Lingenfelter's Revved-Up Hybrid Corvette E-Ray Hits Hard
by AutoExpert | 21 April, 2024
The newest version from Chevrolet is a hybrid, which presented some additional obstacles for the Lingenfelter tuning business. Thanks to Trifecta—with whom it hacked the Corvette Stingray's operating system—and Paragon Performance, it was able to complete the tricky construction.
They began the process of dismantling the engine to perform the necessary mechanical adjustments. Then they installed a Magnuson TVS2650 Stage 1 C8 Supercharger kit, forged pistons, reworked valve springs, and improved pushrods for the 6.2-liter V8 engine.
While the company was well-versed in that kind of work, this particular construction presented some novel obstacles. For example, when tuning a Stingray, Lingenfelter conceals the cooling reservoir in the central tunnel; nevertheless, in the hybrid Corvette, batteries are located there.
Therefore, the business had to make a special arrangement for the tank and install it somewhere else. Stephen, one of Paragon's finest clients, initially commissioned Paragon to start the project with new intakes and a center-exit exhaust system for the hybridized C8.
After his request, the hybrid system continues to function as it did when the vehicle was new, with the exception of increased power. The first data from the dyno showed that the basic E-Ray Corvette produced 573 horsepower and 630 lb-ft of torque.
Meanwhile, the upgraded Corvette E-Ray produces 734 horsepower and 792 lb-ft of torque on the dyno, as well as an additional 161 horsepower and 162 lb-ft of torque.
This results in a 0.5-second increase over the standard model's claimed performance of 2.5 seconds from 0 to 60 mph. At its first dyno run, the standard Corvette E-Ray generated 573 horsepower and 630 lb-ft of torque.
Upgrading the supercharged Corvette E-Ray brought its power output to 734 horsepower and 792 lb-ft on the dyno, an increase of 161 hp and 162 lb-ft compared to the stock C8 E-Ray. So, it takes two seconds to get from 0 to 60 miles per hour, which is half a second faster than Chevy's claimed stock model speed of 2.5 seconds.
