09/12/2026
The King of Corvettes. With a story to be told...
How we found nearly 250 WHP in five minutes.
This C6 ZR1 originally came to us for a suspected bad fuel pump. Unfortunately, it arrived with a hurt engine. After diagnosis and teardown, we found torched pistons in two cylinders along with multiple cracked sleeves.
As we dug deeper, the story started to come together.
The car had previously been calibrated extremely aggressively, but what wasn't known was that the supercharger bypass system had been connected incorrectly, preventing the car from making much boost. However, the bypass valve was still able to fluctuate, causing inconsistent boost while the engine was being subjected to far too much ignition timing.
Ultimately, this was the demise of the engine.
We sourced another LS9 block and started fresh with a forged 377 built by our friends at Atlanta Speed Shop.
The combination:
-Diamond forged pistons
-Compstar Xtreme rods
-Factory LS9 crank
-Frankenstein-ported LS9 heads
-Custom grind cam
-Xtreme CFM ported LS9 supercharger
-103mm throttle body & inlet
-Upper/lower pulleys
-Flex fuel
Once together, we loaded a fresh calibration and intentionally made a baseline pull BEFORE correcting the bypass routing. We wanted to see what the owner had actually been driving.
The car made 6–7 PSI and just shy of 650 WHP.
We corrected the bypass routing and the missing power showed up immediately.
After a full calibration on our in-house dyno, the results followed:
774 WHP on 93
893 WHP on E85
A blown-up motor and nearly 250 WHP found by correcting one underlying issue.
This is why attention to detail and knowledge matter. Understanding the combination matters. Knowing when something isn't making the power it should matters. Diagnosis, parts selection, assembly, and calibration all have to work together.
Whether we're starting from scratch or making something right, the goal is the same: know what works, build a combination worthy of the car, and deliver what the customer deserves.
Who you trust with your car matters.
Built Wicked. Tuned Wicked. Proven Wicked.
Wicked Performance
Flowery Branch, GA
678-283-0627
[email protected]
