Insane C5 Corvette Z06 ‘Street’ Car with Lingenfelter LS7 Power
Spotted at the Optima Batteries’ Hi-Performance Expo last year, this Corvette makes 800+ HP with Lingenfelter Eliminator Spec LS7.
Lingenfelter Performance Engineering has been around for nearly half a century. LS series engines have been around for about half that time. So, seeing a Lingenfelter modified LS powered car is not something new. However, that does not mean that there are not new innovations being made. Lingenfelter has recently introduced a new performance line called the Eliminator. The Eliminator line aims to, well, eliminate an issue with typical crate motor builds. Specially, the issue of configuring the exact combination of parts for a specific build goal.
Racer Jake Rozelle was one of the first to compete with a new Eliminator spec engine. His car and engine were spotted at the Optima Batteries’ Hi-Performance Expo last year. The event was held at the Circuit of the Americas last November. While there they were noticed by the folks at MotoIQ. They caught up to Rozelle and talked to him about his amazing C5 Corvette Z06. The interview was recently posted on the MotoIQ YouTube channel.
At this event there are plenty of impressive performance cars. However, even among this crowd, the 2003 C5 Z06 stands out. Not so much for its looks, but for the fantastic racecar sounds it makes around the autocross course. Once off the course, Rozelle provides a detailed walk around of his special Corvette. The walk around begins with the engine. Lingenfelter performs a laundry list of upgrades on this LS7. The upgrades include their own connecting rods, forged pistons, and re-sleeved block. This engine makes a naturally aspirated 800 horsepower. “We’re running it on ethanol, Ignite Red E-85. We have had a lot of success with that. We are making well over that advertised 800 number. It’s a true 800 plus horsepower package.” Says Rozelle. It is also setup to rev to 8,300 rpm with a bit more room to go from there. Cost for this unit is around $25,000.
This car is a custom build meant to compete, so it is much more than a powerful engine. The brakes, suspension, exhaust, headers, nearly everything you can change on this car has been changed. The transmission is a Tremec TR6060 six-speed manual out of a wrecked C6 ZR-1 Corvette. The gearing has been changed so the car can hit 70 mph in first gear. That is a boon on the autocross course. Less shifting equals more speed.
On the inside the car looks more livable than you might expect. Rozelle says he still occasionally drives the car out on the street, so he didn’t want to strip everything. There is a AEM CD-7 carbon digital racing dash with a color scheme to match the car. A flocked dash greatly improves the look compared to the OEM C5 interior. The cool thing about this car is not just that Rozelle still drives it on the street. It was actually his daily driver when he was in college. Of course, it was not built like this back then. He has been able to enjoy this car on road and track as it evolved over the years.
The entire video is a fascinating look into an amazing car build. However, one of the highlights is the last 30 seconds. The video ends with uninterrupted clips of Rozelle tearing around the autocross course. “The engine sound is what always gets people.” Says Rozelle. We could not agree more. It sounds good enough to be a ringtone. And this is one car that goes as well as it sounds.
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