Hello all,

I have become trapped in the Corvette obsession and as I looked further into the car after the C7 release I stumbled upon your community. Until finding this forum I had NEVER anticipated modding, altering, or doing any type of change to a stock 'vette. Boy was I misguided. I now have a long list of mods (and an even longer list of questions) that I have to attend to.

In advance, I do apologize if any of this is stated elsewhere. I tried to do as much research as I could before I asked this question as to not be redundant.

Essentially I have locked down the cosmetic mods I wish to use (I was wondering if corvettemods is a good supplier?) and now I am looking towards tuning and gaining that absolutely unnecessary horsepower There seems to be a few ways to go about this, however I am looking more towards the all in one builders that have a good amount of experience. I feel that a car with this price tag should be worked on by those with good reputation and there is most likely no other place with so many people to vouch for credibility and quality.

By doing my own research I have found Hennessy, Callaway, Lingenfelter, etc. I was wondering if there is a crowd favorite or otherwise as well as looking for some possible customer testimonials from the members here. Any bit helps!

Again, I am sorry if this has already been answered and thanks for reading

Edit: Also wondering how people like the sound system in the 3LT, I'm an absolute audio freak and will most likely be looking to the aftermarket if there are issues

 

Corvettemods is a good vendor, bought many things from them and haven't had a problem. With that being said, no vendor ALWAYS has the best prices over the rest. Google what you're looking to buy and find the best price, either individually or as a package. You can even give places a call with your best price and try to get a price match to do business with them.

As far as hennessey, hallway, lingenfelter, they are all excellent, but what are you looking to get from them???? If just a tune, then try local first before a mail order. If you're doing a supercharger, or heavily modding the engine/trans then all 3 are very good.... We need more info on what your intentions are.

 

Depending what you want to do for performance mods, why not contact Doug Rippe Motorsports in the Twin Cities area (Waverly, MN) where you live. Look them up on their website.

Just remember any performance mods will likely have voided your drive train warranty should you have issues.

 

Best advice-be very sure you want to go the tuner route at all. I had a Lingenfelter 383 conversion done on my 94 at a time when the car mags raved about that very car. Mine had heat management issues from day one-John was still alive in those days. First issue was the floorboards got so hot, the fiberglass was giving off fumes. Lingenfelter sent me a larger radiator and paid for it to be installed. Helped make the engine run cooler than 220 Degrees at highway speeds but still too hot. They had the car transported back from Dallas to Indiana to remove the engine and insulate the firewall and floor pan.

Then the modified automatic transmission line pressure was too high & blew the torque converter and the first and second clutches twice before they figured that out. Didn't cost me more money but did cost me 18 months of my car being torn down in one shop or another.

And finally the car never ran cool enough to the point that if the temperature was 95 or more you had to shut down the AC when in stop and go traffic. Not ideal for a Texas car. Awesome power (441HP and 502 torque) but I sold it. In the end wished I had my $20k back. So give me factory power from now on. Once thru the tuner route was enough for me.

The Z06 is a bargain if you want 650 HP-I wouldn't want a 'tuner's' mod if the base stingray's too slow. Me-I'm ok with my Z51.

The audio system in 3LT is Bose with all that implies. An audio freak or audiophile system it's not. Suspect you'll be changing that.

 

A lot of great info here. Thanks for the advice everyone!

As for why I am looking the tuner route it mostly comes down to Z06 availability, and I like the slimmer body of the Z51 for some reason. I do still want to be pushing around 700 horse (big fan of sub 3 0-60 times) and the quarter miles are always a plus.

Going a route like Hennessy still gives a sense of exclusivity with only 100 built on the 700 hp variant while most likely being a shorter time till I actually have the car in my garage. It also gives me time to spread out payments and projects, the Z06 is kinda the all in one package with the all in one price. A tuner and some mods will allow me to take on costs as I feel fit.

And thanks for the audio input, I'll definitely be looking around for an aftermarket. Anyone manage to fit anything fun in a c7 as of yet? I feel like that trunk space is begging for some subs

 

makes much more sense now to go with hennessey, or one of the other two...

 

I take it the tuner who's name begins with the 8th letter in the alphabet has a better rep on this board than others I frequent. I wouldn't give him any money.

 

Exactly. Check out some Viper boards to see what others think.

 

Well I guess the eighth letter of the alphabet is out of the question... Thank you for the advice!

 

Truthfully he probably does decent work at this point but some of the stuff you read is crazy. You can achieve a similar result for way way less on from a smaller reputable shop.

 

Agreed - have buddies with Vipers and Challengers and both cars built there are garbage and have been nothing but a nightmare.

 

Callaway all the way. They are the only builder I know that has developed and manufacture their own supercharger. Read the reviews, owners are saying its stronger than a Z06. You get to keep your GM warranty to boot.

 

KEEPING YOUR WARRANTY IS A BIG PLUS.

 

www.callawaycars.com

info@callawaycars.com

We'd be glad to discuss our packages, thanks

 

Pardon my stupidity but if a person wants 600+ hp, why buy modifications when you can buy a 650 hp Z06? Geez...How much hp does one need? I'm not an experienced performance driver that's why I said to pardon my stupidity. I have the Z51 460 hp which I have limited experience with before putting it away for the winter. But seriously after driving the Z51, I can't imagine trying to keep a 650 hp Z06 under control without killing myself.

 

For one, buying a supercharger kit and having the car tuned would be less expensive than going the Z06 route.

 

Oh...Good point. I didn't realize that.

 

Great questions, for sure. Take a look at our supercharger design and the benefits - especially for the triple-element intercoolers, long tuned runners, and big displacement rotor pack, then factor the benefits of Callaway's peerless reliability, drivability, and emissions compliance, all backed by the only power train warranty to truly supplement the GM Powertrain Warranty, and you have an awesome package!

One of our customers, who happens to own two 2015 Z06 Corvettes, calls his Callaway SC627 his Go To car, and he's got many! Of course, he sent us one of his Z06 Corvettes for the first 2015 Z06 Callaway Super Vette, too

I hope this helps with some of the rationale.

 

Out of curiosity, what kind of numbers are you expecting out of the LT4 vs the LT1 with your kit?