If you’re looking for a seriously fast muscle car, the 2013 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is one of two outstanding options you have these days (the other, of course, is the 2013 Ford Shelby GT500). From the showroom floor, the ZL1 makes some 580 horsepower at the crank, which is good enough to get the car from 0-60 mph in a little under four seconds.
While that’s fast, it’s just not fast enough for some, which is where tuner John Hennessey and Hennessey Performance Engineering (HPE) come into the picture. Hennessey’s HPE700 package will get you a very-conservatively rated output of 707 horsepower, which should be enough to shave about half a second from your 0-60 mph time.
We say conservatively rated output, since the car in the video dynoed at 490 hp to the wheels when stock, representing a driveline loss of about 16-percent. Given that the HPE tuned Camaro ZL1 measured 671 hp at the wheels after Hennessey worked his magic, that puts the real gross output at around 799 horsepower by our calculations.
To achieve such a noticeable gain, HPE ports the cylinder heads; upgrades the camshaft; adds a cold-air intake, long tube headers and high flow catalysts; changes pulleys to up the boost; retunes the ECU and modifies the heat exchanger for better charge-air cooling.
While the car sounds great in the video, we’d have loved to see some quarter mile times and speeds. Since it’s a customer’s car, we also understand why Hennessey was being exceptionally cautious; if it were our car he was driving, we’d have wanted it treated with the same amount of respect.
Want more information on making your fast car faster? Head on over to the Hennessey Performance Engineering website.
