Coast Guard to Patrol Waters with Corvette ZR1 Power!
Michigan-based Katech revealed their marine-aimed take on the LT5 via Facebook, engines to be used on Coast Guard’s airboats.
Corvettes and boats. They’ve gone together for as long as the Corvette’s been around. And not just parked next to a yacht, either. Mercury Marine once built the LT5 for the C4-era ZR-1, while Marine Technology Incorporated built a ZR1 tribute boat in 2011, equipped with Mercury Racing engines. And let’s not forget the Corvette is named for the line of warships dating back to the Age of Sail.
Speaking of the military, though, Michigan-based Katech has shipped off a pair of custom LT5 engines to the United States Coast Guard. According to Muscle Cars & Trucks, the engines will be placed in the branch’s airboats.
“We are proud to have completed these two Katech LT5 Marine AirBoat Engines for the U.S. Coast Guard,” Katech announced on their Facebook page. “These engines reach 800hp on 91 octane and engine data is displayed to the boat operator via a Bosch Motorsport DDU9 integrated with the factory ECU.”
Muscle Cars & Trucks says the DDU9 is full-color dashboard display with data logging, perfect for the needs of the U.S. Coast Guard when monitoring their new engines.
As for the new LT5s, the engine was last used in the C7-era Corvette ZR1, bringing 755 horses and 715 lb-ft of torque to the asphalt. According to CarBuzz, you can buy the buffed-up 6.2-liter V8 directly from General Motors through Chevrolet Performance. It will, however, cost you a new car to obtain; MSRP is $19,995, just a couple thousand bucks from a base Colorado (imagine placing the LT5 into said Colorado, though).
As for where you might see one of the LT5-powered airboats in action, it may be on the frozen waters around Belle Isle in Detroit, or in the swamplands of the Louisiana bayou and the Florida Everglades. The boats are used to traverse such conditions to easily rescue those caught in a bad place, like the roof of their home due to severe flooding, or stranded in the swamp during a bushfire.
While we hope none of us need to be rescued by the Coast Guard, it’s a good thing they’ll have some Corvette power to get to us as soon as possible.
Photos: Wikimedia Commons; Katech/Facebook
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