Tarmac Twisters: a term not normally used to describe the essence of Corvette, but rather brutish old-school cars swilling 116-octane leaded gas and tearing up the drag-tracks of this fair land. But do superb handling and a refined driving experience necessarily mean that a Vette can't excel at drag racing? We think not, and to prove the point, we issued a shout-out to Texas-area tuners and enthusiasts to bring out their high-powered late-model Vettes and turn them loose on the 1,320. The venue for the event was Lone Star Motorsports Park in Sealy, Texas, located just west of Houston alongside I-10-squarely in the epicenter of the state's notorious C5 and C6 horsepower wars. A total of seven Vettes accepted the challenge.
In our first installment, we'll showcase a trio of Vettes that demonstrate three different ways to build a brutal artificially aspirated C6. So sit back, close your eyes, and imagine the auditory bliss of force-fed LS-series engines reaching high-rpm crescendos while overwhelming g-forces slam you into the seat. How will the foes fare against each other, and will they put down impressive numbers or simply obliterate their tires? We're about to find out.
Author's note: LSMP is located 185 feet above sea level, and on a cool day the track can support record-shattering runs. Unfortunately, ambient temperatures on this day topped the century mark, and the combination of barometric pressure and dew point made the air similar to racing at 3,000 feet. Although we won't "correct" the e.t.'s to reflect sea-level conditions, suffice it to say that with these corrections, the runs that follow would have been notably quicker.
We'd like to thank the crew of Late Model Racecraft and Lone Star Motorsports Park, who made this event possible, as well as the great group of volunteers who kept things running smoothly throughout the day.
As the co-owner of Late Model Racecraft in Houston, Steven Fereday and his partner, Josh Ledford, are famous in LS-series racing for posting multiple class wins in the LSX shootout since 2003. When not racing, the firm turns out some of the nastiest LS-powered vehicles on the planet, going so far as to call itself "Home of the World's Quickest and Fastest Stock-Suspended LSXs." Fereday purchased this '07 C6 coupe as a present for his father, Ernest, a mere month before the event and promptly set about to taking the Z51-optioned coupe to the next level. After pondering his options, he decided to build a derivation of LMR's Twisted and Reaper packages for the C6.
The setup uses the stock 6.0L LS2 that has been bored and fitted with aftermarket rods and pistons to yield a 9:1 compression ratio. Ported LS2 cylinder heads, meanwhile, make a perfect fit for a ProCharger HO intercooled supercharger kit. To retain a completely innocuous idle, an LS6 cam was installed, while a top-notch exhaust system ensures that the C6 will transform into a boosted warrior when the go-pedal is mashed. The newly minted combination put down 600 rwhp on the LMR chassis dyno and should be able to run deep into the 11s.
Getting any high-powered C6 to put up impressive numbers on stock tires is a challenge, since you have to ease it out in order to maintain some level of traction without blowing the tires off. Launching gingerly at just 1,500 rpm, the tightly suspended C6 managed a best 60-foot time of 2.01. Manually shifted at 6,800 rpm, it went on to run an 11.572-second e.t. at a staggering 127.73 mph. With that type of trap-speed, a 10-second run should be easily possible with the addition of a set of drag radials. Impressive e.t.'s aside, the gorgeous Monterey Red Metallic coupe may be better suited for high-speed events, as evidenced by the duo's 190-mph average in the Texas Mile event.