How 1016 horses were born.....

Before I go into details of this story, I'd like to thank Cartek Racing  and Neverlift Racecraft for building a car that has far exceed my expectations.  I appreciate all of the hard work, engineering, and innovation that culminated in the creation of the highest horsepower 346 cid Z06.  The feeling of driving this car is beyond words.  One has to experience it first-hand to appreciate it.  So, thanks Dave, Julio, Rich, and Roy (Cartek) and Leo (Neverlift) for building one bad ass Corvette!

I purchased the car in June of 2002.  I loved driving the Z06 from the first time I got in and took her on a test drive.  I don't think the salesman that accompanied me on the test drive has recovered from the trauma yet.  He mumbled something about fragments of life flashing and soiled undergarments.  Whatever.  I bought the car the very same day.  One of the biggest impulse purchases of my life.

The car remained stock through the end of 2002.  I didn't even take it to the track.  I just enjoyed driving it on local streets and highways.  But I knew that stock days were numbered once I began talking to guys who already modified their Z06s.

I began racing the car in April of 2003.  It wasn't easy to launch this car.  A fair amount of low-end torque and Goodyear F1 Supercar tires made launching without excessive spin very difficult.  The best 60' time I've managed on stock tires was a high 1.9X.  Needless to say, I could not get the car out of mid-12 second elapsed times in stock trim.  I grew frustrated. 

The first change to the car was a purchase of an extra pair of wheels mated to BF Goodrich Comp TA drag radials.  I laughed as I watched my 60' times and e.t. plummet.  Probably the best investment I made at that time.  If I chose to add more power to the car before going to sticky tires, I'd be in serious trouble.  I managed to get the car to low 12 second elapsed times with the drag radials.

As I became more comfortable with safely navigating the car down the track, I added some simple bolt-on modifications and dyno tuning by Cartek.  A Vararam cold air intake, Borla cat-back exhaust, and a set of Cartek 1 7/8" headers.  I also decided to replace the spare wheels with a beautiful drag package from CCW.  26" ET Streets replaced the BFG drag radials.  I ended the 2003 season by running 11.37 @ 119 mph and establishing a "bolt-on" record for the Z06.  To the best of my knowledge, no driver has beaten this time in a 2001-2004 Z06 that has not had any internal engine modifications.

After running the 11.37 pass I thought I've squeezed every ounce of performance out of the car that I possibly could have.  It was time for more ponies.

On December 21, 2003 the car was dropped off at Cartek for a serious makeover.

Initial thoughts were to install a supercharger.  However, to achieve the horsepower level that we were shooting for we knew that we'd be plagued with belt slippage issues.  So, the next thought was to shake things up a bit with a large single turbo.  Sounded great in theory and it could have been done as a "one-off" project but the purpose of this exercise was to build a streetable car with all the creature comforts intact and without major modifications.  We finally settled on a twin turbo setup late January of 2004.

I didn't see my car again until late March 2004.  The progress was slow because, as mentioned previously, we wanted to avoid major modification and relocation or elimination of components.  Headers and all plumbing had to be made by hand for this prototype.  At the same time, Cartek was busy trying to design the fuel system, computer, and tuning.  The engine block was blue printed, plate honed and fitted with new pistons, rods, rings, bearings, and Cartek Stage 2X heads and cam.  Many of the new engine components were also coated to resist heat absorption.  The car was beginning to take shape.

After some thought and experimenting, we opted for twin Garrett 67 mm turbos, a 50 mm Tial blow off valve, and twin external Tial waste gates.  The plumbing was in, turbos were mounted, custom fuel system completed, and it was time to start buttoning things up.  The car was ready for dyno tuning in August.

The first time we started the car, the shop filled with smoke.  We thought it was just some residual oil in the new exhaust.  It wasn't the case and we had to redesign the oil return lines.  That set us back a couple of days but she was smoking no more.

I was out to dinner with my wife and some friends when Cartek strapped the car to the dyno for the first time.  I got a call from Dave informing me that Julio made the first pull and the car put down high 600 rwhp.  "Great start" I thought.  I received another phone call approximately 30 minutes later.  Dave told me that the car just put down 756 rwhp.  "Wow, we broke the 700 rwhp mark!"  and that was my goal.  Little did I know that Julio still had a few more tricks up his sleeve.  About an hour later my cell phone rings again.  I was afraid to pick it up thinking the heads lifted or something broke.  Dave was on the other end and I could hear the car screaming on the dyno.  The new number was nearly 900 rwhp.  I nearly fell off my seat.  I thanked them again and promised to be at the shop the next day.  Well, you've guessed it, the phone rang one more time.  This time all I heard was guys yelling in the background.  The car broke the 1000 rwhp mark.  It put down 1016.7 rwhp and 960 rwtq.  I could not believe it.  We broke the record for the highest horsepower 346 cid motor.  And, believe it or not, Julio still had some room to push the numbers North.  We were content.

I picked up the car one day before I were to race it at Capitol Raceway in an all-Corvette event.  I loaded the car onto the trailer and took her home.  I unloaded the car and went out for a leisurely spin.  The first thing I heard was the awesome sound of the blow off valve.  It sounded as though someone cracked a whip through the air.  It was surreal.  I quickly realized that this car would be very difficult to tame.  Even detuned to about 850 rwhp I could put the car sideways at less than 4000 rpm.  The acceleration was beyond comprehension.

The following day we headed down to Maryland.  It was a great day for sunbathing but not for racing.  It was miserably hot.

I teched the car in and staged for the first pass.  I knew from the first launch she was going to be a handful.  I brought the rpms up to only about 4000 since I did not know how the car was going to react on the launch.  The last thing I wanted to do is take out the Christmas tree if the car got out of control on the launch.  I side-step the clutch and the car falls flat on its face.  Then a split second later, I heard the turbos scream as they spooled up and the car was catapulted forward in the most violent manner I have ever experienced.  It was so hard that it knocked my race seat out of the grooves on the sliding track and slammed me into back of the car with sufficient force to abort the run.

I was spinning tires through every gear.  The car was a total beast.  It was obvious that a change had to be made to get more traction.  28" ET Streets replaced the 26" tires.  It was a good change.  However, once we got traction, the clutch gave out.  So back to the drawing board in search of a new clutch.  It took a couple of weeks to get a custom-built clutch installed.  The tires were hooking, the clutch was grabbing, and various components of the drivetrain started to snap like matches.

However, between all the problems, the car was making strides.  We managed 10.8s then 10.4s and, finally, on November 13, 2004 the car ran its first 9 second pass at the Vette Vs. Viper Shootout.  It ran a 9.90 at 135 mph.  The following week it improved the best e.t. to a 9.87 @ 145 mph.

It's obvious that the manual transmission and independent rear suspension is preventing the car from reaching its full potential.  Plans are currently underway to build a more reliable drivetrain.  So keep an eye on this page as it isn't over until the fat lady sings.  And she's a mighty fat lady.

.........And the story continues in 2005.  The car was turned over to Leo Barnaby at Neverlift Racecraft in early Spring of 2005 for an automatic trans and slid rear makeover.  So Leo worked his magic, as he does with all of his cars, and turned out a piece of drag racing art.  We opted to go with a 12 bolt rear, Strange axles and brakes, 2 speed Powerglide, Pro Torque converter, beautiful Weld wheels, 28" ET Drags, and a B&M shifter with a Dedenbear solenoid.

We made the first trip to the track still with the old FAST computer and tuned for a 6-speed.  To my surprise, Leo took the car deep into the 9s on its very first pass.  A 9.07 @ 147 to be exact.  I followed it up with a 9.15 @ 150 on the next pass.  And it would only get better from there.

Dale Cherry from Injection Connection took the car and installed a new boost controller and Big Stuff 3 computer.  The car was retuned for the 2-speed trans and within 3 passes Dale got the car to dip into 9.10s.  This car was beginning to grab some attention as very few C5s were turning out reliable low 9 second passes.

Cartek refreshed the motor in June, added alcohol injection, and retuned the car for the alcohol.  This addition cooled the air charge considerably and the car began to run very low 9s even in 3000' DA days.