Question from a 2009 Owner:

Discussion of Corvette based Callaway Cars including: 1987-1991 RPO B2K Callaway Twin Turbo Corvettes (C4); Callaway SuperNatural Corvettes (CL-1/CR-1); Callaway C12; Supercharged Corvettes; Callaway C16; 6th Generation Callaway Corvettes (SC560, SC580, SC606, SC616, SC620, SC652); 7th Generation Callaway Corvettes (SC627/SC757); NEW Callaway C8 Corvettes - and more!
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C64EVR
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Question from a 2009 Owner:

Post by C64EVR »

Thanks for the welcome message. I had just done a search for Callaway's website today as I want to know more about what they use with the supercharger and how it can be modified. Their website seems to offer little information for the home builder. Then I saw the link to this group via Google, it is first time I've seen a forum that is dedicated strictly to Callaway’s. Let me start back a step. I bought a new, 2009 Blade Silver C6 coupe with a paddle shifting 6 speed automatic that was back in Maine. Bone stock base model, none of the option packages that add weight. I had it shipped to Connecticut where Callaway did their 580hp package for ~$20K. Then shipped to me in Oregon. That process took almost a year. What an incredible machine. I have been racing (dragstrip, open track, and street) for 40 years so I have a fair amount of experience with Detroit Iron. It is a beast with the traction control off but I also got 24 mpg with the cruise control set at 80 mph in 6th gear. I recently sold the last of my four beloved first generation small block Mustangs (one 66, two 67s, one 68). Not all at the same time, my very first car (in 1969) was the 66 and the last 67 was purchased bone stock in the late 70s and built by me over a period of four years. Raced and stored for periods over the last 30+ years. I also have a 1995 Glacier Pearl White, AWD, AWS, twin turbo Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 with more mods than I could list here (off topic). Made it to the low 11s with 25 psi boost but I am on my fourth clutch in 44K original miles. So I've been around the block a few times and still have a passion for the pushrod small block V8s. The automatic transmission has evolved by light years since I was first racing. Hence the search for the Callaway with paddle shifters. Back to some questions...one year later (2010) Callaway bumped the output of what appears to be the same supercharger from 580hp to 606hp. The Z06 package, which is 652hp, is a different animal because it is a big block Corvette. I have read about Lingenfelter and Hennessey putting 750hp, at the wheels (800+ at the flywheel), just by changing pulleys with very few other mods. Basically changing from 9.5 psi to 13 psi with few, or no, internal changes. Twin turbos have hit 1,000+hp with some engine mods. Check out the Hennessey Venom GT, that is our 6.2 liter small block putting out 1,200hp with twin turbos (and street legal). I believe the 6.2 liter Chevy block is strong enough to handle a 50% increase in boost (15 psi). Is there anyone who knows of a reliable source for bolt-on pulley mods? Has anyone added nitrous to a Callaway and with what results? A 150hp nozzle should be very manageable with some onboard tweaks to the timing and A/F ratio. Has anyone on this forum covered this territory? I didn't see a search engine to navigate through the thousands of posts so I apologize in advance if these topics have been beat to death. I'll quit now and see if anyone has some answers. Again, thanks for the welcome; it is good to find a Callaway focused forum. Sincerely, Chris
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Re: Question from a 2009 Owner:

Post by BIGJOHN »

GM has not made a big block since 2009; the 8100.
The LS7 is a big bore small block.
The problem with getting big hp; like 750+ hp with an LS7 is you also get big time torque 850+.
The stock C6 corvette drive train is not designed for that much torgue.
This is why Callaway tunes the SC LS7 to 652 hp.
:beer
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Re: Question from a 2009 Owner:

Post by i10fwy »

Welcome, I agree with Big John. Callaway has spent much time engineering this package for both performance & reliability. Can a small block LS produce more HP, sure it can but then starts the never ending chase for the weekest link. To rethink the front of the car, be prepared to rethink the rest of it as well. IMHO :beer

That is what I love about a Callaway, I can get in and drive it without worrying about what the next part is that I will need to replace because it can't take the power.

:joker
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Re: Question from a 2009 Owner:

Post by critt99 »

Interesting story...welcome..I find that anymore than 2hp will break the drive train on my Callaways......ie: they are plastic....(trying to be funny)
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Re: Question from a 2009 Owner:

Post by Never_Lift »

C64EVR wrote:Thanks for the welcome message. I had just done a search for Callaway's website today as I want to know more about what they use with the supercharger and how it can be modified. Their website seems to offer little information for the home builder. Then I saw the link to this group via Google, it is first time I've seen a forum that is dedicated strictly to Callaway’s. Let me start back a step. I bought a new, 2009 Blade Silver C6 coupe with a paddle shifting 6 speed automatic that was back in Maine. Bone stock base model, none of the option packages that add weight. I had it shipped to Connecticut where Callaway did their 580hp package for ~$20K. Then shipped to me in Oregon. That process took almost a year. What an incredible machine. I have been racing (dragstrip, open track, and street) for 40 years so I have a fair amount of experience with Detroit Iron. It is a beast with the traction control off but I also got 24 mpg with the cruise control set at 80 mph in 6th gear. I recently sold the last of my four beloved first generation small block Mustangs (one 66, two 67s, one 68). Not all at the same time, my very first car (in 1969) was the 66 and the last 67 was purchased bone stock in the late 70s and built by me over a period of four years. Raced and stored for periods over the last 30+ years. I also have a 1995 Glacier Pearl White, AWD, AWS, twin turbo Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 with more mods than I could list here (off topic). Made it to the low 11s with 25 psi boost but I am on my fourth clutch in 44K original miles. So I've been around the block a few times and still have a passion for the pushrod small block V8s. The automatic transmission has evolved by light years since I was first racing. Hence the search for the Callaway with paddle shifters. Back to some questions...one year later (2010) Callaway bumped the output of what appears to be the same supercharger from 580hp to 606hp. The Z06 package, which is 652hp, is a different animal because it is a big block Corvette. I have read about Lingenfelter and Hennessey putting 750hp, at the wheels (800+ at the flywheel), just by changing pulleys with very few other mods. Basically changing from 9.5 psi to 13 psi with few, or no, internal changes. Twin turbos have hit 1,000+hp with some engine mods. Check out the Hennessey Venom GT, that is our 6.2 liter small block putting out 1,200hp with twin turbos (and street legal). I believe the 6.2 liter Chevy block is strong enough to handle a 50% increase in boost (15 psi). Is there anyone who knows of a reliable source for bolt-on pulley mods? Has anyone added nitrous to a Callaway and with what results? A 150hp nozzle should be very manageable with some onboard tweaks to the timing and A/F ratio. Has anyone on this forum covered this territory? I didn't see a search engine to navigate through the thousands of posts so I apologize in advance if these topics have been beat to death. I'll quit now and see if anyone has some answers. Again, thanks for the welcome; it is good to find a Callaway focused forum. Sincerely, Chris
Is this for real? :joker

In my opinion, those cars do not make the power they claim. And the ones that are built, are on the outer limits of the fringe, and blow-up. Just ask Car and Driver. But why that guy still gets reviews is beyond me.

Here is my favorite article from a few years ago from Autoweek. The thread has been "washed" from Autoweek serves, but lives on through the internet :spam
Here is an Autoweek article from 2002.


This is from an Autoweek article back in mid 2002.

Hennessey's Vipers are fast, but lawsuits say he serves them up too slowly. (Photo by Mark Vaughn)
Ninety-eight percent of his customers love him, John Hennessey says. But a few hate him and some have sued. Hennessey Motorsports in Houston specializes in tuning Vipers, adding more power to what is already one of the most powerful cars in the world. Hennessey’s Vipers have been featured in this and many other magazines and the cars he has sent to us and to other media were impressive performers. Hennessey presents himself well, projecting an image of the consummate Texas good ol’ boy whose reassuring conversational style and howyewdoin’ demeanor put customers at ease. People believe they will get what he says he’ll give them. But not all people do.

According to a lawsuit filed in Salt Lake City, Utah resident Taig Stewart sent his Viper GTS to Hennessey last May for an engine upgrade to 1100 hp along with several other modifications. For that he wire-transferred $142,500 to Hennessey. The lawsuit states the parties agreed the car would be done by mid-July 2001. As of press time the car was still sitting under a tarp in Hennessey’s shop in Houston. Or most of the car, anyway. Stewart’s suit claims Hennessey sold the car’s engine, transmission, wheels, tires and hood. The suit seeks return of the money, the Viper and “no less than $1 million” in punitive damages.

Hennessey claims he’s just slow in getting the work done.

“My side of the story is we’re planning on finishing his car and planning on giving him everything that he paid for,” said Hennessey. As for the parts being sold, “That’s totally false. We’ve got all his parts in the shop except the hood and he wanted to do a lightweight hood.”

Stewart is not the first unsatisfied customer. The longer we dug the more dissatisfaction we found. Here’s a sampling:

On Nov. 14 a New Jersey court entered a final judgement of $133,674 against Hennessey on behalf of Viper owner Gary Dan for a botched conversion.

William Walters said he is out over $22,000 after shipping his Corvette to Hennessey for a head and cam package that was never done; he did have five rods bent and a head gasket damaged on the dyno in Hennessey’s shop during an experiment Hennessey tried with nitrous oxide.

Jerry Johnson said he had to file suit in Placer County Court in California to straighten out registration and engine computer problems on a Viper he bought from Hennessey. n Jon Belinkie said he loves the changes made to his Viper but had to sue in his home state of Maryland, then register the judgement in Texas, to recover overcharges Hennessey made on his American Express card.

Rick Ryan said he had to hound Hennessey for eight months by long distance from Marietta, Georgia, to put the proper wing and stripes on his Viper.

Mark Lublin said he sent his Viper cylinder heads to Hennessey for new valves but when the heads came back he found the “new” valves were actually used; a cam that was delivered to Lublin in a Hennessey box turned out to be a stock Chrysler cam. Lublin was finally refunded $5,715 from American Express but only after nine months of disputing the charge; and he got no money from Hennessey.

Bruce Iannatuono said he ordered $8,500 worth of Hennessey parts for his mechanic in Baltimore to install but was only able to use two-thirds of what was shipped, and then only after haranguing Hennessey for six months on an order that was originally promised in five weeks.

Most of the complaints come from outside Texas. Hennessey, some said, tends to take better care of local customers.

“If you were out of state, man you were fair game,” said Kyle Kent, a former employee at Hennessey Motorsports. When an out-of-state car came in it was sometimes parted out, with the wheels, tires and whatever else looked good going to other cars waiting to be finished or sold outright, according to Kent and others inside Hennessey Motorsports. Then Hennessey would call the car’s owner and try to sell him an upgraded kit. If the customer balked, Hennessey would take parts from other cars in the shop, or just let the job sit.

Kent described one typical disassembly on an out-of-state Viper. “The motor and transmission went into a Durango John was putting together, the brakes went to someone else, the hood went to a guy in Ohio, the rear bumper to South Carolina, man you name it. We had multiple cars like that.”

Another common practice was putting stock parts on what was supposed to be an upgraded car.

“One customer spent $130,000 to $140,000 and that guy thought he had purchased a Venom 650R package which he thought came with the stroker motor,” Kent said. “John told him he was getting a stroker. He was just getting heads and cams.”

Hennessey denies any wrongdoing.

“I’ve got probably 3000 customers,” he said. “I’ve built over 300 cars and out of that I’ve had a handful of people that I’ve had some sort of a delivery problem with and I’ve had some of them who have sued me. So is that some sort of a trend or is that par for the course?”



SRT Forum
http://www.cherokeesrt8.com/forums/showthread.php?t=622

Ford GT Forum
http://www.fordgtforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1622
And the Venom GT is a stretch lotus. Real innovation there :bs Just like the guys who change pullies and pray their stuff holds together. Again, where is the innovation? Maybe it is them getting caught up in "Change and Hope"? Change this, and hope it lasts long enough for the customer to forget? Or change, and hope it lasts more than a 1/4 mile? Bah, keep the change :hi
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Re: Question from a 2009 Owner:

Post by SurfnSun »

Don't confuse the pulley swap on a ZR1 for the Callaway or any supercharged package on a stock ls3. The ZR1 has a fully forged bottom end from the factory as well as lower compression.

It's like comparing apples to oranges.

Callaway doesn't use long tube headers...all of those other shops do.
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Re: Question from a 2009 Owner:

Post by Callaway Chris »

SurfnSun wrote:

It's like comparing apples to oranges.

Callaway doesn't use long tube headers...all of those other shops do.

As Surf mentioned, Long Tube Headers are not emissions complaint on the Federal Level. There is a HUGE FIne associated with installing non-certified exhausts, but some choose to risk...

It is also interesting to note, those "other cars" with 700 hp do not run any quicker than ours. In most cases, slower, and with crude mannerisms.
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Re: Question from a 2009 Owner:

Post by C64EVR »

Folks...thanks for the replies. Sorry for the error, "larger bore small block" is accurate. I can't say if the other two major aftermarket builders really do meet their claims and I do know that lawsuits have been filed against at least one of the two. I have seen the dyno sheet on a C6 with twin turbos that was putting out 750hp at the wheels. I have seen videos of timed and clocked Venom GTs (built by Hennessey) with 2.5 seconds 0-60 (a SEOND faster than a Callaway C6) and top speeds in excess of 215 mph. Built on a Lotus Elise tub? Sure. Using our same 6.2 liter engine? YES? Or take the Alpha GTR 12s, a V6 with twin turbos, exceeding 235 mph with a headwind. Do they weigh less than a Callaway? The Venom does, not the Alpha. I have read that our Callaway's do not meet their 0-60, 1/4 mile or top speed claims, regardless of 580, 606, or 652 blower configuration. Has anyone broken the 200 mph mark at the Utah Salt Flats? Does anyone have a 11.2 second or better time from a dragstrip? Anyone break into the single digits (even 9.99 seconds counts) on the dragstrip? I'm back to my initial questions after my long introduction, does anyone know of a company who provides pulley alterations for a 2009 C6 with the 580hp blower? Or has anyone tried nitrous on their car? I am fully aware that building one part of a car results in breaking other parts, hence three toasted clutches on my VR4 while getting to the point of 25 psi boost and low 11s with nearly 3900 pounds (and AWD). That didn't stop me then and it still runs like a champ but tops out at 186mph due to weight and wind resistance. I don't want to spend the money to trailer my C6 from Oregon to Utah and find out it "poops" out at 198 mph instead of earning that little gold plaque for breaking the 200 mph mark. If this forum is for people who are proud of their Callaway's (as I am of mine) but are not interested in getting even more out of a very stout small block, do you know of other forums where people are experimenting with mods for the purpose of getting more speed out of these beautiful cars? Sincerely, Chris
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Re: Question from a 2009 Owner:

Post by SurfnSun »

Chris,

There are certainly more powerful cars out there but none seem to have the OEM driveability, reliability, and resale value that the Callaway has.

But as a said in my last post...if you pulley down and double the boost on the SC580 you will blow the motor in no time flat. Period.

If youre wanting more power, you need to put a forged bottom end in the car with an aftermarket set of heads and the larger TVS blower. Then you don't really have a Callaway anymore.

With regard to the assertion that Callaway cars don't perform, please read the thread Chris just posted about running a 10.80 last weekend. :thumbs
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Re: Question from a 2009 Owner:

Post by Never_Lift »

C64EVR wrote:Folks...thanks for the replies. Sorry for the error, "larger bore small block" is accurate. I can't say if the other two major aftermarket builders really do meet their claims and I do know that lawsuits have been filed against at least one of the two. I have seen the dyno sheet on a C6 with twin turbos that was putting out 750hp at the wheels. I have seen videos of timed and clocked Venom GTs (built by Hennessey) with 2.5 seconds 0-60 (a SEOND faster than a Callaway C6) and top speeds in excess of 215 mph. Built on a Lotus Elise tub? Sure. Using our same 6.2 liter engine? YES? Or take the Alpha GTR 12s, a V6 with twin turbos, exceeding 235 mph with a headwind. Do they weigh less than a Callaway? The Venom does, not the Alpha. I have read that our Callaway's do not meet their 0-60, 1/4 mile or top speed claims, regardless of 580, 606, or 652 blower configuration. Has anyone broken the 200 mph mark at the Utah Salt Flats? Does anyone have a 11.2 second or better time from a dragstrip? Anyone break into the single digits (even 9.99 seconds counts) on the dragstrip? I'm back to my initial questions after my long introduction, does anyone know of a company who provides pulley alterations for a 2009 C6 with the 580hp blower? Or has anyone tried nitrous on their car? I am fully aware that building one part of a car results in breaking other parts, hence three toasted clutches on my VR4 while getting to the point of 25 psi boost and low 11s with nearly 3900 pounds (and AWD). That didn't stop me then and it still runs like a champ but tops out at 186mph due to weight and wind resistance. I don't want to spend the money to trailer my C6 from Oregon to Utah and find out it "poops" out at 198 mph instead of earning that little gold plaque for breaking the 200 mph mark. If this forum is for people who are proud of their Callaway's (as I am of mine) but are not interested in getting even more out of a very stout small block, do you know of other forums where people are experimenting with mods for the purpose of getting more speed out of these beautiful cars? Sincerely, Chris

You seem to be book savvy, but what does that prove? Your post seems to tout numbers, but what have YOU run? What did YOUR old school VR4 really run? Specifics, please. And don't even say it's reliable with 25psi. No way. So, you have run at the dragstrip for 40 years? What does YOUR sc580 run? Callaway posted their timeslip for 10.8@128 in the 1/4, so why wouldn't yours run its advertised time? Are you pissing and moaning, or what? Please don't talk about a dyno sheet for 750hp, as the Supra boys and girls can show you a 12 second car which has 800rwhp. Braggarts, beware. :dump Now that I have that off my chest, post a picture of your car so we can see what you are talking about. Cool? :pop
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Re: Question from a 2009 Owner:

Post by i10fwy »

I think perhaps you are reading us wrong. We all love speed! My car though is a vintage TT car that needs to be left as it came from Callaway. I have thought though of building another car just for the pursuit of horsepower. In fact there are some of us currently thinking of the resto-mod idea.

Myself, I am thinking C3 with huge HP, but my big block 68 is too nice to resto-mod. I just think a Callaway is the wrong car to do it with and they need to remain as is with the exception of a few. But I say go for it! Do a Sledgehammer recreation! :jsmile

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Re: Question from a 2009 Owner:

Post by BIGJOHN »

The Callaway Big Bore 550s have 585hp at the crank.(No Supercharger!)
Callaway has run a C5 550 "10.8 in the 1/4";
Plus a 2005 C6 with a 550 has run 10.8 also.
As for a car going 200 mph on the salt flats that takes practice and more than just a 200 mph capable car.
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Re: Question from a 2009 Owner:

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:cool
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Re: Question from a 2009 Owner:

Post by C64EVR »

Folks...it's been a long time since I posted (over seven years) so I thought I'd try again. Has anyone modified their Callaway Corvette (preferably a C6) to produce more boost? If so, what did you use (parts)? Where did you get them? What did you do to re-calibrate the ECU? If the answer is no to my modification question, there's no need to list the reasons you wouldn't modify your car. Thanks in advance. Looking forward...Chris
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Re: Question from a 2009 Owner:

Post by SurfnSun »

There have been a few people that have put smaller pulleys on the supercharger to create more boost. Additionally, long tube headers, ported heads are all viable options. All of those will require a retune. Im pretty sure there is a youtube video of a car that had additional work done and was dynoing on the video. :beer
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