Excelsior Motorsports Track Tuned Z06 Turns Up The Heat

It’s no secret that the C7 Corvette is very hot right now, with so many versions this already great machine is becoming more and more common. Today, we take a look at one pretty extreme C7 Z06 here in Southern California. Nestled in the heart of Escondido’s industrial district lies a very formidable Corvette chassis tuner and builder — Excelsior Motorsports. Owned and operated by a veteran in the road racing Corvette scene, Kushan Peykarian, Excelsior Motorsports has been in business for a little over 10 years, while Kushan has over 30 years of vast car building and tuning experience himself.

Peykarian also test all aftermarket parts, first hand, in a track environment before offering them to clients. He believes that this extra touch of thoroughness not only helps set Excelsior Motorsports apart from it’s competitors, but also helps them give real world data as hard proof to clients when building cars specific to their individual needs. We were invited to take a look at some of the recent developments Excelsior has made with their very own in house 2015 C7 Z06. The car serves as a test bed for concepts and designs for track-use applications of the C7 chassis.

Kushan wanted to make sure the factory lines were not overpowered, but complimented, all while retaining true track functionality.

Kushan tells us at first he wanted to see how far he could push the Z’s OEM mechanical grip and aero limits. In doing so he helped determine any weaknesses in the chassis and what areas to improve upon. Such a process required lots of seat time at the track while going back to the drawing board to see what did and didn’t work. When discovering the infamous cooling issue that claimed lots of other tracked C7 Z’s, Kushan developed an in-house package that has continued to keep their Z alive during even the hottest of track days. Having solved the cooling issues he discovered that the factory aero, although good for street use, lacked any real downforce and stability for track use.

So he collaborated with Nader Sharif of Built2Apex in designing and manufacturing a functional GT wing and splitter. For suspension TPC Racing RTX coilovers sit at all four corner with a digital damper controller inside the car.

rsz_dsc_1850Kushan says that since it is still a street car, there was no need to kill the cars spirit of and ride quality with traditional coilovers that would lack the OEM-style on the fly adjustability. AP Racing Pro 5000 R brakes sit at all four corner attached to custom designed three piece wheels by Raz at Race Tech Forged. The car is fast,wicked fast, so much so that Kushan tells us he had no trouble running down a new ACR Viper at his last track outing. This is very impressive for a car you could essentially drive to work (and get there fairly quickly we might add). All the while still being very street-able with all the original creature comforts with which it came off the showroom floor. Horsepower-wise the car is very much stock down to the tune, as at the moment Kushan is finishing up the chassis and suspension tuning before moving on to power. He tells us this is essential to thorough track tuning.

Here a client's car is the perfect example that you don't need a Z to have fun at the track.

We learned you don’t need a C7 Z06 to get this kind of performance into your weekend tracked C7. Kushan also has several clients with non-Z06 C7 and  Z51 model cars who have come in for similar treatment. The build level of Excelsior ranges from mild to wild as Kushan tells us about the C6 Z06 Time Attack project he has in the works. The project is still a bit of a secret in house, but he did show us some of what he is working on while asking us to stay hush hush on the subject. All we can tell you is that it will have lots of power, lots of grip, and lots of — wait, we can’t say that part. At any-rate, stay tuned as we look forward to hearing more from Kushan and Excelsior Motorsports.

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About the author

Cardea Blue

Cardea Blue has been writing off and on for the past few years while on active duty in the U.S. Navy. Having traveled the world doing what he loves, he picked up a few things about the car scene abroad. Current projects include a '98 WS6, '05 GTO, and a V6 Firebird. Cardea's primary passions are engines, no matter the make or manufacturer. He is a freelance contributor for Power Automedia.
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