757 hp and 777 ft-lb SAE ratings published by Reese Callaway for his 2016 Corvette C7 Z06 (along with some interesting claims)

As already mentioned in this blog on several occassions, good ole Reese Callaway makes a decent living (including multiple tupee supply) selling assurances of greatness to the automotive crowd.

Although not limited to +General Motors  only, for the purpose of this blog, this is the scope of his activities.

As already mentioned here, after whacking out a sizable hole in the bonnet of base Corvette C7 Stingray and applying the usual recipe consisting of a self contained supercharger/cooler unit and bringing up the base Stingray power level to a respectable 600 something hp, Reese decided to cash in on the GM's newest flagship and come up with Corvette C7 Z06 SC757.  For cool 17 grand, the lucky buyer can apparently add extra 107 SAE certified ponies to the stock LT4 engine and even more torque.  Sounds impressive?  Maybe to untrained kool aid sipping Corvette enthusiasts but there are certain minor details that somehow get omitted.

First of all, the cost of upgrade vs. hp return.  For 20 grand, a "lucky" buyer gets 627 hp, from formerly rated at 455 hp LT1 motor.  The net increase is 172 hp, with per hp coming to 116 dollars, steep but not as nearly as steep as with Z06 UPGRAYEDD.

For Z06, Reese charges 16995 bucks but... there is a small caveat: the Z06 already comes with a supercharger, which Reese graciously keeps, unless someone wants to pay up 2500 dollars in addition to the original cost.  When these two are added up the cost raises quickly to 19495 dollars, while the horsepower gain comes in at measly 107 hp.  When the real cost of this UPGRAYEDD is considered, the cost per extra hp comes to a whopping 182 dollars and this is on par with power upgrades usually reserved for lamborghini and other super exotics.

As already mentioned here, besides the "proprietary" 2.3 l supercharger and tripple heat exchangers, there is absolutely nothing, with regards to hardware upgrades that comes with UPGRAYEDD, like in absolutely nothing, not even a better air induction system or God forbid revised front bumper accommodating more robust radiator and accommodations for an actual oil and transmission coolers or power steering cooler (the stock electric power steering overheats like a mofo, resulting in complete loss of power assistance during spirited track driving event).

Of course there is no improvement in hot air extraction, either, no louvered fenders or any other measures.  The trademark hacksaw special hood hole is not designed to allow for any airflow around the supercharger housing and instead relies on convection as the driving force to extract extra heat.

Can the convection suffice as an actual extra engine cooling measure?  Unfortunately it cannot, especially with high ambient temperatures and the fact that the entire engine block serves as a giant heat sink.  Had Callaway employ some actual heat extracting and reducing measures, maybe the whole thing would be worthwile but the way it is being sold, it is one giant bullshit job, aimed at extracting the maximum profits at minimum effort.  As a secondary reason, there is a matter of the factory warranty which clearly was important to Callaway to maintain high profit margins.  As with the OEM set up, the engine management system will still retard the timing and reduce the power while increasing the heat generation due to the extra power being created.

So is the Callaway Z06 the actual most track capable Corvette ever?  No fucking way.  It is still the same failed effort, capable of higher power output but still plagued by the very basic design flaws that make the factory version such a piece of shit.  Yes, the car will discover the traction limits and wear ratings of the tires but in the end, it will be still the same flawed design suited for Cars and Coffee competition and not the track duty Juechter claimed the flagship was capable to achieve.