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"     Corvette LT-1 Coupe      PRICE      List price, FOB Detroit     $5635       Price as tested:     west coast $7513       Price as tested includes standard equipment (4-wheel disc brakes), 350 L82 eng ($299), air cond ($452), AM/FM stereo ($276), alloy wheels ($175), power strg ($113) &amp;amp;amp; brakes ($46)      IMPORTER      Chevrolet Division General Motors Corp. Detroit, Mich. 48202      GENERAL      Curb weight, lb     3520       Test weight     3815       Weight distribution (with driver), front/rear, %     51/49       Wheelbase, in     98.0       Track, front/rear     58.7/59.5       Length     184.7       Width     69.0       Height     47.7       Ground clearance     4.3       Overhang, front/rear     42.8/43.9       Usable trunk space, cu ft     4.4       Fuel capacity, U.S. gal     18.0      ENGINE      Type     ohv V-8       Bore x stroke, mm     101.6 x 88.4       Equivalent in     4.00 x 3.48       Displacement, cc/cu in     5737/350       Compression ratio     9.0:1       Bhp @ rpm, net     250 @ 5200       Equivalent mph     115       Torque @ rpm, lb-ft     285 @ 4000       Equivalent mph     89       Carburetion     one Rochester (4V)       Fuel requirement     regular, 91-oct       Emissions, gram/mile:       Hydrocarbons     2.7       Carbon Monoxide     20.0       Nitrogen Oxides     2.4      DRIVE TRAIN      Transmission     4-sp manual       Gear ratios:       4th (1.00)     3.70:1       3rd (1.27)     4.70:1       2nd (1.64)     6.07:1       1st (2.20)     8.14:1       Final drive ratio     3.70:1      CHASSIS &amp;amp;amp; BODY      Layout     front engine/rear drive       Body/frame     steel ladder frame, separate fiberglass body       Brake system     11.75-in vented disc front &amp;amp;amp; rear, vacuum assisted       Swept area, sq in     639       Wheels     cast alloy, 15 x 8       Tires     Firestone GR 70-15       Steering type     recirc ball, power assist       Overall ratio     17.6:1       Turns, lock-to-lock     2.9       Turning circle, ft     37.0       Front suspension:     unequal-length A-arms, coil springs, tube shocks, anti-roll bar       Rear suspension:     lower lateral arms, axle shafts as upper lateral arms, transverse leaf spring, tube shocks      INSTRUMENTATION      Instruments: 160-mph speedo, 7000-rpm tach, 99,999 odometer, 999.9 trip odo, oil pressure, coolant temp, ammeter, fuel level, clock       Warning lights: brake system, door ajar, headlights, seatbelt, high beam, directionals      ACCOMMODATION      Seating capacity, persons     2       Seat width     18.0       Head room     35.5       Seat back adjustment, deg     0      MAINTENANCE      Service intervals, mi:       Oil change     6000       Filter change     12,000       Chassis lube     6000       Tuneup     12,000       Warranty, mo/mi     12/12,000      CALCULATED DATA      Lb/bhp (test weight)     15.2       Mph/1000 rpm (4th gear)     22.0       Engine revs/mi (60 mph)     2725       Piston travel, ft/mi     1580       R&amp;amp;amp;T steering index     1.07       Brake swept area, sq in/ton     336      RELIABILITY      From R&amp;amp;amp;T Owner Surveys the average number of trouble areas for all models surveyed is 12. As owners of earlier-model Corvettes reported 12 trouble areas, we expect the reliability of the Corvette to be average.       Traditional virtues have a way of fading into the background. In every field there is a constant flow of new and exciting things, ideas, techniques, attracting our interest and diverting our attention. We tend to think in terms of the new way, the fashionable way, and not to wonder if the new way is really the better way.   The has been with us now for 20 years. In 1973 as in 1953, it&amp;#039;s a true sports car. These days it&amp;#039;s a little softer and a little more raw than most sports cars at the same time. The Corvette has always been bigger than it needs to be, and this year it has grown externally once again with no gain in useful inside space or access. There is no more racing, not even under the various guises of the past. The ultra-performance engines are gone. Most important, the &amp;#039;73 Corvette is not the exciting new Corvette, not the mid-engine car promised to us (and by us to you) for this year. That is still most definitely on the way, however. We don&amp;#039;t pretend to understand the corporate policies and politics involved in its delay, but right now while other manufacturers of fast sports cars turn more and more to the mid-engine layout, we can say in good faith that the present Corvette -- the front-engine, rear-drive, fiberglass-body-car -- will be with us for three more years at least.   But don&amp;#039;t despair. The 1973 hasn&amp;#039;t grown much from the 1972. Its nose has been extended to accommodate a deformable covering for a sturdier bumper that gets displaced rearward in a 5-mph impact with a barrier, but that adds only 2.2 in. to total length -- not much for a bumper these days. The test Corvette was only 35 lb heavier than a comparable 1970 model with the same equipment (air conditioning, power-assisted steering, etc). It&amp;#039;s big and heavy, yes but not much bigger and heavier than before.   The major change this year was in the tires. For several years Corvettes came with Corvette-only tires, built to specifications drawn up by Corvette engineers. They were of conventional bias construction at first, then bias-belted when the other sports cars had changed over to radials.   This year the Corvette finally has radial tires, from either Goodyear or Firestone. Our test car had the Firestones. The change was not altogether desired by the Corvette people, but tiremakers showed a lack of interest in continuing to build a specialized tire for the Corvette and there was no problem getting steel-belt radials of the right size. So it was done, with some gains and some losses. Cornering power has been reduced, braking distances have increased and the tire used now is rated for a lower cruising speed, down from 140 to 120 mph. This last is academic for all but a handful of buyers, of course, but bad for the image. Tire life will be better, the car is more stable at speed, and wet-weather grip is improved. One could wish that the radials used were the best grade, like the Michelin XWX, but Zora Arkus-Duntov says such high-speed radials are noisy (true) and much more expensive (also true).   The buyer is assumed willing to pay for fancy wheels, though, and a new option this year is a set of American Racing Equipment alloy wheels in 15 x 8 size. They are attractive and do reduce unsprung weight, but their chief attraction is that they reduce total weight, by 8 lb per wheel and 40 lb per set. The 1973 car has guard beams in the doors and added insulation all over, along with the heavier bumpers, so to be strictly accurate the car has gained 75 lbs and these wheels allow it to lose 40.   There are three choices of engine this year; the standard 190-bhp 350 V-8, the giant 454 V-8 with 275 bhp and more weight, and the high-performance 350 with somewhat higher compression ratio, different camshaft and 250 bhp. Our test car had the latter engine, mated to the close-ratio 4-speed manual transmission and the highest numerical final-drive ratio in the catalog, all the better for maximum acceleration.   This engine and transmission work well together. As the measured data show, the L82 (that&amp;#039;s the option number for the engine) makes the Corvette competitively quick -- not so quick as the former race-based versions but more than quick enough to be up with other high-priced sports and GT cars. This engine can be bought with air conditioning, which the old racy engines could not have, so the buyer benefits here as well. And this 1973 engine does well in terms of drivability. No stumbles, no surge, thanks largely to the use of an air pump to control emissions instead of relying entirely on lean carburetion and retarded ignition. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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