LSX Engine and a ProCharger Pushes This C6 Beyond 700 HP

This C6 Grand Sport now puts out nearly double the power while remaining a comfortable daily driver.

The new C8 Corvette is dominating the automotive headlines right now, and for good reason. However, there were plenty of good Corvettes before the C8 existed. With all the attention on the new model, it is possible to pick up some previous generation cars for a fraction of the cost of a new one. A C6 Grand Sport is one such bargain.

The LS2 in the C6 Grand Sport made 400 horsepower and would get you to 60 mph in about 4 seconds. That is nothing to be embarrassed about by any means. However, nowadays there are many cars that exceed that level of performance, so how can the C6 compete? As the folks over at LSX Magazine show us, the answer could be just a crate engine and a supercharger away.

Brian Petty is the owner of this C6 Corvette. His goal with this build was to make solid power but to also keep things simple and reliable. A great way to achieve that goal is with high-quality parts such as an LSX engine and a ProCharger. “Obviously you’re not going to get a better setup engine that’s assembled by GM than this GM LSX,” says Petty. The engine alone wasn’t enough to meet the power goals, it needed a boost, but Petty didn’t want to deal with lag. “As nice as turbos are and as fun as they can be, I wanted something that didn’t have lag and so ProCharger was just a very simple, of course, we’re gonna go that route,” Petty explains. The fuel system was next up on the hit list. Petty decided to go with an Aeromotive system, “Aeromotive, I’ve always ran their fuel pumps, never had a single issue with any of their stuff it’s always very high quality.”

Dyno day. Time for the rubber to meet the road, well the rolling road anyway. What kind of power is this C6 putting down now? First pull was an impressive 643 horsepower to the tire. That is running conservative timing and fuel and only revving to 5,000 rpm. There is plenty more in it. Petty is giddy with anticipation. “The base setup was awesome. Our first pull was right near where we wanted to be, it exceeded my expectations,” says Jeremy Bird, the owner of PowerLabs Dyno and Tuning. Dyno pull number two was done with advancing the timing to 14 degrees and running it out to 6,500 rpm. The result was a smile and high five inducing 706 horsepower to the tire accompanied by 675 ft-lb of torque. Third and final run kept the boost the same and just cleaned up the fuel maps, advanced the timing to 16 degrees and that produced a stout 735 horsepower. That is roughly 85% more power than stock.

Of course, Petty isn’t going to stop there. He is going to run ethanol, swap the supercharger pulley and perhaps a few other tweaks to further push the performance envelope. This C6 Grand Sport may not have its engine in the middle, but its front-engine still makes an impressive amount of power and should make for a fantastic car to drive. The car retains all the standard creature comforts as well, so it can be driven every single day, which is exactly what we would do.

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