Aftermarket companies usually carry an ego about themselves that they can build the best program for certain vehicles. If you don't have an ego in that business, you might as well just file your walking papers.

That's why it was surprising to see Ken Lingenfelter, one of the foremost minds in the Corvette->ke1280 tuning scene, admit that the performing engine mods on the 2014 Corvette Stingray will be a challenge for them.

Speaking to “The Truth About Cars,” Lingenfelter admitted that the 6.2-liter V-8 LT1 engine that the Corvette Stingray carries is the first direct injected V-8 engine from GM and as such, will take considerable studying to get it up to tuning speeds. Lingenfelter also said that the engine is designed with performance limits and that tuners may struggle giving the car anything north of 700 horsepower with 1,000 horsepower, as Lingenfelter has been famous of, considered as "impossible".

He further explains this by saying that cars with direct injection proves a challenge when tuners want to swap heads and cams and makes significant modifications outside of the car's factory fuel parameters.

The thing that makes it tough, though, is that the LT1 engine already boasts of the highest specific output of any GM engine ever with 450 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque. That's not going to be a problem with the LS engine that the Corvette Stingray ZR1 is expected to come with, but with 700 horsepower on tap for that particular powertrain, that leaves little room for the Corvette Stingray's LT1 powerplant for tuners to work it.

At the end of the day, the Corvette Stingray's engine will still have room for performance improvement, but not to the level that Lingenfelter has come to be known for.

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