The C6-generation Chevrolet Corvette was by no means a slouch on the track. The car offered impressive performance at a bargain price compared to other sports cars from around the world, especially Europe. But, its interior was highly criticized. The new C7-generation model addressed not just that problem area, but a number of others and put the Chevrolet Corvettte back on top of the sports car world as Americas sports car, besting performance of its higher priced competition. The sports car is already pretty powerful from the factory, but the Texas based aftermarket tuning company, Hennessey Performance, knew they could get even more out of the car so they created the HPE500 upgrade program. The new list of upgrades includes everything from engine modifications, suspension and chassis goodies, forged Corvette wheels, and other special accessories that make the car even more special.
The new Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and its LT1 6.2 liter V-8 engine were developed using millions of hours of testing and engineering. The result was a perfect combination of power, speed, and fuel economy. The team at Hennessey Performance installed their new HPE500 designed specifically for the engine with the goal of sending even more power to the rear forged Corvette wheels, The team started things off by installing a new pair of long tube stainless steel headers to reduce backpressure and mated them to new stainless steel midpipes and high flow catalytic converters. The engine was then given a full ECU software tune to optimize spark and fuel delivery, resulting in a total of 507 bhp at 6,300 RPM and 518 lb-ft. of torque at 3,800 RPM being sent to the rear wheels. This enables the Stingray to reach 60 mph in just 3.8 seconds and blast through the quarter mile in 11.7 seconds at 122 mph much quicker than its stock counterpart.
With the added power, attention had to be paid to the chassis. Here, the new Chevrolet Stingray was outfitted with a set of adjustable Penske coilovers that allow for improved handling performance characteristics. Hennessey Performance then installed a new set of high performance Brembo brakes that could handle stopping duties for the fast sports car. They are hidden behind a set of forged Corvette wheels that reduce weight over the factory units they replace and help increase the cars overall performance. The forged Corvette wheels can be ordered in a variety of colors and finishes as well as larger sizes to ensure maximum traction with the Michelin Pilot Supersport tires.
