1992 CHEVROLET CORVETTE

The 1992 Chevrolet Corvette LT1 is very much a new traditionalist. In the face of sports cars that are increasingly high tech and antiseptic, it keeps things simple. In fact, in basic description, the 1992 Corvette, a fiberglass-bodied 2-seater with a pushrod overhead-valve engine driving the rear wheels, is unchanged from the original Vette of 1953. But just as a modern massage makes traditional country music sound better than ever, a list of hard-to-see improvements makes the 1992 LT1 a model that will be a benchmark in Corvette history.

The small-block V-8 now revs much better and pumps out 300 bhp. The suspension, with the help of new Corvette-exclusive radial tires, now pleases sensitive backsides as well as those of autocrossers. The improved sound deadening now lets you hear more country twang and less driveline whine. And a surprisingly effective traction-control system -- one that we originally approached with some skepticism -- now makes the Vette much more driveable in bad weather conditions.

Squeezing 300 bhp out of the venerable small-block was not easy. Bore and stroke have not changed, but breathing certainly has. Starting at a less-restrictive filter, air flows through a new one-piece plenum with short, large-diameter runners and into the combustion chambers through aluminum heads with more efficient porting. Exhaust flow has also improved with individual catalytic converters for each cylinder bank. Twin oxygen sensors also work with a revised ignition computer to keep the mixture and combustion precise.

But that's not all. The flow of coolant has also been reversed. Coolant from the radiator now flows to the cylinder heads first, and then down through the block and back to the radiator. This seemingly simple improvement, which uses a gear-driven water pump with a thermostat on the inlet side, allows the compression ratio to be bumped from last year's 10.0:1 to 10.5:1 because the liquid coming directly from the radiator is more effective at cooling the critical areas of the cylinder heads near the sparkplugs and valve seats. Because the coolant in the cast-iron block is warmer than before, the cylinder bore temperatures are higher, resulting in reduced ring bore friction. Chevy has also switched to a synthetic 5W-30 motor oil (Mobil 1) to avoid the need for a separate heavy-duty oil cooler.

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