride! Take care of it and it will take great care of you!

Oh, for wax and paint protection, I would check into Zaino products. I hear Adam's waxes are real good, too. Currently, I used Maguires, but that's only because my paint is junk after 166k miles!

Where in VA are you from? I used to live in Richmond, out on the westend in the Short Pump area (yea, Short Pump... it was because the old town water pump had a - get this - short handle!).

I guess it's all relative. Even a Miata feels big compared to an Elise!

Now this is what I'm talking about! WOW! And Thank YOu!

I took your buyer's guide with me when I bought the car. Luckily a guy on the CF sent it to me and of course the rest is history

You are right, the Miata is small, but extremely nimble and I'm lucky enough to have a 93 LE which is black with red leather. More importantly, it has the factory race suspension. Very nice around the curves. My wife's is a 95 M which is more plush, but I added the KYB AGX's.

My 88 RX7 vert and 87 turbo are second gen's. Fun cars. You know the 3rd Gen is the FD, right? Mine are the FC's. Its a generational thing. Anyway, FD = Financial Disaster. Stay away from those twin turbo's.

I always thought the RX7 was a killer handler until I drove the Miata. To now have power on top of that is a sweet deal. I was thinking on the way home that the Mazda's are more like a scalpel or X-acto knife, whereas the Corvette is like a finely honed chef's knife. Larger, stronger, but still able to do the job with precision. Just that turning radius...shudder!

I've got the 6-speed. I also need to read that article you have on the oils, etc. Where do I get the ZF stuff, the dealer only? That should be as expensive as the BMW stuff. Or is there a Redline alternative?

I've used Mobil 1 where I can...RX7's use dino oil

Oh yeah! Zaino, love that stuff. I've been using it for about 9 years now, though Meguiars is definitely cheaper.

Finally, I'm about 50 miles north of Richmond, outside of Fredericksburg. I used to live in Ventura/Port Hueneme. Love CA. Didn't know about that short pump story!

Ralf

Oh yeah! That Lotus is sweet. When i was stationed in Germany, I rode in on at the dealership. Very nice. Horrendous accidents in them from what I've seen though.

WELCOME TO A GOOD GROUP OF PEOPLE
IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ASK AWAY THERE ARE A GOOD GROUP OF PEOPLE HERE SOMEBODY WILL HAVE A CORRECT ANSWER FOR YOU AND WILL BE HAPPY TO HELP YOU

I had a Miata just before the Vette and I also think those things are a lot of fun. I had a passenger compare it to a motorcycle once, because it was quick and nimble. I still love the sound of that little 4 cylinder at around 7K RPM under hard acceleration. I am still not as confident in the Vette throwing it into a corner as I was the Miata but I do love the extra power. Congrats on the new ride. Polo green was one I was looking for, I wanted that or admiral blue or ruby red. The red was the first one I found that fit what I wanted.

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Welcome to the forum!

I agree that you "wear" a miata. I can't really fit in them, myself, that's why I stick to motorcycles where I have room to breathe. Here's a pic at a recent event:



Matthew

Btw...if you hadn't detected my sarcasm, no that's not me....

Welcome aboard, and congrats on your new ride!

Thank you all and I hope that my newb questions won't be too much of an imposition as I'm trying to learn about the car. (Nice bike, nice vette's you all have!)

On that note, was there anything in the center console that came with the car? There's nooks and crannys but of course, since it came through auction and dealers, I've got no personal items in the vehicle or even what may have come with it originally to the first owner.

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There is a ratchet that goes with the taga cars to remove the top but I don't think the verts need it.

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There is an owners manual, too... And I agree, I don't think the verts need the ratchet.

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Welcome from another '95 owner. There should be a 'key' for the locking lugnuts. Also, if you look in the storage compartment behind the passenger seat you will find a complete RPO listing. Hope it came with an owner's manual, if not I would put that high on my 'need it list'.

Sounds like a great car. If you plan to work on the car yourself, the Helm's Field Service Manual is a must. It's impossible to properly diagnos problems without one.

I've never driven a Miata on the street but have about 1500 miles in one on the race track. My opinion on them is probably different from most here.

Thanks again for this phenomenal response!!!

I did get an owners manual in a case. Its liquid damaged, so I have to get a new one.

There was a towel containing a lug nut wrench and some locking lugs in the compartment behind the passenger seat. There was also another lug socket in the center compartment. Weird. No wrench for the targa top

Looks like everything is present and accounted for then. There sure are a lot of little nooks and cubbies in that center console.

BillH, I think there's also one on Miata.net. Is that you? Have you had any track time against Steve Bertok of Panicmotorsports? East coast stuff...

One other thing I'm seeing here...not much internet speak like on the RX7 and miata forums. Different demographics I guess. Certainly I don't miss interpreting that stuff or is there a prohibition against that here??

Ralf, you can get a targa top wrench from someone like Corvette Central for $30. It's just a rachet with a torx bit perminately attached. Or you can get a 1/4 in. drive rachet and a torx bit for less. You need to get a set of Torx bits anyway to work on the car unless you already have them.

No my Miata experience is west coast, 25 hour endurance races and we had them in the driving school I worked at.
I'm not much of a fan.

Welcome aboard! I hope you have a great time here!

Nice color Choice!

Be sure to join the Polo Club

(Just put this pic in your signature if you want)

I've been in Miatas, was always paranoid about smacking my head against the sunvisors. REAL TIGHT for a tall guy.

Miatas are nimble, but I don't think you'll find a race track where they're faster than a stock TPI Corvette.

All else equal, the older C4s are running better laps. Even on the tight autoX courses I've seen. If anyone has experienced otherwise, I'm all ears.

It's pretty much different strokes for different folks.

The funny thing is last weekend I was busy getting smoked by a stockish Miata on race tires. I was on street tires, and he had about 50x more experience than me. And then I was lapping a rookie driver with a modded 3rd gen Rx7.

So generally, driving ability is going to determine everything if the cars are anywhere close otherwise.

Oh, and I almost forgot...


doggz wuz ghost ridin the typeR like drift king fo shizzle its the tite wing n nawz lol laters foo

aw fuggan righty cc yer learnin brutha....ja ja jive talkin yea heyhuh..werlds full a dayum foos ain it..waahahahaha...

I've got a friend who races his Miata's door to door. I think he was brake checked last weekend for some reason, but managed to still pull a podium slot. I'll check with him how the Corvettes do.

I'm still getting used to the power of the Corvette. It does like to stick its tail out under power and that pedal pushes back. I have the ASR(?) on. Haven't yet got the courage or empty parking lot to turn it off.

Oh yeah, my last muscle car, 68 442 convertible was in 1983. So its a real joy. And I love the color. Polo club, huh?

CentralCoaster, do you get a free pass being a moderator with that language?

95, Here's a quickie of the 2+ hours I spent on track last weekend.

I cut out most of the '94 Miata footage because he was passing me. :tongue:

His best was about 1.5s faster than me, and he said he's about 2 seconds slower when he runs street tires.

Keep in mind this is my first time on this track and he's got experience on me. I'd hope to pick up close to another full second if I did another track day there. And I probably wasn't making good power with my 260F engine temps.

http://www.trackhq.com/forums/photopo ... /photo/14266/limit/recent

Wish I could see that vid, but it just keeps loading. Don't know what's wrong, though I downloaded the plug in for the Mac I'm on.

Sounds like you had fun though. There's a big Miata presence in SD, as there is RX7. I've been to enough club meets down there.

Yeah, that's a windows format. Try "cal speedway interior" at www.putfile.com/independent80
See if that format works. I don't like that site though since it runs ads on top of the videos that slow it down. But hey, its free.

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Can anybody translate this?

I was able to get on and see at least one of the vids. Is that an early model C4 like in your avatar? Looks like it based on the steering wheel and dash. Probably the one in your avatar? I thinking to get into driving, outside of autocross, I'd have to have a hardtop.

Don't know what he wrote either 95Vette. Greek to me

Way to encourage pappy, CC!


Welcome to the forum! Beautiful color combo you're running there, 95Vert!

Enjoy the car!