Hennessey Performance Engineering got its start upgrading the second-generation Dodge Viper and has since expanded its business to all sorts of cars, from McLarens to Corvettes and more. While the majority of cars that leave Hennessey’s shop in Sealy, Texas are sports cars, the company will tune just about anything with a General Motors Small Block – including the massive Chevrolet Suburban and GMC Yukon XL SUVs.
HPE recently documented the handover of a GMC Yukon XL with its supercharged HPE650 tuning package to a happy customer for its YouTube channel. The customer in question actually purchased the SUV for his wife, who wanted a bit more power from the 6.2L L86 V8 engine. After a visit to Hennessey, the SUV is now producing 650 horsepower and 648 pound-feet of torque thanks to a 2.9L Whipple supercharger, stainless steel cat-back exhaust and a high flow induction system.
HPE demonstrated the capabilities of the supercharged SUV by giving the customer a high-speed ride down its drag strip, which sits adjacent to the shop itself. He was left impress by the speed, saying that if “you want your Suburban or Yukon to go fast, this is the place to come.” The true test will be when his wife takes possession of the vehicle and mats the accelerator pedal herself, however.
The stock GMC Yukon XL is already fairly quick for such a large and lumbering SUV. It will accelerate from 0-60 mph in 6.1 seconds – which is faster than many cars on sale today. The 6.2L L86 V8 produces 420 horsepower and 460 pound-feet of torque, for those readers who may need a refresher.
We can’t wait to see what HPE has planned for the next-generation GMC Yukon XL, though we anticipate the shop will run into the same problems as it has with the C8 Corvette thanks to GM’s new encrypted ECU. For now, check out the customer testimonial video embedded below.
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Comments
You can learn a lot from YouTube videos and when Chevrolet introduced the C8 Corvette, Hennessey proposed sticking their 1,000 horsepower supercharged V8 engine into the new Corvette to instantly build super-cars on the level of the Bugatti; but to date, the fastest C8 Corvette was a car Hennessey used with a bottle of NOX injection as why Hennessey isn’t offering a twin-turbo kit for the C8 Corvette.
How does it do for pulling a fifth wheel. 👍 or 👎?
Dale you will need a pickup to tow a fifth wheel. Actually diesel power trucks are much better for towing any type of trailers.