We are kicking off this updated format with our third place Corvette(s) of the ’90s; the
1996 LT4-powered cars.
The LT4 was a one-year-only powerplant that improved upon the already-stellar LT1 in every way. Corvette powertrain engineers were able to extract 30 extra horses for this new 5.7L mill by giving the existing architecture a total over hall. They added new aluminum heads, a freer-flowing intake, a new, roller-type timing chain, a compression boost from 10.4:1 to 10.8:1, and premium head gaskets to deal with the heightened compression. This was all in conjunction with improved crank and camshafts, water-pump, and main bearing gaskets.
The result was 330 ponies and 340 lb/ft of torque which could scoot any Corvette that housed it to 60 mph in 5 seconds flat and to 100 in 12.4 seconds, just before crossing the quarter-mile at 105.1 MPH in 13.5 seconds.
Every customer who desired the 6-speed manual transmission in their ’96 ‘Vette was forced into a $1,450.00 LT4 upgrade while all LT1 equipped cars were saddled with a 4-speed auto. All cars with the LT4 under their clamshell hood received a special 8,000 rpm tachometer (the tach on the base car went to 6k) to handle the motor’s 6,300 rpm peak (700 higher than the LT1).