Twin-turbo LS Corvette vs. Twin-turbo LS Dodge Hot Rod
Both cars are running twin turbo LS setups. Can the Dodge keep pace with only half the power?
When you want to make big power and go fast, going with a twin turbo LS platform is the logical choice. The racers you see here know that well. In one corner you have a 2006 Corvette Z06. In the other corner is a 1927 Dodge hot rod. Both corners chose to use LS powerplants for their machines.
The Corvette makes twice as much power, but sometimes power isn’t everything. The Dodge is no slouch and has a significant weight advantage on its side. When lined up against each other, which will take the checkered flag? On the Hoonigan YouTube channel we get to see this battle play itself out on the runway.
You can’t have a race without getting to know something more about the cars going into battle. First up is the little red Corvette. The Corvette is capable of putting out over 1,200 horsepower, but for this race it is turned down to a measly 1,000. It puts that power to the rear wheels through a 2-speed Powerglide transmission.
The car tips the scales at 3,400 pounds. It is going to be driven by tuner Dardan Maloku. Maloku describes his setup: “It’s a full-on 427 LSX, twin 68-millmeter turbo.” He tested the car in the eighth mile and run a 5.5 at 130 mph. Based on that Maloku estimates it is a mid-eight second car, but he has never run it in the quarter. The car is not going to be easy to beat.
However, the Dodge nicknamed “Lunchmoney” is used to playing the underdog. It was featured in Netflix’s series Fastest Car, where it went up against a combination of supercars and hand-built race cars. It won the first round and finished about mid-pack in the finale. Driver Corey Caouette is used to overcoming the odds and being down on power won’t phase him.
“Its got a 388 cubic-inch LS, AFR cylinder heads, Plazmaman intake, valve covers, intercooler, Nelson Racing 60-millimeter Mirror Image twin turbos,” said Caouette. That results in about 600 horsepower that goes to the rear wheels via an ATI Pro Glide transmission. Being unable to use his legs, Caouette somehow controls all this with his hands.
Time to get down to what matters and seeing who gets down the track first. Actually, it is not a prepared track, but a runway. That makes a difference as having power and being able to use the power are two different things. The Hoonigan crew place their bets and all but one think that Lunchmoney is going to finish first.
However, once the burnouts start and the crew see and hear the Corvette for the first time, they begin to doubt their choice. The race being run is a 1,000 foot drag from a dig head-to-head. It is a best of three format.
Round one is not even close. Lunchmoney hooks right up and scoots down the track. The Corvette struggles for traction the whole way and eventually just shuts it down and concedes. The most impressive thing is watching Caouette take his hand of the wheel to shift. That guy has some guts. In round two the Corvette makes a race of it, but again struggles for grip.
Lunchmoney takes the first two rounds and thus wins the best of three competition. However, that is no reason not to run the third race anyway. For the final race the car switch lanes in the hope that the Corvette can find traction somewhere. It can’t, but that wasn’t the only issue this time. “I was going good and then I hit power reduce mode,” Maloku said.
This battle makes it clear that it is possible to have too much of a good thing. The Corvette is highly likely the faster car when it has the grip. However, on this surface the Dodge hot rod was clearly the winner. The other winner was of course the LS platform. Both of these setups put the LS to good use and it is just another example of what these things are capable of.
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