There are people content to deal with the hand that life dealt them. Then there's Kevin, aka Kingpin, on the Corvette Forum (www.corvetteforum.com).
To take a competent performance contender like a C5 Corvette and modify it before the ink on the title is dry takes a specific type of person-a person who never settles for less than perfection. In Kevin's case, he wanted more power: the power to make things happen, like reverse the rotation of the earth. But, to make it perfect, it still had to be driveable. Kevin lives in Arizona, the nation's largest producer of dehydrated everything, which meant he had to have creature comforts like air conditioning and a car that didn't overheat at the sight of a stop sign.
Kevin Requirement No. 1: Power
To get the horsepower he wanted without sacrificing driveability, Kevin went to Xtreme Motorsports in Tempe (www.xmotorsports.com) for the installation of a Magnuson supercharger atop his stock LS1. The result was a stock-mannered engine with 504 hp and 485 lb-ft of torque at the crack of the throttle body. With the Magnuson supercharger, as the rpm increases it becomes obvious how much air is going into the engine by the whine emanating from under the specially designed hood. Because the supercharger sits atop the engine, the new hood is necessary to give enough clearance for the supercharger.
Kevin Requirement No. 2: Sound
Another one of Kevin's addictions is his music. He wanted his C5 sound system to enable him to hear the entire music spectrum. The installation of the sound system was performed by Audio Express in Mesa (www.audioexpress.com) and includes Boston Pro speakers plus a Boston Pro 10-inch subwoofer. Powering those speakers are two Alpine B12 amps pumping out 500 watts each. Kevin makes his music choices through his Pioneer P930 receiver featuring a flip-down face to access the necessary controls, or he can use his controller on the steering wheel.
Kevin Requirement No. 3: Handling And Style
To keep his powerful project looking cool, Kevin upgraded the handling by installing HRE 541 wheels (18x9.5-inch front and 18x11-inch rear) shod with BFG g-Force tread (265/35-18 front and 295/35-18 rear. Under all that shine and stickiness is a set of Baer EradiSpeed two-piece 14-inch rotors using Z06 calipers.
Tying all that performance in, on, or under that sleek, black paint job would make for one satisfying ride, or so one would think. But, remember, Kevin is always looking for a little more. He recently informed us that since we took these pictures, he removed the supercharger and installed Lingenfelter 6L aluminum cylinder heads and a Lingenfelter Stage III camshaft. Why the change? Kevin reports that he loved the Magnuson supercharger, but he could feel the effect of the midday Arizona heat on his performance. Since there wasn't an intercooler available for the Magnacharger, he decided to go with a twin-turbo intercooled system from Xtreme Motorsports. Now, instead of running 7 pounds of boost, Kevin is pumping in 10 pounds to his engine which, to date, has produced approximately 550 hp and equal gobs of torque while maintaining streetablity.
Now is Kevin satisfied? Nope. More requirements to come; we'll keep you informed.