In the grand scheme of automotive things, a simple powertrain switch usually does not have a tremendous impact. But that was not the case with the C8 Chevy Corvette, which, ever since its latest Z06 appeared, was even dubbed as a 'Ferrari killer.' Now, is it time for Plaids and Demon 170s, as well?
Few beacons of light existed even across the imaginative realm of the automotive industry over the past three years or so. But the latest iteration of 'America's sports car' was undoubtedly one of them, thanks to the 495-hp Stingray, the 670-hp Z06, and recently also the 655-hp, hybridized eAWD E-Ray. And it was all thanks to the uncharacteristic daringness of GM's corner-office head honchos that allowed Team Corvette to have its merry way into switching from a front-engine configuration to a mid-engine setup.
Naturally, that attracted a lot of attention across various realms – including the feisty one revolving around vloggers that set out to experiment with the C8 in new and wonderful ways. One of them was also Emelia Hartford, the car socialite who became (in)famous for tinkering with, breaking, fixing, and then racing her modified Corvette C8 Stingray. And she is now ready to fiddle with the Z06 again!
We are saying that because this is not the first time she attempted some crazy things with her orange C8 Corvette Z06, which may or may not end up being nicknamed 'Nemo' for pretty obvious orange-and-white-stripe reasons. Not long ago – before fiddling with a new Ferrari 296 GTB or supercharging to 9.8 liters of madness in a Big Block Ford Mustang – she took the Z06 to new twin-turbo heights. Well, that was short-lived, and now the 'Vette is ripe for a different modification: nitrous!
Fans of her channel already know where we are going with this – to the quarter-mile dragstrip. More precisely, the Famoso Bakersfield Raceway, located in McFarland, California, for some exclusive testing and tuning of what could be the first-ever nitrous-fed C8 Chevy Corvette Z06. Of course, the feisty lady is going after the current world record – held by someone else with a 9.98s ET! The initial attempts did not go exactly as planned, primarily because the NOS bottle was unused. But then it's time for spraying the nitrous and hoping for the best – more precisely, no check engine lights and other slip-ups.
As always, not everything goes according to plan, so the best attempt can be seen from the 6:53 mark, with the orange Z06 nailing a 9.98s elapsed time and a 141 mph (227 kph) trap speed – which was actually a few tenths of a second shy of the current Z06 world record. No worries, though, as Hartford has no intention of giving up, and we are pretty sure that if she can have her merry tinkering way with the Z06, she might be in the high eight-second Tesla Model S Plaid and 2023 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170 league, next. That would be cool, right?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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