A front splitter and rear...
A front splitter and rear spoiler help distinguish the Street Attack from garden-variety Z06s. The look is racy, without being over the top.
Increasing horsepower dramatically is not a simple proposition. In fact, the higher the baseline power level, the harder it becomes to produce a meaningful gain. Consider the progression of tuner performance during the last couple of decades. Twenty years ago, Reeves Callaway's twin-turbo Corvettes set the enthusiast market afire. At a time when the stock, TPI-injected 350 engine was rated at 245 horsepower, Callaway's hair-dried version made 345 horses. That's a serious increase, no matter how you measure it.
A few years later, the Corvette's LT1 engine was rated at 300 hp, while Callaway's Supernatural version developed 400. Both Callaway engines generated 100 hp more than their stock counterparts. But looking at the percentages, the LT1 version only made about 34 percent more power than stock, whereas the original L98 version topped the 40 percent mark.
Most engine builders will tell you that extracting an extra 100 horses from any powerplant is no easy task, even with a power adder, such as a turbo. And as we mentioned at the top of this story, it's a whole lot harder when your baseline output is formidable to begin with.
Katech Performance's naturally...
Katech Performance's naturally aspirated Street Attack LS7 puts out 600 horsepower, thanks to a higher-lift cam, mild head work, and free-flowing exhaust. Compression is raised to 11:1, and new forged pistons are slipped in, too. A color-matched intake is optional.
Such is the case with Katech Performance's Street Attack package for the C6 Z06. Katech adds around 100 hp to the already lofty 505-horse factory rating-without a pressure-inducing power adder. For those of you who aren't blessed with a calculator for a brain, that works out to be a 20 percent increase over stock.
"Yes, it's tough to get a substantial power increase from an engine as optimized as the Z06's LS7," says Katech's Caleb Newman. "But it can be done. We've just had more 'homework' time with the engine than just about everybody else."
The homework time Newman describes grew out of Katech's close relationship with GM and the Corvette racing team. The company was familiar with the production and racing LS7 engines early on, and was flowing heads and determining optimal cam profiles almost before anyone else knew they existed. Consequently, Katech's approach to building more power with the LS7 seems relatively simple: more air in and out, thanks to a different cam; lightly touched heads; higher, 11:1 compression; and an obstruction-free exhaust system.
The optional World Challenge...
The optional World Challenge hood seems wholly appropriate for any car equipped with the upgraded LS7.
The devil is, as always, in the details. The stock Z06 already comes with a pretty big cam, and simply adding more lift and/or duration could have unwanted effects on idle, drivability, and stopping power (there needs to be at least some vacuum, you know). It's also difficult to improve on the LS7's heads, which are versions of the cavernous units used on the C5-R and C6.R race cars. They're already huge, with straight runners and pie-sized valves. Where do you go from there?
"The LS7 heads are about all you could ask for in size," says Newman. "What we do...is uncork the engine and enable it to move the air we know it can handle."
Inside the Engine
Not surprisingly, Katech was a little reluctant to give us the exact specs of the lobes of the camshaft. From personal experience, we can say it delivers a spine-tingling lope, yet remains surprisingly docile in everyday traffic. Of course, tuning is a big part of the equation. Katech's calibration raises the idle speed a couple hundred rpm, which helps maintain stoplight-to-stoplight friendliness.
Color-matched stitching and...
Color-matched stitching and other minor upgrades grace the interior. Katech is exploring additional interior enhancements, such as racing seats.
"Drivability is the 800-pound gorilla in a car like this," says Newman. "Every vehicle or engine we build is a little different. We've certainly built Z06s with more than 600 horsepower, but streetability really suffers at levels much higher than that."
Drivability is, of course, a subjective term. Some Street Attack Z06s built by Katech have been equipped with optional World Challenge-spec camshafts and fully ported heads, which combine to push output past the 650hp mark-plenty of fun in a track car, sure, but probably not a great setup for stop-and-go commuting.
Regardless of their intended use, all Street Attack engines use a similar core. And while Katech's cam profile may be a secret, we can divulge some of the package's other engine details:
. Hardcoat-anodized forged aluminum pistons
. Stock titanium connecting rods with solid bronze small-end bushings (replace the stretch-prone stock split bushings)
. PSI high-lift valve springs and Katech titanium retainers, high-speed lifters
. Engine assembly is balanced and blueprinted, with deck-plate honing