[VIDEO] John Hennessey Talks about the C7 Corvette Z06 at SEMA

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[VIDEO] John Hennessey Talks about the C7 Corvette Z06 at SEMA

When John Hennessey of Hennessey Performance talks, car enthusiasts listen.

Hennessey delivered a “State of the Aftermarket” speech during the recent SEMA Show in Las Vegas, and he offered some advice that anyone seriously interested in buying a 2015 Corvette Z06 would do well to consider.

“I think a lot of people out there are thinking, gosh, I love the new C7 and I want to get a Z06 and I read online somewhere that they’re 78 grand and that’s a great bang for the buck,” Hennessey said.

But the reality is that Economics 101 and supply and demand are going to come into play rather quickly.

“Most dealers are going to be lucky if they get allocated one car and they’re gonna have a lot more orders than vehicles that they can deliver,” Hennessey says.

“The reality is that very few are gonna be able to get the cars and a lot of people are gonna be waiting a long time.”

He also points out that he doesn’t know how many of the Z06s will come at that stripped-down price in the upper 70s and predicts that most will instead come loaded out, pushing their sticker price above $100,000.

[VIDEO] John Hennessey Talks about the C7 Corvette Z06 at SEMA

“They’re gonna have the Z07 package where you’ve got the carbon fiber aero package, carbon brakes, (and) I’m guessing those are gonna be more like a hundred grand, a hundred and five grand, which is a heck of a bang for the buck – it’ll be like a C7 version of the last generation ZR1.”

But most dealers are not going to charge MSRP, Hennessey believes. “I know of a dealer in the Houston area – they’re getting 20-25 thousand over sticker,” he says. “So all of a sudden, you read online that the Z06 is gonna be $78 grand or whatever, well, it’s really gonna come loaded out, and they’re a hundred. Then after you pay over sticker, you’re gonna be in the car for a buck and a quarter or a buck 30.”

That’s where Hennessey Performance can help out, Hennessey points out.

“You can still go out and get a nice Z51, 3LT car and send it to us, we can upgrade it,” he says, “or you can wait for the new Z06.”

And Hennessey does it quickly, usually with a 30-day turnaround time.

Of course, there will still be thousands of lucky people who do buy a Z06, and Hennessey says his company will be there to offer performance upgrades for them, too.

[VIDEO] John Hennessey Talks about the C7 Corvette Z06 at SEMA

“We’re gonna do the same type of stuff that we did with the last generation ZR1,” he says. “We’re going to offer ported cylinder heads, we’re gonna have a camshaft upgrade, we’re going to modify the blower for more boost.”

Hennessey believes there’s easily another 100-150 horsepower to be coaxed out of the stock blower, but to go beyond that will require a larger blower or a twin turbo package.

The stock Z06 has the respect of Hennessey, though.

“I’m very confident that Chevrolet and the engineers within the Corvette team are gonna build a car that’s gonna be an absolute world beater,” he says.

One area of improvement, though, would be the seven-speed transmission, according to Hennessey.

“From what I’ve read, the car’s actually gonna be faster with the eight-speed automatic than with the seven-speed, which by the way I’m not a big fan of the seven-speed. It’s a little notchy, and the whole idea of going to seventh gear is just a little weird for me. We just got a new 2015 Stingray that’s got the eight-speed. I haven’t got a chance to drive it, but my guys say that it just shifts really, really fast.”

Hennessey believes the hot setup for the 2015 Z06 will be with the eight-speed automatic but says that his company will still do packages for the old-school guys who prefer a manual.

In summary, Hennessey believes that horsepower is alive and well in America and says that the recent SEMA Show was the largest he ‘s seen since 2008, and maybe the biggest ever.

“Props to the guys at Chevrolet for building another bad-ass car,” he concludes.


Source:
CarBuzz.com

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[VIDEO] Stock C7 Corvette vs Hennessey Corvette Street Race
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