The term “bolt-ons” is frequently thrown around at any large gathering of gearheads, though exactly what defines a bolt-on engine modification changes from person to person. To most people, the term encapsulates basic modifications such as a cold-air intake or cat-back exhaust system. If you want to get a bit more cheeky with the term, we suppose you could include intake manifolds and cylinder heads in that equation.
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But if you buy a brand new car with a supercharger included in the MSRP, is it still fair to be using the bolt-on terminology to describe further modifications to your speed machine? That’s the question we pose to you with this video of a “bolt-on” C7 Corvette Z06 popping a minor–but still very impressive–wheelie on its way to a 9-second quarter-mile.
Out of the gate, a C7 Z06 packs 650 horsepower and an equal amount of torque, numbers that dwarfs all but a handful of competitor vehicles. On top of that, the owner of this Arctic White specimen loaded up on bolt-ons, adding a Fabtech intake, TSP headers, a 2.31 upper pulley, thermo reduction plates, as well a Fasterprom expansion tank and tune. The car runs a 55% blend of ethanol for a bit of added power, allowing it to just barely sneak into the single digits with a 9.97 run, after two consecutive runs in the low-10s.
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That speaks more to GM’s over-engineering of the supercharged LT4 engine than anything else, though the lack of a cam upgrade while still hitting the 9s is a pretty impressive feat. The Z06 is in rare company in that regard, and the LT4’s responsiveness to modifications is already making it a favorite among American muscle fans.
Best of all, we’re not even halfway through a typical Corvette design cycle. In other words, there’s plenty of time left for GM to up the ante.