On the very same afternoon that Hennessey Performance Engineering managed to get their HPE600 Corvette Stingray past the 200 mph mark on a closed off section of the Texas Toll Road, the team hit an incredible 163 mph in their supercharged HPE600 Chevrolet SS.
The HPE600 Package includes a TVS2300 Supercharger system, a custom HPE pulley, high flow fuel injectors, a custom HPE engine and fuel management system and more. The upgraded SS hits its 163 mph top speed with ease, as Hennessey claims the car is limited by its gearing.
Hennessey has big plans for the Austrailian made SS, with HPE 650,800 and twin turbocharged HPE1000 upgrade packages listed on their website. They might want to take care of that gearing issue first though.
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I’m interested to see if they can match Walkinshaw’s W497 package for the HSV Clubsport R8 SV. Walkinshaw gets 497kw/667hp out of the LS3. Stock R8 SV has 340kw/456hp.
Car and driver got a SS up to 160 miles an hour in fifth and sixth gear. Sounds like a lack of power not gearing. Hennessy is all hat and no cattle.
Actually Roy, it’ll more likely be a lack of torque, rather than power.
A standard VF SS Commodore (aka Chevrolet SS) will top out at about 250km/h (approx. 155mph) with the limiter fitted, the same as various bahnstormers. Minus this limiter, it’s more like about 280km/h (approx. 174mph). And that’s the standard Australian-issue item, which has less horsepower than what the United States get being pumped out of the same factory. The previous VE HSV models with the quoted 317kw could top out at a limited 270km/h (approx. 168mph). Without this limiter, the top speed is a bit over 300km/h (approx. 186mph).
Hennessey may claim the gearing is wrong for their engine, which in part, may be correct. Another part may be that they sacrificed too much torque to get those horsepower figures. It’s quite difficult if you have the power/torque combination wrong, as while you want as much power as you can get, if you don’t have enough torque to get it down to the ground, along with the right gearing in both the transmission and the differential, then you’re not going anywhere. Another thing that could be holding them back is their traction control/ESC settings, which could limit the way the power is getting down, maybe even cutting some back a bit. An ECU recalibration would probably help fix this problem somewhat. If the gearing is such a major issue, GM do have different gearing specifications for the same transmission, or they can simply put a manual in there with a GM Motorsport RipShift (it makes the gearshift really light and direct, making it less likely you miss a gear), who have items ready to go for the VF and can be sent to the US. The other issue may be simply too much power for the transmission and diff to be able to handle (which will also result in many a warranty claim if this is the case after many blow-ups will occur). Simply changing these units to possibly a Corvette-type equivalent would fix this.
Watching the video, it appeared that power/torque was not the issue. In fifth gear, the engine was at redline at 163mph. Notice how quickly it gets there and then just bounces between 158 and 163mph. My question is, why didn’t the transmission shift into sixth? I didn’t see him tap shift. It looked like he just let the transmission shift on its own and it didn’t upshift to 6th gear.
Also on C&D’s website, it lists the the 160mph topspeed as governor limited. Maybe Hennessey didn’t deactivate that??
I was awed by seeing the fastest vehicle with an automatic transmission, and it is Australian made. Will the Corvette Stingray beta that speed with its automatic transmission?
Most GM cars do not top out in 6th gear as it is just made for looping down the highway to gain MPG at lower speeds. 6th is not intended for top speed. The Camaro does the same thing.
I had not heard what the speed limiter was here but I assumed it was similar to the Camaro. With the limiter off there the Camaro will do 175 MPH.
Care has to be taken in removing the limiters in some cars anymore as some are not built to run as far as the engines can take them. The V8 cars should be fine but the V6 cars can have issues. I saw a guy with a Mustang V6 that was right at 150 MPH and the drive shaft snapped and blew out the floor in the car. The limiter was there for a reason in this case.
At speeds like this things can and will go wrong fast. Been there done that and lucky to have lived to tell about it.
hitting the limiter….
he should have used the cruise control trick.
That sound, tho! Whooo! Awesome that the cop car was a MOPAR, btw.