[1]We never get tired of seeing high-powered cars on the dynamometer. There’s something radical and awesome about seeing 1,000+ horsepower cars confined to such a small space, struggling to break loose and wreck havoc upon the shop that seeks to tame it. Ok, maybe that is a bit dramatic, but our point remains the same; we love watching powerful cars hitting the rollers.
Why? Just watch this video of a 1,300 horsepower, twin-turbo 2005 Chevy Corvette, built by Dallas Performance and found by GT Spirit [2] on YouTube. It rocks the dyno. Just how did they make such monstrous horsepower numbers?
To start, you of course need a Corvette. 2005 was the first year for the redesigned C6 Corvette, so you can be sure this particular car has been around the block. While the 400-horsepower LS2 is a good starting point, there is no replacement for displacement. To that end, the 6.0 liter (364 cubic inch) LS2 block was replaced by a 430 cubic inch LSx block, topped with Performance Induction LS3 heads and a single-plane intake and bigger injectors, and we’re guessing a camshaft with a grind favorable for turbochargers.
That’s because this bad black ‘Vette boasts two turbos, and what would have been a 700 or so horsepower engine now makes 1,302 horsepower at the wheels. How does 1,226 ft-lbs of torque sound to you? Pretty damn good, right? As you might expect, there are other modifications, like big wheels and huge brakes, but that’s not what this video is about. It’s about watching this beast go full-tilt, lurching against the tie-downs as it fills our ears with a mechanical symphony of torque and freedom. We can’t get enough of that sound, and it’s no wonder there are a million (and counting) dyno videos on YouTube.