If you just can’t wait for the all-wheel drive hybrid Corvette ZR1X to arrive and need more power than the standard ZR1 (only 1064 hp), then a new ECM upgrade from HP Tuners may be in your future. The specialty tuning shop appears to be the first to get into the new engine control modules used on the Z06’s LT6 and ZR1’s LT7 V-8s. Dyno testing shows that the twin-turbo LT7 with the right mods is good for almost 1200 hp at the wheels.
In a long Facebook postHP Tuners’ Matt Sanford explains that the tune should increase output by about 15 percent in the middle of the rev range and by 10 percent at the top end on a ZR1, without doing anything to cause heat or durability issues. Those hungry for more power – and with less mechanical sympathy – should be able to achieve a 25 percent increase, by his estimate, with one of the limiting factors being GM’s limit on the shaft speed of the standard turbos (137,000 rpm, if you’re curious).
Sanford doesn’t quote power figures for the Z06’s naturally aspirated LT6 engine after tuning, but a code-massaged ZR1 made 1180 horsepower and 1094 pound-feet of torque at the wheels. (The car in question was equipped with exhaust pipes and ran on 109-octane racing fuel for the dyno test.) Assuming a 15 percent drivetrain loss, the stock ZR1’s crank horsepower drops to about 904 horsepower and 704 pound-feet at the wheels. So yes, even with mods and high octane fuel, these are big wins.
Tuning is certainly an art, but accessing the ECM code requires some clever computer science. Sanford says Chevy uses a Bosch ECM for these engines (the Corvette Stingray uses a completely different computer) that is more similar to what he’s seen on Ford engines than the General’s. That all had to be reverse-engineered before they could mess with the factory setup.
This isn’t a simple reflash you can do with a laptop in your garage, at least not right away. The upgrade requires you to temporarily set your C8 Vette to zero horsepower; the ECU must be removed and sent to HP Tuners for surgery. Once the computer is reinstalled, the owner can play with calibration, logging and scanning via HP Tuners’ MPVI4 OBD-II interface and VCM Suite software using a Windows computer. (This setup is so new that you have to use a beta version of the software, so technically skittish people may want to wait until the stable version is available.)
The ECM upgrade costs $1499and then you’ll need to purchase 10 “Universal Credits” (think of them as tuning tokens) for $49.99 each to download the new code. So all told, you’re looking at around $2000 for access to a healthy dose of extra power. Now think of what they can do with that 1250 hp ZR1X.
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Ever since David was a little kid Car and driver intern, he has kept a spreadsheet of all the vehicles he has driven and tested. David really likes spreadsheets. He can parallel park a school bus and once reversed a Lincoln Town Car at 60 mph. After taking a break from journalism to work on autonomous vehicles, he is back writing for this and other automotive publications. When David isn’t looking for the perfect used car, you can find him with the latest in gimmicky, limited-edition groceries.
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