When it comes to special Corvettes, few companies have a history as closely associated with the factory as that of Callaway Cars.
Think back. Remember the Callaway Twin Turbo C4 Corvettes? They were epically fast in their day, laying a drubbing on nearly anything else of that era -- Porsche 930s, Testarossas, you name it. The company produced about 500 examples and each one carried an RPO designation, meaning you could order one up at a Chevy dealer simply by ticking the box. This project culminated in the near-255-mph Callaway Sledgehammer Corvette, which you could not. Then there were the SuperNatural normally aspirated C4s that succeeded the turbo cars.
So, yeah, you could say Callaway knows their way around a Corvette.
Today, in the company's SC606 package for LS3-powered base Corvettes, turbos have given way to a supercharger but the goal of driveable power remains unchanged.
We wanted to find out how much. So we did. And so you will, too. Hit the jump.
A stock Corvette's LS3 V8 delivers 430 horsepower and 424 lb-ft of torque with the base exhaust. Callaway pegs their SC606 package's output at 606 horsepower and 553 lb-ft of torque as measured at the flywheel, numbers which nearly rival that of the ZR1.
The power package itself is pretty straightforward, consisting of an intercooled Eaton TVS2300 blower, larger injectors, a big-bore exhaust, a rejiggered intake and a remapped ECU. No internal engine mods are made.
We brought the example you see here -- a 2010 Callaway Corvette outfitted with the SC606 package and other baubles unrelated to making power -- to a Dynojet 248 chassis dyno in order to see how much power it puts to the ground.
Power rose with each pull and then reached stabilized for a few pulls after which heat soak started to erode output slightly upon each subsequent run. What you see here is the stabilized output. SAE weather correction was 2%.
More than 500 lb-ft is on tap from 3,100 to 5,400 rpm, and the peak of 516 lb-ft arrives at 4,300 rpm. Peak power totaling 565 horsepower is delivered at 6,500 rpm, right before the fuel cut. It's the kind of stout and flexible powerband that can only be produced by boost plus a lot of cubes.
The Callaway Corvette went about its business on the dyno without making a fuss, and the soundtrack is delivered at a sane volume. It's as though Callaway has had some time to hone their craft in developing these cars.
As for the actual power, it's certainly producing what Callaway claims, and probably a touch more. In this business it's better to err on the conservative side.
If, y'know, a 600+ horsepower Corvette with a hood blister that looks like a giant scarab beetle can be called conservative.
Jason Kavanagh, Engineering Editor
necallaway says:
09:58 PM, 05/17/10
This car is available for purchase at Harchelroad Motors of Imperial Nebraska. Check out their site for New Callaway's www.harchelroadmotors.com. Can't wait to see it in person!
redgeminipa says:
06:28 AM, 05/18/10
I remember reading about the Sledgehammer back in the day. Talk about WOW factor!
The exhaust note on this SC606 is delicious.... mmmmm
nottom says:
09:46 AM, 05/18/10
Jason, Jason, Jason...
When will you learn that chassis dynos are tuning devices. Any number you get from a single dyno is completely devoid of any value.
I would've thought that repeatedly getting significantly higher horsepower numbers than the manufacturers claim on your dyno of choice would have made you think twice about continuing to post about dyno numbers but clearly I was mistaken.
And yes I understand about page views and the like so this will be the last time I click on one of your dyno postings.
spdracerut says:
07:57 AM, 05/19/10
nottom, nottom, nottom...
You should know that as a tuning device, it should be repeatable. Otherwise, it's devoid of any value.
As all these cars being tested by Insideline are on the same dyno, it at least eliminates one major variable. Of course, there's the weather factor. However, there's the correction factor used in the software to help minimize the error. Furthermore, it's all being done in SoCal. It doesn't very much beyond 65F-75F around here. It's the best place in the country for repeatablility.
Anyways, for the tests performed on this dyno, the results are comparable between all the different cars with about as much confidence as you can have with dyno testing.
Also, your claim of the dyno reading significantly higher horsepower numbers. Point of contention #1, there's no way to correlate dyno numbers to crank numbers correctly without knowing the exact losses of each drivetrain setup (including wheels/tires/alignment). #2, if you DID use the 15% rule for RWD, the result of this dyno test is relatively inline with the crank hp claim.
Obviously, this was not the case with the 5.0L Mustang. It is FACT that many manufacturers underrate their vehicles. They learned from their mistakes (Re: older Cobra, Mazda RX8, Mazda Miata). And heck, they Japanese underrated all their high HP cars to 280PS back in the 90s'. Funny how the 300ZX, Supra, Skyline, 3000GT all magically made the same 280PS.
spdracerut says:
07:57 AM, 05/19/10
Oh, and irrelevant of the actual numbers, the curves themselves are very important.
new22003 says:
09:32 AM, 05/19/10
nottom, nottom, nottom...
Its fun for the reader and its a good comparison tool. They use the same dyno for the cars making the results directly comparable with each other. How else would you have them compare power numbers? Use manufacturers ratings? That would be far less accurate/comparable than putting all the cars on the same dyno.
1krider1 says:
09:42 AM, 05/20/10
Anthing under 600/600 rwhp with a LS3 is not worthin writing about.
Add some headers and high flow cats and then send that thing to http://www.eastcoastsupercharging.com/LSX%20Dynotuning.html for some dyno tuning.
Then, you'll get your 600/600 to the wheels.
mbukukanyau says:
10:46 AM, 05/21/10
I tell you, There is only one Super Corvette, not this one, but the Pratt Miller CR6
http://www.prattmillerc6rs.com/