Over the years the Corvette’s allure has drawn many independent tuners to enhance the platform; perhaps none offers more refinement and engineering prowess than Callaway Cars, founded in 1976. The company offers a special focus on designing, developing and manufacturing high-performance specialty vehicles, with the Corvette at the forefront of its development.
Their engineers have recently finalized the Callaway Corvette’s powertrain management system calibration after extensive testing. Using components that are production-level, the dynamometer shows 2014 Callaway Corvette final power figures of 627 horsepower at 6,400 rpm and 610 lb-ft of torque at 4,400 rpm. Horsepower is up by 167 over the stock LT1 engine figure of 460, and torque has been increased by 145 over the stock mark of 465 lb-ft.
The 6.2L engine in the Callaway Corvette uses a supercharger to help achieve the massive power gains. It includes a newly-redesigned long-runner intake manifold and 2.3L high-helix 4-lobe rotor pack to produce 57 more lb-ft of torque than last year’s Callaway Corvette.
Also assisting power output is the brand-new intercooler system that uses three separate liquid-to-air cooling elements to provide excellent inlet air cooling, and the new intercooler design virtually eliminates the temperature increases typically seen in supercharged applications.
According to the Callaway engineers, “By extending the supercharger housing through the hood, convective heat transfer yields additional reduction of inlet air temperature. Reducing inlet air temperature provides more oxygen molecules for a given volume of air, increasing power while helping to prevent engine-damaging detonation.”
The engine has been tuned to provide exceptional power throughout the rpm range; it is producing over 500 lb-ft of torque by 2,200 rpm and carries that number throughout the entire tested rev band. Horsepower climbs rapidly from idle to redline – there is no dropoff anywhere on the graph.
With the powertrain management development and validation complete, the company has begun shipping SC627 Callaway Corvettes from its Old Lyme, CT and Santa Ana, CA facilities.