Roaming the halls of the Performance Racing Industry trade show is much like perusing a jewelry store of performance parts for car guys. One booth that had plenty of bling to go with the horsepower was Late Model Engines (LME). While visiting with the folks at LME, Brian Neelen shared with us about LME’s all billet intake specifically for C8 Corvettes.

Of course, the bare finish of the CNC’d beauty twinkled under the hot lights of the convention hall. The intake is also available in black anodizing or powdercoating. Make no mistake about it, this beast started out as a 270-pound, solid chunk of 6160 aluminum and once the automated bits stopped chomping away, there were about 240-pounds of aluminum chips on the floor.

The remaining piece was designed for boosted applications, and enough material was left to give the intake exceptional integrity to hold almost any boost level you can throw at it. And, since the folks at LME knew people were going to pump air, they also included a port-injection option. That way, folks can increase the fuel supply to supplement the engine’s appetite under boost.

To make sure it doesn’t starve for air, LME also has optional throttle body mounts appropriately sized for a factory, 90 mm throttle body, a 103 mm throttle body, and even a 112 mm throttle body for when your C8’s dial gets turned all the way to 11.

On the lower mating surface, the intake ports have been drilled for LT1, LT2, and LT4-style bolt patterns for those folks who wish to swap to an LT4-style cylinder head. There are also threaded ports to supply access for boost-reference sensors and factory MAP sensor provisions are retained.

Make no mistake, this was a solid piece of 6160 billet aluminum. Approximately 240 pounds of aluminum was whittled away to make each intake!

The intake comes standard with stainless hardware, throttle body O-ring, and intake gasket O-rings. The throttle body mounting position is the same as factory on all planes, so any cold-air intakes, twin-turbo systems, or even factory components will bolt right up. Naturally-aspirated, LME’s billet C8 intake makes about 10 more horsepower than its standard, billet C7 intake, thanks to the larger plenum and longer runners.

It’s always been a shame to hide so many great-looking performance parts under a hood, but thanks to the C8 Corvette’s new engine configuration, this jewel can now be viewed by anyone walking by. In fact, you may find yourself in your garage, staring, entranced by the twinkle of CNC’d goodness. Heaven knows we spent a few minutes gazing at it in LME’s booth at the PRI show!