Fiberglass shock absorbers ?

First off you're dealing with a monkey, and it's not a fiberglass shock. Yes, it's a composite spring on the front and the back on the C5 and C6. Look up the reasons for the composite spring, it will give you more insight into why the Corvette has developed into the vehicle it is today. Earlier Corvettes had metal coil and leaf springs. To talk with a putdown artist you need to get some more information about what you want someone else to believe. I'm sure you won't/can't change his mind so if you want to beat your head against the wall, go ahead. Your best defense to that kind of talk is to know your subject.

Buy a Black Book and there are many more out there that will have a wealth of information.

talk about german efficiency? The Corvette has WAYYY more torque, more HP, better handling, a low maint V-8 that will last longer and not require $200 oil changes...and gets 30+ mpg highway. It was a choice in 00 to buy a Carrera or Vette. Drove em both. The difference in torque output was very noticeable. You can get fast accel times with a 911 to try and keep up with a vette, but don't expect the $4k clutch to last very long.

80,000 miles later, my 00 convertible has required tires, brake pads, and battery. Still rattle free, and a fantastic car. And $15k less that a Carrera coupe

The next time, let him know that his favored Porsche is the car of well-kept mistresses. And the subject of great lawsuits.

Back in the late '70s, maybe early '80s, there was a lawsuit against Porsche for being too ill-handling to be allowed on public roads. They almost quit selling them here. Some drunk mistress got her six inch heels stuck under the throttle and promptly splattered. The suit resulted in Porsche of America heavily supporting high-speed training for Porsche buyers. They offered weekends at various racing schools with the price of the car, began supporting the PCA with its high speed drivers schools, and so on.

Corvettes do not have fiberglass shocks. However, it is a novel idea that hasn't come into being yet.

They do have fiberglass springs since 1981. The 1981 with automatic transmissions had a fiberglass spring on the rear. In 1982, there were only automatics, so they all had them. In 1984, they used the transverse fiberglass spring and front and rear and ever since.

The advantages to a fiberglass spring:

1. Lighter. The fiberglass spring weighed 8 pound vs. the 44 pound steel spring.
2. Faster reaction. Being lighter, it reacts faster. Being a mono spring, it reacts faster. So much that adding a fiberglass spring to an older Corvette requires recalibrating the shocks to adjust.
3. No rust, so no squeak.

Corvettes are (were) pieces of junk. But that should just be more insulting to the German engineering crowd considering how many times Corvettes have beaten Porsche. To a great extent, it was an American Hot Rod. It wasn't a finalized product off the line, but rather a car that formed the basis of what the owner wanted to do - race, show, rally, whatever. And almost anyone could climb in one and go fast.

The same isn't true of a Porsche. The real fast ones can be very unforgiving to inexperienced high-speed drivers. The extremely forgiving and well-handling ones were very down on power. The 944 was the exception. The

924 was possibly the best handling car outside of a formula car I have ever driven. However, it had less real road power than a Vega of the same era. I've never driven a 944 but what I know about it is that they took a 924, added more rubber on the ground, and added a bunch of horsepower. That has to be a winning combination.

The 928 was a joke. The Cd was better backward than forwards until the put a rear spoiler on it. What that did was make the backward Cd greater, so then it was better to go forward. It didn't make the forward less.

You could just do the short cutdown ...

"Boy are you stupid, everyone knows there is no such thing as fiberglass shocks."

:-)

Last year my wife paid (without my knowledge) $300 for an oil change on her Boxter. The service guy told her it was in the terms of her lease...

Last week a buddy of mine who has a Jetta VR6 received a $1400 estimate to replace spark plugs, wires, and A (1) coil pack.

He also received a $1700 estimate to replace the catalyc converter. In other words, it would cost him roughly $3100 to turn off the emmissions light so he can take the emmissions test. Nice car.. (100,000 miles)

I wonder what I would do with my C5 if I was spending $3000 on it.. Ooh I know.. more meat in the back and the A&A kit for my blower in the front.

-Stan

Oh--BTW the Mexicans in Baltimore drive old Subarus :)

Didn't say they didn't have composite springs, sometimes I forget that the C4 is a Corvette and not a Ford transmission. All I said was the C5 and the C6 have composite springs in the front and the back. Didn't mention the C4, not a reason not to, nor a reason to mention it, just wasn't important. Still isn't.