The new Chevrolet Corvette Stingray should be a car that takes its mods well (part of the appeal of buying one, I guess), so this HPE700 Twin Turbo by Hennessey is definitely a car to get excited about, especially since there’s still a bit to wait for GM to release its own souped-up variants.
Its name says it all: a twin turbo setup is used to bring the total horsepower figure to 707 hp, up from the car’s original 450 hp; torque is lifted too, to 661 lb-ft or almost 900 Nm – that may pose a problem for the tires. Still, the quoted time to sixty is 2.9 seconds and it completes the quarter-mile in 10.5 seconds at 135.4 mph or 216.7 km/h.
Hennessey says top speed is estimated to be in excess of 210 mph or 332 km/h – it’s faster than this.
Company president John Hennessey said: “We’ve taken America’s sports car and transformed it into an American supercar and it’s a testament to the soundness of Corvette engineering that the new Stingray not only copes with this massive infusion of power, it seems to thrive on it.”
Aside from the go-faster bits, it also features carbon fiber exterior pieces that improve the aerodynamic properties of the car at higher speed; the bodykit is described as “tastefully aggressive” by the company. Other mods include 10-spoke forged wheels made in-house, coated in a thin layer of Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires – this setup alone cuts weight by 19 lbs or ~9 kg.
All in all, with the price of a new ‘Vette already factored in, an HPE700 will set you back $120,000. Do hurry if you want one, though, as they’re only making 24 for the 2014 model year. If it’s too much for you, though, there are cheaper alternatives.
By Andrei Nedelea
PHOTO GALLERY
VIDEO