Throwback Thursday: Adding Over 100 Horsepower to a C5 Corvette Z06

New heads, cam, and exhaust make big gains on a stock C5 Z06.

The C5 Corvette Z06 is easily one of the best performance car bargains out there right now. The Z06 was an incredible performer in its day, and it’s still a respectable machine coming up on 20 years later,

That’s why the crew over at Power Nation’s Detroit Muscle got their hands on one for a project car. As host Tommy Boshers puts it, “We didn’t spend a whole lot of cha-ching on it, but we got a lot of zing!”

The C5 Z06 is an impressive handler right from the factory, so the Detroit Muscle crew is going to focus on engine upgrades to start. First, they do a baseline dyno, with a brief detour for a burnout.

Bone stock, this Z06 put down 337 horsepower and 345 lb/ft of torque to the rear wheels. Not bad, but definitely not good enough to keep up with Detroit’s latest and greatest.

Performance Upgrades

The heart of the power package is a GenX top end kit from Trick Flow. This kit includes new heads, a cam, pushrods, and rockers. The crew will also be installing bigger fuel injectors, and replacing the timing chain and several gaskets. They also replace most of the cooling system, and install new coil packs.

After installing the cam, Marc Christ gives us a good tip when re-installing the timing cover. “I’m going to go ahead and install the harmonic balancer before I torque the timing cover bolts. That way, the seal on the front cover fits the balancer perfectly.”

This round of performance upgrades is all about getting more air into the engine — and getting more air out of it, too. To that end, Christ and Boshers installed a set of Hooker Blackheart tri-y stainless steel headers, as well as their header-back exhaust system.

The finishing touch is a Holley Intech cold air intake. This intake is capable of flowing more air — a real benefit, given the additional appetite of those new Trick Flow heads.

Before the moment of truth on the dyno, Mike Galley of sister show Engine Power makes an appearance. He’s going to build a custom tune file to allow the Z06 to make the most of its performance upgrades.

The result of all of that hard work? A tire-melting 446 horsepower and 447 lb/ft of torque. That’s a gain of over 100 rear wheel horsepower. Engine Power co-host Pat Topolinski is impressed. “A hundred and ten at the tire? That’s pretty serious business right there.” We couldn’t have said it any better ourselves.

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