After six long and beautiful generations, the Chevrolet Corvette is just as much a hot commodity as it was in 1953 when the first concept was rolled out for all to see. This American-made sports car comes in four different trims: Standard, Grand Sport, Z06, and ZR1.
The standard Corvette and the Grand Sport are both powered by a 6.2L V8 engine that pumps out 430hp and 424 lb-ft of torque. Add the upgraded exhaust system and the models get 436hp and 425 lb-ft of torque. The Grand Sport differentiates itself from the standard model with a few upgrades, Z06 styling cues, and its won gear and rear-axle ratios. The Corvette Z06 is powered by a 7.0L V8 engine producing 505hp and 470 lb-ft of torque and the newer ZR1 boasts a 6.2L supercharged V8 delivering 638hp and 604 lb-ft of torque to the table.
All engines are mated to either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission.
The quarter of a mile sprint may seem easy given the "simplicity" of driving a car flat out along a straight line, but as we’ve seen in the past at the Texas Mile event, it’s not as easy as it looks.
A few months after a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 crashed while attempting to hit 230 mph at Texas Mile, a new team called Late Model Racing brought their ridiculously tuned-up Chevrolet Corvette to the tarmac for a shot at the rarefied air of hitting that same 230 mph mark.
With a twin-turbo, 440-cubic-inch engine that produces 1,500 horsepower, LMR’s monstrous Corvette C6 nudged past its target speed, hitting 231 mph and doing it despite a 32 mph head wind.
While hitting their mark with a car that produces 1,500 horsepower seems easy on paper, we all know that it’s definitely easier said than done. Watching these guys hit 231 mph is definitely an impressive achievement, one that we feel they’ll try to break at the soonest possible time.
We love the Chevrolet Corvette C5 so fiercely that it’s going to take a real good aftermarket tuning program to make us think that it’s going to work on the American sports car. Believe us when we say that the Corvette is one of the few sports cars that looks inherently good by itself and tuning companies often are left with two options for their programs: hit or miss.
German aftermarket specialist, Wittera, came up with a new widebody aero package, to go with some minor performance tweaks, for their new program for the Corvette C5. After looking at the evidence and the numbers involved, we like the smell of what these guys are cooking.
For starters, the widebody kit is being offered with a choice of either carbon fiber or a high-grade glass fiber-reinforced plastic with the latter being subjected to what Wittera calls ’tempering.’ This process means that the parts are heated at 149° F (65° C) before being cooled into a mold for 25 minutes, thereby making the parts sturdier to avoid the potential for cracks.
In addition to the two kit choices, the program also offers fenders on the front and rear end, door and rocker panels, a rear apron, and a front bumper that comes in two options: a deeper set that makes for a more aggressive widebody profile and a flat version that is used for Corvettes that have lowered suspensions. On top of that, Wittera is also offering customers a plethora of wheel choices that include 20 different sets (19" and 20") that customers can choose from.
All told, the whole set-up does justice to the Corvette by enhancing all of its features while also not going too overboard with the details. It’s a program that works excellent for the American sports car and is something that the folks over at Wittera should be very proud of.
The Chevelle was one of the most successful nameplates in Chevrolet’s history. It was produced from 1964 to 1977 in three different generations and four distinct body styles: Coupe, Sedan, Convertible, and Station Wagon. With 34 years of Chevelle-less history, it was only a matter of time before someone thought it was a good idea to bring back the Chevelle in some sort of revival vehicle.
This blast from the past comes to us as the Chevrolet "Corvelle" and was put together by an unknown builder that thought it would be a great idea to combine the chassis from a 1968 Chevelle and just about everything else from a 2007 Corvette. Only 15% of the Chevelle was left when the Corvette’s components were added in and the end result is a seamless construction of two Chevrolet icons.
The Chevrolet Corvelle will be put up for auction by RK Motors for $109,900. It is painted in the same LeMans Blue that was available on the ’68 Chevelle and the ’07 Corvette. Power will comes from a 6.0 liter LS2 V8 engine that delivers 400 HP and 400 lb-ft of torque mated to a 6-speed manual transmission.
Hit the jump to read more about the Chevrolet Corvelle Convertible.
Back in 2010, Chevrolet launched a unique program called the Corvette Engine Build Experience. This program gave do-it-yourselfers the chance to build their very own engines for models like the Corvette ZR1 and the Corvette Z06. That’s right, for $5,800, customers got the chance to be a part of the building experience, kind of like those restaurants that let customers help cook their own food. Whether this program needed a more powerful marketing campaign or this guy truly wanted to take part in the experience, Rick Hendrick - one of the world’s foremost experts in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing - recently took the dive into auto manufacturing with a 7.0L 505-horsepower LS7 engine for his Corvette Z06 Carbon Edition.
"As a Chevy enthusiast and lifelong gearhead, having the chance to experience GM’s hand-build engine assembly is a real privilege," said Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports. "I want to thank everyone at the Performance Build Center for this opportunity. It’s incredible to spend time with the people here and see first-hand these processes that produce some of the best engines in the world."
After Hendrick completes the engine build, his name will be put on a personalized nameplate that will be added to the engine before it goes to the Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green, Ky. for installation. Although this does seem to be a marketing ploy to bring more attention to the program, we have to admit that the thought of building our very own engine is pretty enticing. We just didn’t need Hendrick to build his own for us to think so.
Hit the jump for some specs on the Chevrolet 7.0L LS7 engine.
Fast Five, the fifth installment of the Fast and Furious franchise, opened last weekend to some pretty impressive grossing figures, around $83.6 million worth of box office sales, making it the highest grossing opening weekend film for the year.
The hype and attention surrounding the movie has apparently rubbed off on some people, including one comedian who is considered one of the foremost gearheads in the world. In the latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, Jay Leno invited movie car builder, Dennis McCarthy, to his garage to talk about one of the main cars that appeared in the movie: a replica of the C2 Corvette Grand Sport that McCarthy’s company built exclusively for the movie.
Featuring a suspension taken from the Corvette of the 80’s, McCarthy and his people went about the work of adding some touches to make it as real as possible. The custom body was given by Mongoose Motorsport and the car, despite it’s designation as a ’movie’ car, still has a powerful enough engine to produce 500 horsepower. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, then we highly suggest that you head over to your local AMC Theater to watch it.
In addition to the C2 Corvette Grand Sport, McCarthy also brought another one of the movie franchise’s iconic cars, the Dodge Charger R/T. This is the same car that was used by Vin Diesel in the fourth installment of the franchise, and comes with a faux blower on it.
Check out the latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage featuring McCarthy and the hero car of Fast Five. As an added bonus, the cameras even went back with McCarthy to his shop around the block to check out some other cars from the Fast & Furious franchise.
