A year ago there was a lot of talk about the Dodge Demon being able to run in the 9-second range right off of the showroom floor. It’s an extraordinary feat for any car with a warranty to run these kinds of numbers. Most of the Demons are running in the 9.80-9.70 range with the fastest pass being recorded with a professional driver at 9.65. Our question is, what does it take to get a new C7 ZR1 in Demon territory?

On March 23rd at Maryland International Raceway, Will Farmer of Farmer Machine Co Racing took his ZR1 and blasted off the first 9-second pass by a stock Corvette. The ‘Vette was equipped with a set of drag radials and ran a record-setting time of 9.93-second 1/4 mile time at 140.30 miles per hour. While this ET is short of the Demon’s timeslip, the crew had a trick up their sleeve in the way of a single bolt-on.

Joe Eastwood, a longtime drag racer and friend of Will, installed the Chevrolet Performance Cold Air Intake (PN 84689752) at the track to give it a test. The new cold air intake system was designed specifically for the C7 and can fit all three power plants, including the LT1, LT4, and LT5 and is a simple bolt-on. Chevrolet claims that the unit will add horsepower, thus improving performance on the track. The only question is, would these claims hold up?

Here is a shot of the ZR1 engine bay with the Chevrolet Performance Cold Air Intake system installed.

Track Conditions For Cold Air Intake Pass:
Time: 12:53 PM
DA: -670
Temperature: 50-degrees Fahrenheit

After the 50-state legal Chevrolet Performance Cold Air Intake System was in place, the ‘Vette was ready to make another pass. The ZR1 was able to better its previous ET with a solid 9.84-second pass at 142.79 miles per hour. Will said, “This run confirms that the Chevrolet Performance Cold Air Intake improves the 1/4-mile performance by approximately .10 of a second and 3 MPH, which was consistent with our prior testing. This kind of gain on a 9-second street car is impressive! Especially when you consider the Chevrolet Performance Cold Air Intake maintains the factory warranty and fits all C7 Corvettes.”

Track Conditions For The Final Run
Time: 3:41 PM
DA: -540
Temperature: 52-degrees Fahrenheit

For the last pass of the day, the team decided to unbolt some components rather than bolting them on. The idea was to help get some weight out of the car and get rid of the added downforce the factory aero package can generate. With the spoiler and passenger seat removed, the C7 made its way to the staging lanes. Miraculously, the ‘Vette ran a blistering 1/4-mile time of 9.64 at 147.15 MPH. Will said, “We could not believe it! We joked that at 150mph we would need a parachute!”

The 9.64-second pass put the Corvette just under the fastest time ever recorded by stock Demon. The marvel of this accomplishment is the fact that you can drag race at the track one day, switch tires and head to the road course the next. Let’s see a Demon do that!

Congratulations to Will Farmer on the record and Chevrolet Performance for an excellent aftermarket product. Will wanted to thank Joe Eastwood, his crew, Rick Hendrick Chevrolet Buick GMC, and Zip Products for all of the help and hard work.

For more information on the Chevrolet Performance Cold Air Intake and other products for the C7 Corvette, click here.