Emelia Hartford took social media by storm ever since she took delivery of her 2020 C8 Chevrolet Corvette almost a year ago. She has been relentless in providing content and pursuing the highest possible power for her ‘Vette, and now it’s about time she reaped the benefits... such as (allegedly) boasting the highest horsepower and torque rating ever for this generation of “America’s Sports Car”.
We have to say, at times, it’s been a rough ride for Hartford and her social media endeavors. Not to mention that her trusty C8 Corvette also bore the brunt of the hits, including a couple of blown engine mishaps. But her obsession was channeled in the right direction, even after a few detours – such as that odd side project of building a Honda K-swapped, manual transmission Toyota Prius!
All this time, she hasn’t given up hope that one day her C8 Corvette will become famous for all the right reasons. So, over the past month or so, her bespoke white and orange ‘Vette has been completely rebuilt and now sports a completely refreshed twin-turbo LT2 V8 under the hood, complete with “the first $8,000 clutch upgrade in North America” and a standalone ECU.
That latter detail is very important because the C8 Corvette ECU has been a notoriously tough nut to crack for the aftermarket sector. No matter, because the new ECU seems to do the job just fine, along with that very loud exhaust that will make sure her Chevy will stand out in any crowd before anyone even finds out about the new output levels.
Well, her latest video might be the most important to date, as her C8 was taken to the dyno to find out exactly how much hp and torque is available for the rear wheels. After an early-morning exhaust wake up call, the action starts from 4:16 with a little bit of mechanical tinkering.
That’s because the “naked booty” gives more access (and breathing space) to the twin-turbo setup. It’s safe to say this was a very long day for everyone involved as those software tweaks also take a lot of time. Meanwhile, our resident vlogger went for a pizza ride in a tuned R8 (from 8:25) before coming back to the garage to check up on the progress (9:50).
From 11:48, she explains the C8 Corvette is being prepared for two separate tunes. One will be the “street” setup on 91 octane which comes out sporting around 730 horsepower on 10 PSI of boost. The other one is done on C16 race fuel and it’s the one with alleged world record horsepower credentials (from 13:20).
It’s safe to say that with careful planning, there are reasons to rejoice, as the C8 Corvette undergoes several attempts that see it go from 935 hp to 970 hp. After a warm-up pizza lap (just take a look at the 16:11 mark to see what that means), it’s almost time for the sweet spot with 984 horsepower.
Both Emelia and the guys think the C8 has even more in it, so the final try gives out an almost unbelievable 1,022-hp and 942 lb-ft (1,277 Nm) result!
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
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News