Hennessey Performance, the Texan tuning company is responsible for many mad creations. Lately, they have been pumping more power into European metal. However, they have reverted back to their roots with the creation of a 1200bhp Corvette ZR1.
As with all recent power upgrades from the company, it’s available in three stages. These range from the sluggish HPE850 package, to the HPE1000 and HPE1200 kits. You can probably hazard a guess as to what those numbers stand for.
The standard car is already a rather brutal machine, producing a staggering 744bhp and 969Nm of torque from a 6.2-litre supercharged V8. It also features some pretty hefty aero kit for maximum downforce, making it the fastest Corvette ever produced. Of course, that wasn’t enough for Hennessey…
The HPE850 package gets you 850bhp and 969Nm of torque, thanks to the addition of a high-flow induction system, long-tube stainless steel headers, new midpipes, high-flow catalytic converters and an ECU tweak.
The HPE1000 package includes the same modifications seen on the HPE850 kit. It also gets a custom camshaft, upgraded supercharger, upgraded gearbox and various other reinforced components. This will give you the magic 1000bhp figure and a tarmac-tearing 1309Nm of torque.
Topping the range is the HPE1200 package, for 1200bhp and a face-reorienting 1445Nm of torque. As you can imagine, Hennessey makes significant modification to bring the already-powerful ZR1 to this power level. They have tweaked the factory supercharger, added high-flow throttle bodies, new induction system, custom camshaft, reinforced internals, long-tube stainless steel headers, high-flow catalytic converter and a reinforced gearbox to prevent it becoming a box full of metal-oil slush. To get the full 1200bhp, you will need high octane race fuel – the HPE1200 Corvette ZR1 produces around 1100bhp on standard 93 octane fuel.
Hennessey is yet to reveal the performance figures for each of the power stages, but with the standard 744bhp car sprinting from standstill to 100kmph in just 2.9sec and hitting a top speed of 337kmph, Hennessey-fettled machines aren’t going to be slow. All packages come with a three-year or 58,000-km warranty. Pricing and availability are available upon request.
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