Lingenfelter Engineering’s 9-Second Street/Strip C6 ZR1 Corvette
It’s hard to believe that it’s been two years since Chevrolet floored the automotive world with the supercharged, 205-mph Super Vette – the ‘09 ZR1. Building quick and fast tuner Corvettes is one thing, building a mass-produced supercar is another. Tuners can get away with a lot because they aren’t building to durability and production standards. The Corvette and Cadillac lines are automobiles that GM should be very proud of. We’ll forgive them for the Aztec and Cimarron.
John Lingenfelter had a long and distinguished drag racing career with 13 national event wins in Competition Eliminator. His company Lingenfelter Performance Engineering (LPE) has build some of the most powerful tuner GM cars on the market. Sadly, John died from injuries sustained in a crash during the NHRA Summit Sports Compact event in 2003, but his passion for mega-horsepower lives on at LPE. It was just a matter of time before LPE worked their magic on the LS9. The 638-hp power figure is from a production engine designed for high mileage durability. If you don’t mind the possibility of grenading your LS9, there’s MUCH more juice to be found in the engine.
Even though Corvettes have never been designed for drag racing, the quarter-mile sprint is an excellent measure of a machines ability. The acceleration aspect of the quarter-mile is a measure of traction, gearing, and power. The MPH through the timing lights at the end of the track is a measure of raw power. Higher speeds at the end of the drag strip require more power.
LPE had been tinkering on their Jetstream Blue ZR1 since Spring ‘09 and on July 3, 2009 squeezed a 10.03 @141.50-mph at Muncie Dragway by using some supercharger and intake upgrades, along with radial slicks and skinny front tires. On the dyno, the ZR1 cranked out 739 HP at the rear wheels! Then on December 9, 2009 the team took the ZR1 solidly into the 9’s with a best run of 9.813 @ 145.74 mph!
Smokin the Mickey Thompson ET Street Radials is easy work for the LPE ZR1.
The callout says it all. That’s torque – that “other” horsepower!
So, how’d they do that? Surprisingly, with bolt-on parts. LPE setup the ZR1 with a pulley upgrade, a modified overdrive balancer, a 4” diameter air intake tube with mass air sensor, a ported stock throttle body, modifications to the intercooler, 109 octane unleaded fuel, P345/35R18 Mickey Thompson ET Street Radials on the rear, and M&H Racemaster P185/50R18 tires on the front. Surprisingly, the stock exhaust manifolds were used with a factory cat back exhaust system with a Mild to Wild Switch.
When you watch the below video, note how stout the engine sounds during the burnout and how quiet the car sounds at an idle. If you watch the video a few times, you’ll note that the motor bogged slightly after the launch, indicating that the car probably could produce better times with more practice. Also note how animal-like the engine sounds between shifts. There’s a distinct, raspy “snarl.” If this car was made into a serious drag machine, (several hundred pounds taken out of the car, taller gearing, and open headers) it would probably be running in the mid-8’s – AT LEAST!
Let’s add some historical perspective here. Back in the late ‘60s a street big-block Corvette could easily be goosed into the mid-to-low 13’s. The Baldwin-Motion Phase III cars were guaranteed to run 11.5. At the ‘70 Chevrolet press preview, an open-headered all-aluminum ZL-1 Corvette with a modified Turbo 400 transmission and 4:88 gears ran a 10.89 @130 mph. The “Astoria-Chas” L-88 ‘67 Corvette Roadster had a best-ever run of 10.47. And at the 1970 NHRA Winternationals Grumpy Jenkins and Ronnie Sox were running 10.0s with all-out big-block race cars with big dual quads and tunnel ram engines.
True, true, the LPE ZR1 Corvette IS supercharged, but it’s still a street car with air conditioning and a stereo sound system. LPS isn’t finished with their ZR1, so stay tuned Corvette fans. So if you have some cash left over after buying your ZR1, LPE will be happy to set you up with your own 9-second Corvette. – KST
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This article was written by K. Scott Teeters, an editor for Alex Schult of www.SmokinVette.com and a freelance columnist and artist with VETTE Magazine. His monthly column, “The Illustrated Corvette Series” has been running consecutively in VETTE since 1997 and can be found on the very last page of every issue. You can find reproductions of his Corvette art at: IllustratedCorvetteSeries.com
