Ben@WeaponX

The stock supercharger on the ZR1 is really impressive, with one exception... it gets insanely hot. So, I've been working on some products and was doing some testing today. But to put down 800whp and run high 9s at 140mph with a stock calibration (with a little manipulation here and there lol) is just incredible! It's currently making about 18psi and I'll be really interested to see the tune once they get into it more. The LT4 supercharger spins at about 20K RPMs and makes 650bhp with 10psi. The LT5 supercharger spins at about 16K RPMs and makes 755bhp with 14psi. The logic to me is slightly backwards with the supercharger spinning slower and making more boost and only 105bhp more with 4psi more and that's only 25bhp per psi. BUT at 18psi making about 950bhp, which is 50bhp per psi, which makes more sense to me. Regardless, aside from the hot lid which I've found quite the solution for below, the car is killing it cutting mid 1.4s and running 140mph. I'll have the TCM unlocked shortly and work on the shift times and speeds, which should really help get that closer to mid 9s. Had a chance to get back to the track again this morning as a Nick H came in town to pickup his Camaro SS with the Edelbrock S/C and our Boost Freeze chiller, so I had him come out with me so I could dial his setup in more as an avid drag racer. Afterwards, I was able to make a pass a couple passes myself at 12:37 PM and again at 1:52 PM. DA was 1100ish

First off, it was amazing to see this car knock out a 2.40 0-60 MPH time, as that surpasses the $3M Bugatti Chiron and ties the $1.25M La Ferrari and Lambo Aventador SV for a fraction of the price. Anyone saying the ZR1 isn't drag capable is dead wrong!

I cut a 1.49 and then a 1.44 - 60' time today, which is an amazing feat considering it is still a stock calibration more or less. I cannot adjust the nannies yet, PE mode, spark, the torque model etc.
Blasted through the 8th mile in 6.438 at 111.77 MPH
And reset the quickest and fastest quarter mile again today with a 9.928 at 140.49 MPH! I would've liked to see 9.7s and I still think it can get there, but I need to make a few changes to some sensors.









A big thanks as always to my sponsors with black ceramic coated Kooks 2" Headers with Green Cats giving that ROWDY growling cackle, especially on decel and also Forgeline GA1R Open Lug 18x8.5 and 18x12.5" wheels, with tires/tpms come in at just 40lbs on the front and 46lbs on the rear! This is a combined 40lbs lighter front and rear than the Forgeline VX1Rs I've been running with Michelin Cup2 ZP tires as they weigh in at just 50lbs on the front and 56lbs on the rear with tpms. And that is about a 20lb overall weight savings vs. the OEM wheels.


The difference on this trip was testing of a few new products:

1. WEAPON-X SuperFlow Carbon Stage 1 Intake - which performed just as expected after dialing in where I want the AFR and Spark from our previous versions. It was covered in high temp resistant foil, despite being a carbon 3D print... or the Tin Man isn't just looking for his heart





2. WEAPON-X S/C Thermal Spacer for the LT5 lid - this was extremely interesting as the lid temperature after shutting the car off on a NON-spirited drive was 145* under the cowl, an hour later 155*, another hour later 165*! After the lid spacer and a 140 MPH quarter mile blast, the lid was only 120* and after a similar NON- spirited drive home it was only 115*. A 30* temperature reduction on this is just incredible because the intercooler bricks are located in the huge LT5 supercharger lid, not down in the runners like the previous LT4 variants and to keep that heat from soaking into your intercooler system just from heat transfer is priceless. So, it is definitely working, helping to prevent the heat transfer via conduction from the hot engine/cylinder heads/manifold below it. We're using a patented material to make these, unlike some of the other materials on the market used for spacers that tend to warp a little more under more extreme heat.

Here is the cowl after driving 15m into the shop:


Here is the lid! You can see how much heat it conducts from below and the insulated carbon cowl just holds that heat in with no where to go (for now ):


Here is the lid after a 15m drive home with the lid spacer, the 45* temperature reduction is incredible!










3. WEAPON-X: ZTK Drag Wing Brackets to lower the tall ZTK wing down some for less down-force at straight line events.



Previous mods are our WEAPON-X950 Package:

1. WEAPON-X SuperFlow Stage 1 Intake (coming soon above)
2. LT5 Ported Throttle Body
3. Kooks 2" Headers ceramic coated with Green Cats
4. WEAPON-X Griptec Stage 3 Pulley
5. WEAPON-X Sensor and Fuel Kit
6. 160* Thermostat
7. Brisk Spark Plugs
8. Magnecor 85kv Spark Plug Wires with Heat Shields
9. Elite E2X Catch Can Kit
10. WEAPON-X Custom Valve Covers and braided PCV lines/fittings
11. Akrapovic Titanium Exhaust

And this package laid down just a hair under 800whp a couple weeks ago!

Bob U

Bob U

Ben, with the Thermal Spacer installed, is there any other modifications required to get the factory S/C carbon fiber cover to fit?
Thanks, Bob

Palantirion

Well done, it's as if you guys knew what you were doing!

The spacer idea is interesting. I'd love to see more info on that. Is the blue color intentional to reference the ZR1, or an accidental byproduct of the material?

Ben@WeaponX

Well the one now "fits" under the OEM cowl, but it is tighter with the gasket pushing on the inside of the hood. I just did this first one for testing and will offer this with our taller vented cowl option and next will test the one half as thick to make sure there is enough material there to stave off conduction as that one easily fits in the extra gasket plushness on the cowl.

Ehhhh even a blind squirrel as they say LOL

We have used these spacers on the ATS V to keep the cylinder heat off of the upper manifold in just the same manner and it worked very well too. But, this supercharger gets so much hotter because of the air compression as well, that the returns on this were really high. 45* difference is seriously a major reduction. That is 45* not going into the coolant, not having to be exchanged by the heat exchangers, and then not going through the engine radiators behind them, and then not blowing back onto the air intake and engine behind it.

I went and grabbed my other phone out of the car so I uploaded the pics in the above as well, but here they are too.

Here is the cowl after driving 15m into the shop:


Here is the lid! You can see how much heat it conducts from below and the insulated carbon cowl just holds that heat in with no where to go (for now ):


Here is the lid after a 15m drive home with the lid spacer, the 45* temperature reduction is incredible!

Palantirion

That's awesome.

BearZ06

45* has to make a difference. Look forward to the thinner spacer test results as well as the vented cowl. I assume they would work together too. Is there a possibility of spacer color options?

Ben@WeaponX

Yes these last passes I went with an extra degree of timing and a little richer fuel. It seemed to like it. I'll lean it out more next time to see how that does.

Yes that blue color is the only sheet they had in stock at the time. The current spacer will work with the raised/vented cowl. The shorter spacer will work with the stock cowl; however, to get the max cooling, the vented cowl will be the key. The stock cowl holds in considerable heat, 2 hours after I shut the car off before the spacer, the lid INCREASED 20* before it started cooling back down!!!!

intensifi

Ben@WeaponX

Tough to quantify with a couple passes; however, both were 9s and the latter was my fastest ever! The first was only 138, but I left that pedal max thing on that I was playing around with. Need to remove that. Oddly it cuts too much during the shifts. One of my techs must've been messing around with it prior LOL because I already embarrassed myself once at the strip testing it and couldn't figure out why I was doing newb burnouts?! LOL For example, I couldn't even manually shift it into 2nd during the burnout because it cuts so much it stops the tires and bogs. It also causes slower shifts from what I've seen so that explains the MPH being slower on the first one. The second one rocked out though since I had it back to 0.