Firing Up the World’s First Twin Turbo C8 Z06 for the First Time
What can be better than the already incredible C8 Z06? Simple, a twin turbo C8 Z06 of course.
Most people would be over the moon to be able to take delivery of a new C8 Z06. Emelia Hartford is not most people. Not that she wasn’t thrilled when she took delivery of her Z06. But because that was just the beginning of her journey with the car. She only took delivery about two weeks ago. And she is now the owner of the world’s first twin turbo C8 Z06. That’s right, the car is barely broken in and it is now being force fed air for even more power. It makes the C8 Z06 a whole lot better. While at the same time making it a little bit worse.
How can it possibly be worse? Well, we will get to that. But first we need to cover what has happened to this car since delivery day. This Z06 has been well documented via the Emelia Hartford YouTube channel. The latest video to drop includes the first start up of the twin turbo C8 Z06. And Hartford being Hartford can’t resist the urge to rev the nuts off the thing for our listening enjoyment.
The Journey
This C8 Z06 has had quite the introduction to life. It is like immediately enrolling a newborn into a Navy SEAL training course. Time for the Corvette to sink or swim. Shortly after purchase Hartford had a custom exhaust designed for the car. A stock C8 Z06 already sounds incredible. But with the new exhaust it sounded like an F1 car. Actually, it sounded even better than a modern F1 car. You have to go back about a dozen years when V8-powered cars were still on the F1 grid to match the incredible sound of the Z06 with a custom exhaust. But that was just the start. Hartford had two Precision 6266 Turbos bolted up along with supporting modifications. Although the car is not getting an intercooler because it will get meth injection instead.
The Start Up
Don’t let the picture fool you. This is a twin turbo C8 Z06. It is temporarily fitted with the side exhaust tips rather than the center exhaust because of a concern over melting the bumper. The center exhaust will eventually go back on but for first fire the regular Stingray tips are used. But once Hartford lights this candle there is no way you could think this is a Stingray. You still get that high pitch sound from the LT6. But it is accompanied by copious amounts of turbo spool sound. And this is where we say the car was made a little bit worse. It sounds menacing for sure. But in our opinion the car sounded better naturally aspirated. There is just something about a screaming naturally aspirated flat-plane crank engine that is tough to beat.
Next Up
The first fire up was a success. The car started right up, sounded healthy and didn’t smoke or sputter at all. It seemed to have no issue with the turbos. Although Hartford admits that they are not pushing much boost. Of course, we will see how long that lasts before she is cranking up the PSI. Regardless the next step is to get the center exhaust sorted and the meth injection installed. And then the real fun begins as the first twin turbo C8 Z06 will hit the road for the first time. We can’t wait to see that and to learn how much power this beast is now making. Stay tuned for more updates.
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