Corvette Owner Ponders the Illogical: Should You Rotary Swap a ‘Vette?
C5 Z06 owner hates the “LS swap everything” mantra and is piecing together one of the wildest engine swaps we have ever seen.
YouTube personality Rob Dahm is something of a controversial figure. He’s not afraid to make his opinions known, for better or worse. So, when the import car enthusiast ended up with a C5 Corvette Z06, it would appear that we’re in for some real comedy.
Dahm’s C5 Z06 appears to be a crashed example that runs, in some capacity. He mentions broken suspension components while driving it, and visually, the front fenders are smashed off, and the whole front end looks tweaked pretty badly. This C5Z is also making some pretty awful noises, especially when changing gears.
After a short test drive, Dahm pulls in front of a rotary tuning shop, where the pokes and jabs at the crashed Corvette continue. Eventually, however, Dahm puts the Z06 on the dyno, and the jokes stop. Even with the front clip smashed in, the LS6-powered Corvette puts down an impressive 372 WHP and 368 lb-ft of torque in stock form. After doing some mental arithmetic, Dahm realizes that this Corvette beater, isn’t as beat as he thought. He also admits that the noise coming from the C5Z’s titanium pipes is definitely a good one. The car sounds thunderous on the dyno, pull after pull.
After doing a number of pulls, Dahm, an admitted rotary engine enthusiast, pauses, and, after a dramatic cut, can be seen throwing a piston, as well as the C5Z’s engine cover, into the garbage. The video closes with a shot of a Mazda rotary engine sitting on a pallet in front of the Z06. Dahm might just be doing the first-ever rotary swap into a C5 Corvette. For better or worse, we can’t wait to see what happens next.