With the encrypted ECU for the new mid-engine C8 Corvette still under General Motors‘ proverbial lock and key, tuning companies like Hennessey Performance Engineering are limited in the modifications they can make to the sports car. One modification that doesn’t require adjusting any fuel and airflow settings is an aftermarket exhaust, so Hennessey quickly got to work developing a beautiful new stainless steel cat-back kit for the latest iteration of the Vette.
We covered Hennessey’s C8 Corvette exhaust when it was first announced earlier this year, but now, customers are beginning to receive the finished product. The Texas-based tuner recently released a video showing one of its customer’s reactions to their vehicle’s loud new exhaust when they first heard it – which serves as a sort of testimonial to how this stainless steel exhaust sounds in person.
The customer, Mr. Patel, also brought his daughter along to experience the new sound of his C8 Corvette and to go for a blast around Hennessey’s test track in Sealy. With plenty of space to open up the sports car’s taps, the Hennessey employee giving Mr. Patel and his daughter the demonstration is able to hit 130 mph with ease – much faster than most C8 Corvette owners would dare to go on public streets, we imagine.
To recap, Hennessey’s new cat-back exhaust kit for the C8 Corvette is made of 100% T304 stainless steel and is 10 pounds lighter than the factory Chevrolet Performance Exhaust. The kit, which retains the factory catalytic converters to ensure the car remains 50-state emissions compliant, also adds an extra 21 horsepower and 19 pound-feet of torque, pushing the output of the 6.2L LT2 V8 to over 500 horsepower.
The Hennessey exhaust kit is also offered with a lifetime warranty, but this is a non-transferable warranty, so it will only be valid for the original purchaser of the exhaust. Just 1,000 units of the exhaust will be made for all of 2020 and 2021, with prices starting at $3,495.
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Comments
How convenient that it adds 21hp so you can have over 500hp. GM must have really screwed the pouch on the factory exhaust to leave so much meat on the bone.
Of course I believe hennessey. Their reputation for honesty is second to none…
Wondering about the heat build up in the trunk with no heat shielding. Looks good and sounds terrific though.
All the aftermarket exhausts to date on the C8 which have been properly dynoed have shown a loss in HP. So, I’m very skeptical until I see it tested on a 3rd party dyno with no links to Hennessey who is very much a snake oil salesman…
But the exhaust does look attractive and I prefer the round pipes.