C8 Corvette Stingray Resets Record Books With 8-Second Pass

ETS never gave up on its C8 Corvette Stingray as others moved on to the Z06, and those efforts have paid off in a big way.

Not terribly long after the C8 Corvette Stingray launched in 2019 for the 2020 model year, we began seeing a number of shops and individuals working to modify the new mid-engine machine. This is nothing new, of course, as every time a new performance-focused model launches, everyone wants to see precisely how much power they can extract from it. However, GM threw a proverbial monkey wrench in that process by making an ECU that took years to crack, though that finally happened just a few months ago. Extreme Turbo Systems (ETS) was among the first to twin turbocharge the C8 Corvette Stingray by using a piggyback setup to circumvent that barrier, and its efforts recently paid off with a new record-setting quarter-mile pass.

It’s been a while since a variety of players were engaged in a heated arms race of sorts to see who could get the C8 Corvette Stingray into the 8s, which truly heated up when ETS became the first to crack into the 9s way back in late 2020. Their record wouldn’t last long, however, as YouTuber Emelia Hartford managed to get her own twin turbo C8 down to the lower 9s, at least before ETS managed to rip off a 9.05-second pass in 2021.

After FuelTech USA burst on the scene with a 9.01-second pass shortly after that, it also became the very first in the 8s, with an 8.97-second run, only to later be trumped by the folks at Late Model Racecraft, who have held the C8 Corvette Stingray quarter-mile record for some time now after running an 8.83 in August 2022. Since then, this battle has cooled considerably following the launch of the 2023 Z06, which most have since shifted their efforts to.

However, ETS never gave up on the Stingray, and has continued to tweak its well-used C8 in an effort to make it even quicker. Those efforts paid off recently when the car smashed the aforementioned world record by recording an 8.64 second pass at 170 mph, which is undoubtedly impressive by any measure.

This particular car is running the company’s own turbo kit, along with its water-to-air intercooler, headers, tuning package, intake, and built bottom end, which is fitted with a set of worked heads. Throw in an upgraded clutch and some sticky tires, and that’s pretty much all that’s needed to transform the C8 Stingray into a formidable drag racer – one that continues to get quicker as time goes by.

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