Forget Ford's "Mod" motor. GM does modularity darn near like Legos. The pushrod V8 engines found in the company's trucks all the way up to and including the mighty Corvette ZR1 are fundamentally based on the same architecture. You can imagine, then, that engine swaps across chasses in the General's portfolio are a tantalizing prospect.
It is this swappability that has us warming up an LS9-powered Camaro on the Dynojet rollers at MD Automotive in Westminster, CA. It's the 2010 HPE700 LS9 Camaro. It's built by Hennessey Performance Engineering. And it's completely badass.
Just how badass? Jump with me. But first,
See, the Camaro's stock 426-hp LS3 can be replaced with the rip-snorting LS9 from the Corvette ZR1 in a fairly straightforward manner (easy for us to say). It bolts right up to the Camaro's transmission and engine mounts and you don't have to "tune up" the firewall to get it to fit, either. GM's sorted out the hard stuff already.
This has allowed Hennessey to focus on other things. Like making more power. A smaller blower pulley, a more capable intercooler circuit and a massaged calibration has endowed the HPE700 with more more sauce than the meek 638-hp rating given to the LS9 in the ZR1. The HPE700 moniker, we were told, is a nod to its power output as measured at the flywheel. It's a claim we just had to test.
The terrible 91 octane premium fuel found in California has humbled tuners for years, leaving them to resort to all kinds of nefarious techniques to plump their cars' outputs, like race gas. It is this sad reality that has us suspicious of any tuner car whose tank we haven't filled ourselves.
So that's exactly what we did. We drove to the nearest Chevron and filled the HPE700's nearly-dry tank with 15 gallons of 91 octane before heading to the dyno just to be certain that everything was on the up and up.
Cracking open the throttle in anger on the rollers for the first time resulted in a unholy earthshaking wall of noise, like colliding echoes of a thousand howitzer reports. This despite the stock Camaro catback on the car.
The first pull was curiously lackadaisacal up to 4500 rpm, but things really woke up on the second pull. And that includes the dead, which weren't simply woken by the sound; they were reanimated to a Texas hoedown and then blasted to pieces. Oh, it's loud.
It's also obscenely, asininely powerful. Doing the pulls in fourth gear, the tach needle smears across the entire face of the gauge in a few deafening seconds to the tune of 691 hp and 661 lb-ft at the wheels. 
Apply whatever magical driveline loss you want. It's a monster. This thing is making well over 700 hp to the flywheel. Closer to 800. Or more. Torque stays above 600 lb-ft from 2900 rpm clear out to 6000 rpm. A couple more runs backed this result up, each with a bit more heatsoak creeping in as the revs climbed past peak power.
We'll have comprehensive driving impressions on the HPE700 soon. In the meantime, act quickly -- Hennessey is only building 24 examples of the HPE700 and all but five have already been spoken for.
Jason Kavanagh, Engineering Editor
cwmoo740 says:
09:32 PM, 11/11/09
Awesome car. This is the monster that GM should have built with the Z28.
But more importantly (to me, at least), is that a Hennessey venom GT in the background? Any impressions on that car?
yellowmiata says:
09:33 PM, 11/11/09
That's power, does it have the rubber to put it to the asphalt? Or is this just wasted power to brag?
huyracing says:
09:41 PM, 11/11/09
cwmoo:
that's a lotus exige. that shop belongs to Mark DiBella. the lotus is a customer's car. i won't divulge any info on the car because its not my place to do so.
edmunds crew:
you need to let me know when you're going there so i can get a ride in some of these cars. that camaro is definitely a beast...
hondacura4 says:
10:16 PM, 11/11/09
"Awesome car. This is the monster that GM should have built with the Z28."
I don't think the Z28 needs anywhere near these power levels. I could easily see the 505hp LS7 from the Z06 used in the Z28 with a "track pack" handling package. Although the car above is interesting, putting down that kind of power is more than a handful. I like USABLE power not power that goes up in smoke.
rallyandbosox says:
10:25 PM, 11/11/09
cwmoo, the drawings of the Venom GT show a much longer rear end than that of the Exige in the picture. Hopefully John H. still brings the Venom GT to Geneva next year like he promised.
the_big_al says:
11:21 PM, 11/11/09
holy stinkin snot... that's all I have to say.
yellowmiata says:
04:52 AM, 11/12/09
A good question has arisen: where does usable power end and bragging rights begin?
dwhamman says:
05:13 AM, 11/12/09
@ yellowmiata
there's no answer to your question. I'm sure some would consider the ability to take new rear tires down to the cords in 30 seconds or less a useful attribute in a car.
If that's too much from your perspective (it certainly is from mine...) then great news: you can save a lot of money by not buying this car.
fuhteng says:
05:26 AM, 11/12/09
Crikey! I think that is too much power in a road-car, but then, I'm not the buyer Hennessey is targeting. I am interested in the actual track numbers. 0-60 in 4.2 seconds, quarter in 11.8 at 129 is my guess.
audisport says:
07:08 AM, 11/12/09
If Hennessey could beef up the CTS's all wheel drive system and bolt it to the CTS-V, then crank up the horsepower, I would be impressed. Then watch the 1/4 mile improve.
church123 says:
08:42 AM, 11/12/09
I'm just disappointed you guys continue to give a guy with Hennessey's dirty past (so dirty, he changed his company name after losing some 6-figure lawsuits from customers)and bad attitude (Internet threat-meister) so much publicity. You're doing a disservice to the car buying public as a whole. Woe to any who choose to spend money with Hennessey.
bodyblue says:
08:43 AM, 11/12/09
Wow....it can do the best burnout from 7-11....lets hope mullets get back in style so this car can have a mission in life.
DCuerpoJr says:
09:11 AM, 11/12/09
Hennessey HPE700 LS9 Camaro? The name is too technical. How about we change it to what it truly is.
Camaro "F" Bomb!
szos says:
05:45 PM, 11/14/09
Absolutely gorgeous car but lets be realistic here - that's a ridiculous amount of horsepower and probably comes at a ridiculous price. There is no where - besides on a track - that you are ever going to use that much horsepower. The Horsepower war has simply turned into a pissing contest now a days.
I would be more impressed if they bumped the stock HP by 100 or so, and came out with some lightweight part bolt-ons.
yungmula85 says:
05:08 PM, 11/16/09
It's all about owning whatever makes you happy. If someone dreams about having a 700hp Camaro, there should be a (reputable) tuner willing to build it for them. Who cares about putting the power to the ground. To some people (not me of course) burnouts are just as important as ETs
mieden says:
05:43 PM, 11/19/09
Holy S***!!