The C8 tuning world was thrown a long-neglected treat, when HP Tuners had announced tuning capabilities for the C8 Corvette. Owners, enthusiast, tuners, and car builders the world over howled in happiness to the news, that everyone with a credit card, and a modified C8 rang up HP Tuners to put their order in.
Florida High Performance was among the first, and we’ve covered an HP Tuners-modified C8 from them once before, a twin-turbo example. But this particular version is a simple full bolt-on only car, one that didn’t necessarily need tuning, but one that could have used it, nonetheless, to maximize its performance potential.
Implementing a DSX Tuning flex fuel sensor and harness into the mix, that allows the Vette’s owner to run their choice of 93-octane or race gas. In this case, Florida High Performance’s Erik Bentley installs it, and utilizes E85, after baseline testing and a 93-octane tune testing have provided some numbers for the car. Alex Peitz from Peitz Performance also helps with the 93-octane tune, having had his hand in modifying plant of C8 Corvettes himself.
The results are depicted on the Dynojet dyno graph below, and they are:
- 422hp/415 lb-ft (baseline testing)
- 441hp 432 lb-ft (93-octane tune)
- 461hp 455 lb-ft (E85 tune)
Now, the idea of this video was to show what kind of numbers an LT2 Corvette, and how many of those 495 flywheel horsepowers actually make it to the pavement. In this case, this one was a full bolt-on car to begin with, but without any recalibration whatsoever, there was still a lot of power left on the table. The E85 would be far more beneficial with some form of boost mixed in, but again in this case, it was all due in the name of science. Plus, the car’s owner gets to recalibrate the car’s ECU for 93-octane, or, E85 on the fly.
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of GMEFI Magazine, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles. When he isn’t tuning, testing, or competing with the brand’s current crop of project vehicles, he’s busy tinkering and planning the next modifications for his own cars.
