Wicked 9-second Camaro ZL1 Is Monstrously Fast, Unbelievably Stock
‘Nemo,’ the Bright Orange Camaro, makes astonishing power on the stock LT4 and runs 9-sec. quarter-miles.
While 650 horsepower is more than enough for a lot of people, sometimes it just doesn’t quite scratch the itch. There are some people out there who can’t modify their new car fast enough. Take, for example, co-owner of Street Car Takeover and Killer Performance owner Justin Keith. His Camaro saw only 500 miles before going under the knife and getting a substantial power increase. His goal is simple: Set a new record for stock blower LT4 horsepower.
Hotrod brings us the story of Keith and his 2019 Camaro ZL1. This is not his first go-around with the ZL1. Before this beast, he had a 2017 ZL1 with a Procharger centrifugal supercharger system. Though, what pushed him over the edge to decide to upgrade to a 2019 model might surprise you. He says that the Hugger Orange-like color was enough to convince him to sell his previous ZL1 and purchase this one.
“I wanted to set the stock blower ZL1 record with this new orange car I call Nemo—yes, like the fish in the movie Finding Nemo,” says Keith.
What’s a good story without a happy ending, right? After all the tweaking and modifications were said and done, Keith’s Camaro makes 830 wheel horsepower and 850 pound-feet of torque at the wheels. When considering the drivetrain loss at twenty percent, that puts this ZL1 at nearly 1,000 crank horsepower on the stock supercharger. Though, it wasn’t as simple as a tune and pulley swap. To get this kind of power figure requires a whole lot of work.
“I called up Frankenstein Engine Dynamics and had them mill and port a set of LT4 heads for me. Then I talked with Brett at Jokerz Performance and got a ‘Full Tilt,’ he calls it, blower port,” said Keith
On top of those modifications, the car also has a performance camshaft, both upper and lower pulleys to maximize the supercharger’s output, methanol, and ice tanks, and a new fuel system to support running on E85. While this is an astonishing amount of modifications to a brand new car, what’s insane is the build’s timeline. All of these modifications were done over the span of only two weeks. In fact, the Camaro still had its dealership paper floor mats after the changes were done. This car truly went straight from the dealership to a freakish monster with no steps in between.
All of the effort and money spent has quite the outcome, though. Its insane power combines with the Mickey Thompson racing slicks on the rear to put together some crazy numbers.
“The car has gone a best quarter-mile of 9.67 at 143 mph and best eighth of 6.12 at 115 mph on its first outing at the track in the 90-degree summer heat. Its best trap speed was 146, and best 60-foot was a 1.39 with a stock torque converter,” says Keith
That’s pretty astonishing to see from a stock blower. Overall, this car is super cool to see. It’s always fun to see people push the limits of what’s possible, and it seems the LT4 is capable of a whole lot more than people are expecting from it!
Photos: Hotrod
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