Sal Collaziano

Hi all. I'm curious about how much of a difference there is in the handling of these two cars. I know the C4 is a much better handler than the Camaro - but I'd like to get an idea of how much the difference is..

Also - about what would need to go into a 98 or newer SS to get similar handling?

Thanks in advance...

Camaro_Maniac63

The C4 is more "planted" than a 4th gen Camaro around corners, and the rear of the car doesn't stutter-step around bumpy corners like a 4th gen does. This is likely due to the IRS setup in the Corvette. Plus the Vettes are lower to the ground and have better weight distribution which also gives it a little edge on a 4th gen. One bad thing about the C4s are that they are very twitchy at the limits, due to the stiffer suspension, which can be dangereous for a novice driver. Camaros are a little more predcitable and forgiving.
A 4th gen can be made to go as fast around corners as a C4, however it will never quite "handle" like a C4, just because of the basic differences in the suspension setups for the two cars. You will have to work harder in a Camaro, but as I said, it can be as fast as a Vette.

Sal Collaziano

Thank you. The LS1 Camaros are very fast.. Thanks for the suspension comparison!

LT4Firehawk

First off, look at the list of cars I've owned. I've run all of them on our local roadcourse, so I can give you a good comparison. Stock vs stock, a C4 will easily walk away from an LT1 f-body on a roadcourse and will also outrun (though not by as much) a stock LS1 f-body. A C4 will run about even with a stock LT4/LS1 SS/Firehawk with the Bilstein suspension. Of course this assumes a good driver familiar with each car. The biggest benefit to the C4 is that is much easier to drive at the limit than an f-body. I never found my 92 to be "twitchy" either in stock form or after I modded the suspension with stiffer springs/shocks. It does a small adjustment in driving style versus an f-body, and an f-body driver that hopped in it and pushed it too hard might think it was twitchy, but then that would be true of many other cars as well. Once you have a little seat time in the car, you'll find a C4 Vette is one of the best cars around for doing what the driver tells it to. Of course, that requires the driver knowing what to do...

Of course, when you start modding all this goes out the window, but in general a stock f-body is going to need about 300RWHP and quite a few suspension mods to run with a stock C4, and even then it still won't handle like a C4 does. Finally, the LS1 Camaros have the same exact suspension as the LT1s do, they just have more HP (but less low end torque).