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Kyle Hirt’s 2011 Camaro may look very familiar to you as photos of the car and its wild turbo placement have made their way around social media of late. Don’t think for one second this car is all show and no go, however, as below that turbo is a built LSX-based engine that makes nearly 1,000 horsepower to the tires on pump gas. This Camaro will be hitting the track and could soon be smashing into the eight-second zone in full street trim with ease.
What might shock most people is Hirt’s lack of experience when it comes to racing, but that didn’t stop him from building a car that’s got some serious power. “I actually haven’t raced at the drag strip before so that will be a whole new experience for me. I built this car to race though, and I’ll be going to track as soon as I finish a few more upgrades. I’ve always loved LSX-based cars, especially the Camaro, so this was a great way for me to get into racing,” Hirt explains.
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Photos Courtesy Of Ayylott Photography
To maximize the power his Camaro makes, Hirt skipped making it bulletproof and went straight to the bomb-proof stage. Under the hood is a 408 cubic-inch stroker motor from Texas Speed & Performance [5] that’s filled with forged internals. Behind the motor is a built TH400 transmission and all kinds of custom driveline parts from The Driveshaft Shop [6]. The suspension features nothing but the best parts from BMR Suspension [7] that has the job of trying to wrangle the 900 horsepower the LSX motor creates on pump gas.
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Photos Courtesy Of Ayylott Photography
To make all of the boost needed Hirt decided to take matters into his own hands and got to work on a custom turbo system. “A good friend and I actually built the turbo kit from scratch. I designed it and cut all the pipes and he did the welds. The turbo is a Forced Inductions custom 88/96 turbo that makes about 20 psi of boost right now. I built the kit because I wanted the only Camaro that had a turbo setup like this outside of the hood,” Hirt says.
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Hirt still has a few upgrades on the table including some weight reduction, head studs, and a Moser [11] solid axle to take all the power he’s creating. Look for Hirt to try and push his 3,500-pound street car into the eight-second zone very soon!