Hennessey Performance Engineering (HPE) has been in the high-performance automotive aftermarket game for quite some time. Way back in 1991, John Hennessey, the owner of Hennessey Performance, went out to pursue his dream of racing up Pikes Peak in a Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4. After setting several records in this VR4, John retired from his environmental remediation business and started his quest for a career in high-performance.
Over the years Hennessey has worked on multiple cars adding their custom touch to each vehicle including the 2019 ZR1 Corvette. Hennessey offers several packages for the ZR1, including an HPE850, HPE1000, and HPE1200 upgrade. The combination that is in the limelight today is the HPE1200.
The HPE1200 is the top of the line ZR1 package offered by the world-renowned performance company. This upgrade from Hennessey includes a ported factory supercharger, billet high-flow throttle body, Hennessey upper and lower pulley, high-flow air induction system, custom HPE camshaft, ported cylinder heads, upgraded valve springs and retainers, upgraded intake valves & exhaust valves, upgraded lifters and pushrods, long-tubes stainless steel headers, stainless steel mid-pipes, high-flow catalytic converters, 8-speed automatic upgraded transmission, and a 3-year / 36,000 mile limited warranty. According to Hennessey, this combination is guaranteed to generate 1,100 horsepower.
All of this information had us wondering, how fast could a 1,100 horsepower C7 ZR1 go in the 1/4-mile. Obviously, GM did not have a drag car in mind while building the C7 platform, but the ‘Vette has always held its own at the drag strip over the years. To our liking, Hennessey headed out to Houston Raceway Park to put the upgraded ZR1 through the paces, and the results are staggering.
The HPE1200 2019 ZR1 Corvette rolled up to the beams fueled by E85 and cranking out a monstrous 24-pounds of boost. Surprisingly, the C7 was not on a 15-inch bead lock wheels, but 18-inch rear wheels with a set of Mickey Thompson drag radial tires. With a temperature of 102-degrees and a Density Altitude (DA) of 2755-feet, the C7 managed to blast off an 8.97 at 156.25 mph even in less than ideal conditions. The HPE1200 packaged ‘Vette managed a 1.41 60-foot time with a 5.82-second 1/8-mile time.
We expect more good things to come from the HPE crew as they keep pushing the limits on performance. For an in-depth look at all of Hennessey’s offerings, be sure and check out their website at Hennesseyperformance.com.