C4 Corvette - ALL The QUIRKS!

The C four Corvette is chock full of weird but endearing quirks .

So in this video , I'm covering the top 40 notable quirks and lightning speed .

If you want to get to know America's Radd sports car .

This is your stop .

This is retro cars forever .

My name is Doug De Miro .

I'm sorry .

My name is actually Brad Hanson and I'm here today to help you get to know the quirkiest car that I've ever owned .

The four generation C four Corvette .

My car is a 1996 collector edition , but this video will cover all C fours and I'll be sure to mention where quirks and features might be different in other model years .

Now , last year , I made another video covering the top five secret corks of the C four , which was a deep dive into five more complicated engineering quirks that proved to be the most popular car video on my channel .

So today I'm following it up with a lightning round of 40 simpler but still notable quirks , including some handy features that many current c for owners might not even know about .

For example , quirk number one , opening the hatch while you can use the key fob or this yellow button in the center console .

You can also use this nearly hidden button on the side of the door .

Once the hatch is open , you realize that it's one of the only automobiles ever made with a frameless hatch design .

Check it out , the glass goes right up to the edge because of this .

The owner's manual stresses that you need to close the hatch by this center , only close it from the edges and you might break the glass another hidden but handy quirk is this cargo covered all C four coops have this integrated into the back side of the luggage area who says General Motors didn't know how to build cars in the eighties and nineties .

This is brilliant .

Actually , this next quirk does make me annoyed at GM engineers so you can also access the cargo area by pushing forward these little tabs in the back of each seat , which is nice .

The problem is when the passenger seat is empty , the seat will flop forward under breaking like a drunk college student .

And when you're pushing the car hard on a mountain road like this , that floppy seat is just as distracting in the floor of the cargo area .

You'll notice a little hatch , open it up and there's extra storage for whatever , spared no expense .

Now on C fours made in the first two model years , there were two storage bins in the back , but that changed in 1986 when the C four became one of the first cars on the market with an anti lock braking system or a BS .

For short , the A BS module ended taking the space of the storage bin that was behind the driver and they kept the vestigial hash so that you could easily access the module for service .

Now that ABS module behind the driver is the source of an alarming sound .

That's actually just another C four quirk .

You see after each start up , the module performs a self test that goes on for just a second triggered .

Once the car reaches a few MPH , it sounds like this totally normal .

It just means your ABS is working , enjoy your drive .

Another advanced quirk that also started in 1986 was this resistor pellet in the ignition key ?

This acts like a primitive anti theft computer chip to prevent hot wiring commonplace nowadays .

But this was one of the very first cars in the market to have this feature .

Speaking of keys , this fob is the source of another quirk .

That's way ahead of its time .

Starting in 1993 all Corvettes came with passive keyless entry system or P K E .

For short , this system can sense when the fob is nearby and without you even pressing a button will automatically unlock the car when you get near it and locking the car with the tooth of the horn .

When you walk away .

Now , the P K E system can annoy owners when they're moving around the car while cleaning it or working on it with the system constantly locking in and locking and sounding the horn .

But Chevy thought of that and made the P K E system easy to arm or disarm either way , all you have to do is sit and sign with the keys out .

Pull down the door button for a few seconds and wait for the system to cycle the locks easy .

Another key quirk is this little button on the ignition itself .

It's got to be pressed in to remove the key and to even put a nice little pad here in case you hit the dash with your knuckles in the process .

Now , let's take a look at the other quirks of the cabin .

The first thing you'll notice is how high the seals are , but I already covered that in another video which you can see right here right now .

I'd just like to point out how ridiculously narrow the foot wheels are , especially for the passenger .

These formats .

Sure have some funky shapes once you're in , you'll notice there are a surprising number of nakedly exposed screwheads for a car that stickered for $40,000 .

And up back in the day overall , I actually think this interior is a nice place to spend time in , but this was an unfortunate detail that Chevy overlooked .

Now , let's talk horns , the steering wheels made before 1990 had the horn button dead center , right where you'd expect , but hit that center section on a later C four and all you'll be doing is poking the airbag and sign like the Pillsbury Doughboy .

Instead you got to hit either of the horn buttons that are on the sides .

A good quirk to know before the crap hits the fan .

Speaking of airbags Corvettes made from 1994 onwards had a passenger side airbag stored behind this panel here .

Now , if that panel kind of looks like a glove box , that's no accident because this space was a glove box in earlier models before it was occupied with an airbag .

But Chevy must have felt guilty for taking away that precious space for your stuff because they created new secret storage compartments in the door panels .

So if you have a 1994 to 1996 Corvette , look inside , you might find some hidden treasure .

Our curse , your sudden but inevitable betrayal .

But what about a place to put your bed ?

Hooray C Force have two cup holders hidden under this lid next to the gear shift .

But boo if you have a manual , you won't be able to shift in the top gear or reverse without spilling your nutritious drink all over the carpeting right above the shifter is another quirk .

This C R 02 button .

What the heck does that stand for ?

Well , C R two stands for chromium dioxide , which is the makeup of upgraded cassette tapes that are also known as high bias chrome tapes or type two cassette tapes .

These high fidelity cassette tapes aren't super common .

But if you're playing one press this button to rock out with the extra bandwidth that these special cassettes provide .

Chevy even thought of a handy place to store your cassette tapes because there is one more storage area here in the center console .

And you can see they thoughtfully included these little partitions for your favorite tapes .

How rad is that ?

You'll notice there's another skinny space in the side of the center console and that's a nicely sculpted cubby for the owner's manual .

Now , inside the owner's manual , you'll find two nice little extra , says a Corvette branded pin and a Corvette branded pen light .

If you still have both in working condition decades later .

Well , aren't you lucky ?

One more quirky thing you'll find in the center console is this little wrench which has this little home that it snaps into this wrench is to remove the target top .

You see every single C four Corvette coop has a removable top section .

But because the top is a structural element , you have to loosen four bolts , one on each corner to remove it .

And that's where this little wrench comes in handy .

Once the top is removed , you can stow it in the luggage area , the edges slide into these two rubber bits and the top latches into place in the back .

One last top quirk on C four coops is the fact that most of them came with not one but two different tops .

There's the body colored fiberglass top with black headliner or my personal preference , the see through but more fragile acrylic top .

These target tops are worth about a grand each .

So if you're interested in buying AC four , make sure to ask the seller if they happen to have both of them .

Now , let's talk about the quirky power seat adjustments of the C four .

Now , if you have these upmarket sports seats , you get a ton of seat adjustments including three different lumber supports .

My personal favorite adjustment is the side bolsters which can be brought in to hug you for the turns or made wide for those times where you just ate a full meal at Taco Bell .

Now , what's really slick is all those power seat adjustments can also be made available for the passenger .

All you have to do is flip this switch and the passenger can adjust your seat just like the driver can .

Now , despite all those power adjustments , the actual rake of the seat backs is still manual adjusted with this little lever at the front bottom corner of each seat .

So what if something breaks on these seats and you need to get underneath to fix it ?

Thankfully , Chevrolet thought of that because the bottom seat cushion is ridiculously easy to remove just release a single clip at the front of the seat and the whole cushion comes right out .

Simple as that in the center of the dash .

Some people might look at this little screen and think it's some sort of antiquated infotainment system .

It's actually just a space to display warning lights as well as alerting you .

If you turn off your A S R traction control system , which you can turn on or off at this button to the left of the steering wheel here .

Now when you start the car , you'll see how quirky the gauges are in these cars , early C fours had a completely digital dash while 1990 later C fours like mine got this rad mix of digital and analog but notice how the gauges on the right swing down when the values are going up , take some getting used to one other .

Quirk is the gas gauge , which is this L CD bar graph in the center .

When you get low on gas , it'll say reserve which makes you feel like you're piloting a jet fighter on just reserve tanks .

Yeah .

Now the information in this center section can be customized using these buttons to the right this functions like a trip computer or you can even display digital information .

That's the same as the analog info .

A great way to double check your numbers in case your gauge needs on the right are having an issue .

The windshield wipers don't work in the typical left to right , sweeping motion .

Instead they move like this by now , astute , viewers might have wondered where the emergency brake is as it's not in the typical central position in .

Instead it's located to the left of the driver's seat .

Way down here .

Here's how it works to engage the parking brake .

You'll pull up on the handle .

But notice that when you let go , it goes limp which allows you to get in and out without having to vault over it .

This light on the dash will illuminate to tell you it's engaged to disengage .

You'll lift the lever , then you'll press this button on the top as you lift the lever back down again .

No light .

So you're good to go .

Now , if you have the six speed manual transmission like mine that was offered starting in 1989 you might notice another potentially alarming sound .

These Z F six speeds have a dual mass fly wheel and some other quirky engineering bits .

So while idling , you might notice this light whirring noise and that noise will go away when you push in the clutch .

Now , that worrying sound is not the clutch or a throw out bearing going away .

That's a totally normal sound .

Well , normal for AC four anyways , but that's not the only Z F six speed quirk as it also has the dreaded 1 to 4 skip shift feature , also known as CGs four computer aided gear selection .

This was installed by G M to game the EPA S fuel economy test .

So they narrowly avoid the gas guzzler tax .

Here's how KGS works .

If your car is warmed up and you're accelerating from first gear at a gentle pace , the computer will lock out second gear , guiding the lever down into fourth .

Instead this little dash light will illuminate whenever it's active .

If you're driving quickly , this lockout won't happen and you'll go straight from first to second .

But this is really annoying if you're not used to it .

So many owners resort to plug and play a your kits , but even those won't stop this light from eliminating personally .

When I first got my car , I found KGS very frustrating .

It felt like I was constantly battling the gear lever , but eventually I gained 1/6 sense to when Kgs would activate .

So I learned to live with this work and hey , I live in Los Angeles .

So I'll take any fuel saving measure I can get because the gas prices here look like this right now .

Now , let's talk about a few courses that you'll notice when things go wrong with your C four , starting with the location of the tire changing equipment , which on my car is in two different spots .

The jack is in the luggage area hidden underneath that storage bin that we talked about earlier .

And the lug nut wrench for my car can be found behind the driver's seat .

The massive clamshell hood is one of my favorite c four courts , the entire front end including the headlights lifts up in one piece , giving you amazing access to the engine and front suspension .

And when the hood is closed , the cut line is hidden in the perimeter here giving the tops of the fenders , a uniquely clean appearance that I love .

The hood prop itself is kind of quirky to put the hood down .

You squeeze this middle section here with your hand and that allows the two sections to collapse for the hood to go down neat feature .

But if you're working on your own engine , be careful not to accidentally bonk this section or else you'll have £70 of hood dropping on your head .

Ok .

Our last quirk is one that's always bugged me that I just want to get off my chest because I think the exterior styling is almost perfect .

So what isn't perfect ?

These cheap black door handles ?

You see , no matter what color your C four is , it's gonna come with black colored handles .

Probably saved a few bucks on each Corvette by having all the handles be the same color .

But the dead center of the car is such a terribly obvious place to cut costs .

That said if the only exterior detail you can pick on is the door handles .

It is still a dang beautiful car quirks and all .

So there you go .

The top 40 C four quirks but Now , let's hear it from you .

Any quirks that I might have missed , especially if I didn't cover it in this other five secret quirks video .

What's your favorite or least favorite Corvette Quirk ?

Even if it's on another generation , let us know in the comments below .

Don't forget to subscribe , hit the like button , you know the drill .

Thanks for watching .

We'll see you next time .