On Saturday, September 11, 2010, Camaro enthusiasts traveled from San Diego, Torrance, Orange, and even as far away as Las Vegas, Nevada, to Temecula, California for the second Camaro5.com-organized dyno day and shop tour at BBK Performance Parts. Once known almost exclusively for their wide range of bolt-ons for late model Mustangs, in recent years BBK has expanded to include LS-powered GM products in their list of applications.

BBK was founded in 1988 by brothers Brian and Ken Murphy, first catering to the then all-new EFI Mustang and Camaro/Firebird models with items such as aftermarket performance throttle bodies, “shorty” headers, and cold-air intakes. Over twenty-plus years, the team at BBK has been busy adding hundreds of items for a variety of automotive and truck applications. In 2010 they opened an additional facility in Temecula, California, bringing their overall operations to nearly 150,000 square feet of state-of-the-art design and manufacturing space.

While some companies have gone offshore to source products, BBK has continued to invest heavily in their California and Florida operations to meet with the demands of the expanding modern-day muscle car marketplace, keeping focused on making truly OEM-quality aftermarket products. BBK parts are sold through thousands of auto parts outlets including well known mail order companies like Summit Racing and Jegs as well as retailers like Pep Boys and O’Reilly’s.

When we asked BBK President Brian Murphy why it was so important to get Camaro guys out to the shop for a second dyno day this year, he answered very seriously, “We feel it is critical that we stay in close touch with our enthusiast customers, and the dyno event like we have now done twice with Camaro5 gives our staff a chance to really connect with our customers and get their opinions and feedback.”

The day started with everyone bowing their head and taking a moment of silence to honor those that lost their lives on September 11, 2001, and those that have lost their lives fighting for our freedom. We then went straight to business; Rick Shapard was the first on the Dyno.

Rick Shapard – N/A LS3, 412HP/412TQ

Rick was in attendance at the first BBK/Camaro5 dyno day, and he has added some new performance parts to his 2010 LS3 Camaro since he dynoed back in February. In the September heat, he pulled 412 RWHP, almost 40 more than his stock run of 373. When asked what he had done to his Camaro since the last dyno day he responded,“The biggest performance mods are the BBK stainless steel long tube headers and BBK cold air intake. The only other mods done to the car that could be considered performance related would be losing over 20 pounds by replacing the factory mufflers with JBA’s axle back system. I added Eibach sport springs and Eibach’s pro kit sway bars, and I replaced the factory MS 20-inch rims with KMC’s Rockstars, saving nearly another 20 pounds.”

Depending on who you ask, going to a wheel and tire combination with lower rotational mass will bump up your numbers on an inertia chassis dyno like BBK’s DynoJet, so that may have played a part in the overall improvement.

Fred Lomax – Edelbrock E-Force L99, 492HP/519TQ

Rick’s all-motor number set the standard to beat, and remained the high point for the crowd of Camaro fanatics until Fred Lomax (known as Busy_Boi) came up with his 2010 L99 with an Edelbrock E-Force supercharger under the hood. Edelbrock advertises 599 horsepower and 547 foot-pounds for this kit on the manual-transmission LS3, so anticipation was high to see what it would do on an L99-powered car.

The rollers turned, and when the pulls were done, his best numbers were 492 RWHP and 519 foot-pounds – factor in a conservative 15% loss for the automatic and we’re talking 566 at the crank! We asked Fred what he had done to his car besides the obvious Edelbrock blower and he said, “Other than the supercharger, I do have a custom tune, ported throttle body, and Kooks long-tube 1 7/8-inch headers with a Flowmaster American Thunder 3-inch catback and Roto-Fab intake.” When we asked him if there’s anything else that he plans on doing, he just smiled and said, “I am planning on putting a cam in and some ported LS3 heads with a Yank 3200 RPM stall torque converter and having some suspension work done.” I guess we’ll have to wait for BBK Part 3 for those numbers.

Matt Fanucchi – Vortech V-3 LS3, 501HP/452TQ

Next up was “Bumblebee Matt” Fanucchi and his “Super Bee.” He has an LS3 with a Vortech V-3 centrifugal supercharger, backed with an ACT Twin-Disk race clutch and flywheel and Hurst short throw shifter. A Doug Thorley X-pipe and cat-back exhaust help handle the added flow demands created by the boosted engine.

Before his pulls, we asked Matt what else he wanted to do to his Camaro. As the bright yellow car was being strapped down for the test, he smiled and said, “For my motor, a blower cam, FAST 102mm intake manifold, a ported throttle body, CNC ported-and-polished heads, Doug Thorley 1 7/8-inch ceramic long tube tri-y headers, methanol/water injection, a 3.3-inch supercharger pulley swap, and an underdrive pulley.”

He’s not just putting it all under the hood, either – he added, “For my suspension, racing coilovers, sub-frame connectors, a tunnel brace, solid engine mounts, solid body mounts, upgraded toe rods and rear end bushings. 
And for brakes, Cadillac CTS-V drilled and slotted rotors with 6-piston calipers. 
And last but not least, Mickey Thompson drag radials.” We can’t wait until he’s done with his project and gets a chance to make some quarter-mile passes. For the time being, though, the BBK dyno says he’s laying down 501 horsepower to the wheels.

Rick Andrade – Magnuson TVS2300 LS3, 613HP/580HP

With the 500-horse barrier broken, Rick “Urr2slo” Andrade stepped up to the plate to see if he could reset the record. If the car looks familiar, it should – we recently featured it here on LSXMAG, and we knew he had a little something to show the assembled multitude.

When asked what he has done to his car he just smiled and said, “It’s stock.” One peek under the carbon-fiber SEIBON hood at the Magnuson TVS2300 supercharger told us otherwise, and extra straps were laid on as the car was tied down for its dyno pulls.

Two deafening trips through the gears later, Rick and his blue monster had captured the undisputed heavyweight title with 613 RWHP and just shy of 580 foot-pounds of torque.

Now that is impressive! We got a chance to pull Rick aside after his impressive showing and he was able to tell us that in addition to the blower, the car also featured a Roto-Fab CAI, Snow Performance methanol injection, Dyna-Tech long tubes, a Magnaflow 3-inch comp exhaust, a Centerforce twin-disc clutch, Hotchkis Race Pack, Baer Brakes, a mild cam, a dual fuel pump and larger injectors, a custom tune and, according to Rick, “A lot of wax so it cuts through the air quicker.”

This was definitely a great day for BBK and the Camaro5 SoCal Family. Everyone that wanted to get a pull got dynoed and went home happy. The next day we were able to catch up with Brian Murphy and he had a message to pass along to all in attendance; “I would just like to let the Camaro5 members know that my brother Ken and I love what we do, and after 22 years of doing it we still get excited when we see what our team is able to do with such great vehicles like the new Camaro. As enthusiasts ourselves, we try to offer our customers the types of products we want on our own cars, and this means something that can be driven and enjoyed daily. We know that now, more than ever, people have many choices when buying performance products and we appreciate the support we get from the enthusiast community and we look forward to the next twenty years.”

It’s always great to learn that the people building parts for our cars love them as much as we do. A special “thank you” goes out Brian, Ken, and the whole crew at BBK. It was a great day and their hospitality was second to none. Of course, now we can’t wait for BBK Dyno Day Part 3…