Callaway takes the best Camaro and one of the best Corvettes and makes them even better

Callaway has whacked its tuning fork against two of the greatest cars in the current crop of great muscle and sports cars: the Camaro Z/28 and C7 Corvette.

Those are pretty good starting points on which to build, wouldn’t you say? Callaway’s engineers concentrated on the powertrains for these two cars since the Chevy guys had already done such a great job on the suspensions straight out of the factory. So Callaway added supercharged power to both.

Let’s start with the Camaro. The current Camaro lineup ranges from the V6-powered LS Coupe with 323 horsepower to the 426-hp Camaro SS to the 580-hp ZL1 and tops off with the track-ready Z/28 with 505 potent ponies. That’s the best Camaro lineup in human history - and maybe even the best before human history. But it’s not enough for these guys. Callaway starts with the Camaro Z/28 and builds from there into its SC652.

Again, no one can really up the suspension setup on the Z/28, at least not yet.

“It’s a Nurburgring pet project,” said engineer Pete Callaway, son of company founder Reeves and general manager of Callaway Cars West.

And with the stock Camaro Z/28’s 7:37 Nurburgring lap time, quicker than almost any production car, Callaway decided to concentrate on the engine when designing its version of the car. Luckily, they had already done much of the work.

“The Z/28 came with the LS7 V8 from the last-generation Z06,” Pete explained. “It’s the older LS7. It’s a natural fit for a product we already had.”

That "product" would be the Eaton TVS 2300 supercharger pack. As engineered by Callaway, the blower fits efficiently onto the V8, making better use of the space under the hood while boosting output.

“This thing makes all kinds of torque,” Pete said.

So we took it out for a couple laps of Orange County to see for ourselves. The first impression right out of the parking lot is that the SC652 is easy to drive for a car this big that makes this much power. The clutch pedal travel is long and springy with actual clutch engagement not coming until the top end of pedal travel. The throttle is light and quick with instantaneous power and torque. Shifter throws are also light, making it very easy to access all the power. It used to be that a muscle car took a lot of muscle from the driver to operate; not this one. It’s very well-engineered, both by Callaway and Chevrolet.

A few spirited launches showed that it leaves the line well, too. Most of that power gets to the ground without slipping around...unless you want slip. We stomped the throttle, let out the clutch and lit up the Pirelli PZero Trofeo R 305/30ZR19s a few times, which isn’t easy to do in The OC without being arrested, let me tell you. Discretion is the soul of continued licensing. Had we access to a drag strip, we could have had a lot of fun trying to balance clutch, gas and tire slip all day. As it was, Callaway lists a 0-60 time of 3.7 seconds and a quarter mile in 11.5 at 124 mph for this Camaro. Those are impressive numbers and felt entirely realistic after our trip.

Mid-throttle acceleration is good, too: Step on the gas at cruising speed and you’re passing cars in no time.

If there’s a drawback, it’s that it ain’t cheap. The Callaway Package on our Callaway Camaro SC652 includes the Eaton 2300 TVS LS7 supercharger system with liquid-to-air intercooler, injectors with carbon fiber covers, high-flow intake, low restriction exhaust, and a bunch of nice cosmetic stuff like floormats and door sill panels for $19,995. That includes a 3-year/36,000-mile warranty that does not void the Chevy warranty. Combined with $76,150 for a Z/28 with A/C and destination, that totals $96,145. For a Camaro. Take a breath.

If that price equals more than you have in the kids’ college funds, then console yourself with this interesting tidbit: the Callaway Corvette SC627 actually costs less. Yes, you can get a Callaway Corvette with 627 horsepower starting for under $80,000.

Now, there are a couple ways to look at that. You get fewer peak horsepower than the Callaway Camaro Z/28 SC652. You also get less power than the stock Corvette Z06. But you get way more power than the base Corvette, which makes 455 hp. And the top-of-the-line Z06 can cost over $100,000, while the Callaway SC627, as noted, starts at under $80k.

“We’re okay with being a little less powerful,” said Pete Callaway of the Z06. “We’re aimed at a different buyer than the Z06, which is a track-oriented car. The SC627 offers piles of performance but is also a little bit more of a daily driver.”

So we went out and drove it for a day. Or an hour. It was a bit of a blur.

Immediately you feel the difference between the Camaro and a Corvette -- between a pony car and a pure sports car. The Corvette feels far more purpose-built for speed, both in a straight line and around a corner. While the pony car comes in versions that could be used just for cruising, the Corvette is always going to be sporty, no matter which version you get. The Corvette feels smaller, tighter and much more responsive. The steering is lighter and faster. The Callaway shifter has really short throws -- almost too short. The Callaway SC627 has all the cool things about the mighty C7 but with more power than any Corvette short of the Z06.

The meat of the Callaway Corvette is the Callaway designed supercharger. It starts with the same Eaton 2300cc TVS rotor pack but it’s upside down in this application, taking in air from the front, up through the compressing force of the rotors and then blowing it straight up into a big intercooler on top. From there the air moves to two more intercoolers, one on each side. This setup means that inlet air temperatures rise by less than 10 degrees over a quarter mile run or a pull on the dyno.

“In the old units it was more like 45 or 50 degrees rise in temperature,” said Callaway.

Cooler temps mean more horsepower. The best increase in output with the triple-cooler comes at wide-open throttle. Peak power is 627 at 6400 rpm and 610 lb-ft at 4400.

At an appropriate launch site far away from anything and with lots of room to play we let out the clutch while stomping the throttle and - wah whoom - it launched like a cannon. The supercharged engine has a sustained, businesslike roar from the Callaway acoustic chamber (aka muffler) -- not too loud, not too quiet. Second gear and - vavoom – off you go to the horizon like you’re in a video game.

“It’s so lightweight, so much power, yowzer,” we wrote in our notes.

Callaway says the SC627 Corvette will do 0-60 in 3.4 seconds and the quarter mile in 11.0 at 126 mph. That just about matches the acceleration of the Z06 but with a narrower tire, Callaway points out. Skid pad, slalom speeds and maybe lap times are better in the Z06, but the SC627 is willing to concede some track performance to get the benefits of better daily driveability and a lower price.

Life’s full of tradeoffs. You’ll have to decide for yourself.

- See more at: http://autoweek.com/article/drive-re....ZOWrgUir.dpuf