- hennessey performance engineering will add some horsepower oomph to your car, but for these videos they decided to simply go with the stock options.
- putting the c8 against mustang and charger in both dig and rolling drag races proves . . . well, you'll have to watch for yourself.
- hennessey is looking forward to upping the c8's standard 495 horsepower to 1200 horsepower with its performance upgrades, but even in stock form, the c8 likes to show off.
covid-19 means we're all staying at home more than usual, but the desire to spin some tires doesn't quit when we're stuck inside. if your need for speed has grown more than it has receded recently, the folks at hennessey would like to offer you some relief.
it all starts with the 2020 c8 corvette, which makes sense since interest in the new mid-engine car matches our assessment that this is the best corvette yet. but being at the top of its own heap doesn't mean the c8 automatically beats out competitors from other brands, like a ford mustang or a dodge charger. that's why hennessey took the cars to the track with lots of cameras in tow. despite hennessey's raison d'être, which is to be a high-performance tuning company, these are bone-stock models to show what the starting point is for what hennessey plans to offer for the c8 down the road.
up first, it's the corvette against the gt500 mustang. the two cars sprint down the straightaway from a dead stop and then race again, this time starting at a 40-mph roll. we won't spoil what happens in the two-and-a-half-minute video—you need more things to watch during the quarantine, right?—but we will say that it has almost 400,000 views in the three days since it was uploaded. is this a fair comparison? people can disagree, given how different the powertrains and power levels are, with 495 horsepower in the c8 vs 760 hp in the mustang. is it a video for performance fans to enjoy while their own cars sit mostly idle in their driveway? people can agree.
up next is the c8 z51 vs. a 2020 dodge charger hellcat widebody sedan, once again both in stock form (and with 495 vs. 707 hp, respectively). as with the mustang, the two vehicles here race against each other from a dig and then from a rolling start. this video's been up a week longer than the corvette vs. mustang one and is sitting at almost 640,000 views.
of course, official higher-performance versions of the c8 are coming (we've seen leaks of the specs for the z06, the zr1, the zora hybrid, and the grand sport), but, as hennessey announced late last year, the hennessey performance engineering team will be offering a number of performance upgrades for the 2020 c8 corvette. for now, they're talking about a twin-turbo system that includes a specially built lt2 v8 engine with forged aluminum pistons (10.0:1 compression ratio) and forged steel connecting rods, promising up to 1200 horsepower from its tuned c8s.
hpe says it has modified more than 500 c7 corvettes and expects to work on "many more" c8s starting in 2020, so if you've got the car and the money, you'll be able to shoot your own videos like this some day.