Hardly had Hennessey announced its HPE1200 power kit for the Chevrolet Corvette C8 when Late Model Racecraft (LMR) stole the initiative with a demonstration of an early version of its own upgrade. Let’s have a look at the differences.
Not unexpectedly, both projects rely on high-end turbochargers to drive the engine to its maximum capacity – but there are nuances. Hennessey mounts its hardware at the rear bumper, whereas LMR manages to squeeze it under the hood. It puts air/water intercooler pipes there as well, ending up with plenty of tightly packed components. We’d be better off waiting for the tests to see if this layout proves viable.
The tuner also gives the new ‘Vette a cat-back exhaust system. With everything properly installed and configured, including the ECU, LMR expects 1,200 horsepower at the crank.