Towards Legendary Status: the 2005 Chevrolet Corvette

Since its debut in 2005, the C6 Corvette has been a prominent attraction in the streets and racetracks with its superchargers, turbochargers, and stroker packages-tales from the Gen IV LS2.

David Gianechini of Missouri City, Texas, who together with his wife owned a silver ’05 with a six-speed and a scant 7,000 miles (from eBay), said, “The C6 is a daily driver to my Houston-based accounts-receivable management firm. As such, it has to be dependable. Determining how to modify the car to be fast, yet reliable, while on a budget became a challenge.”

David Coates, Motorsport Technologies operating officer, together with Gianechini, worked towards modifying the C6 Corvette into a better machine. Coates said, “As soon as the LS2 hit the market, we began research into creating engine packages that would handle extreme horsepower.”

“We can offer the customer a full range of choices, including stroker packages that can take the LS2 out to 455 ci as well as stock-block combinations that will handle 800 crankshaft horsepower. By pushing the envelope, two things became crystal clear: The LS2 block is very stout, but in order to handle the rigors of a power adder, tuning and heat management are critical,” he continued.

Motorsport Tech collaborated with ProCharger, its in-house cylinder-head and camshaft-design teams, to produce a well suited powertrain package that will give way for the C6 Corvette to gain 800 hp. According to a source, “the combo’s big hitter is a ProCharger H.O. Intercooled supercharger kit, which was outfitted at the factory with an upsized D-1SC head unit to facilitate boost levels of up to 12 psi.”

As they set goal for the engine to obtain sufficient circulating air, the LS2 powertrain was brought to Motorsport Tech to undergo treatment for their Stage II-E head-porting regimen. Oversized Ferrea stainless valves help flow in excess of 300 cfm on the intake, courtesy of fully hand-ported runners, bowl work, and a performance valve job with proprietary valve angles. Such valves were comprised with custom-ground “G1” cam measuring 228/232 degrees of duration and 0.588-/0.575-inch lift on a 113-degree love-separation angle. Stock-bore Cometic multi-layer gaskets together with arp head bolts and studs maintain a 10.9:1 compression.

Motortron 50-pound injectors and Kenne Bell Boost-A-Pump operates in conjunction with a stock C6 fuel pump. Intake-air temperature management has been the primary role of an Alky Control electronic methanol kit.

Cohen said, “In order to provide a tune that would extract the maximum safe power from the engine, we had to ensure that as parasitic heat from the blower built up, we maintained a delicate balance of timing and fuel. On these types of combinations, there is little to gain and everything to lose if the PCM starts pulling timing or leans out. The combination of the excellent ProCharger intercooler [and] supplemental assistance from methanol injection keeps the intake-air temperatures from ever exceeding 120 degrees, even when hot-lapped.”

Upon attaining performance satisfaction from C6 Corvette, Gianechini said, “[My wife and I] love driving the car around. By getting the C6 with the standard suspension, the car is always comfortable to drive, whether dodging potholes in the city or taking a trip out of town. Combine the power of the blown LS2, the luxurious ride, and a high-powered audio system, and you have a powerful dual-purpose car. Although the amenities are nice, the addictive nature of the ravenous motor's sound really gets me going. The boost from the ProCharger is almost instantaneous, and once the cam gets into the heart of the wide torque curve, the car is a handful. Even with the extremely high heat and humidity of Houston, the car has been a paragon of reliability.”