How to Increase Horsepower for Your Corvette

How to Increase Horsepower for Your Corvette

No matter how much horsepower you have, you can always use a little more, right? Take a look at how to increase horsepower for your Corvette.

Keyword(s): how to increase horsepower

How much horsepower does your Corvette have? Can it compete with the 2019 ZR1 with 755 hp?

No matter what you’ve got, just remember you don't have to settle for the stock horsepower. With some key upgrades, you can gain that sought-after horsepower.

Curious what those mods are and how to increase horsepower? 

Stick around, we'll walk you through achieving all the horsepower gains you could want.

How to Increase Horsepower

Ask most car guys about horsepower and they’ll confidently tell you how much their car has. Ask them what it means, though, and you'll most likely get confused mumbling.

When it comes to cars, you need to look at both torque and horsepower to get the most out of your car's engine. (Torque is the amount of rotation force the crankshaft experiences.)

Horsepower is related, but not the same. Torque is the capacity to do work, while horsepower is how quickly that work can get done.

Program Performance Chips

Your car's ECU is the computer chip that controls the running of your vehicle. You can either reprogram it yourself or take it to a professional.

If you want to do it yourself look for a plug and play software that connects into your OBD-II port. This lets you adjust things like the turbo boost, air to fuel ratio and timing.

As you make other modifications you need to account for this in the ECU. Otherwise, the ECU won't know to account for the increased compressed air or the increased flow through the exhaust.

Cold Air Intake

Upgrading your air intake is a fairly affordable upgrade. Instead of pulling the hot air from the engine bay a cold air intake brings in air from outside the car. The colder the air gets, the denser it becomes. The denser the air becomes, the more power can get produced.

You will find that cold air intakes have a larger surface area than stock intakes, which helps to streamline the intake process and reduce flow resistance. With the condensed air, you can create a bigger combustion. The bigger the combustion, the more power you create.

Forced Induction

Both superchargers and turbochargers increase the airflow to your engine by compressing the air. You can expect to get a 50% increase in both horsepower and torque by installing one.

Superchargers

A supercharger connects to a belt on the front of the engine, and you get a sensation of immediate increased power when you step on the gas with this method.

Turbochargers

A turbocharger will get power from the exhaust. This method is thought of as the most efficient since it is utilizing wasted energy. Because it uses energy from the exhaust there is a delay in response known as "turbo lag."

Nitrous

Want to give your car a boost "Fast & Furious" style? Go for the nitrous. This is a performance mod that you can take from one car to the next without sacrificing your investment.

If you've already installed a supercharger or turbocharger, then nitrous will give you that boost you need to combat turbo lag. (You should be aware that it is illegal in most states, so use at your own risk.)

It works like a can of compressed air that gets injected into your engine at the touch of a button. As the super amount of air gets injected into the engine the combustion can get bigger.

Caution

You need to have the right amount of fuel to oxygen/air mixture when using nitrous. Without enough fuel, the temperature in the combustion chamber will get way too hot, causing the components to warp or even melt. (This makes programming your ECU an absolute must when using nitrous.)

You should adjust your air/fuel ratio to run rich. You should also keep your ignition timing on the conservative side, which will reduce the risk of pre-firing.

Water-Injection Kit

This mod won't do a whole lot for you on its own. Pair with a supercharger or turbocharger, though, and you'll enjoy all the hp gains.

Not only will you increase horsepower, but you'll also reduce the carbon in the combustion chamber, taking care of that pinging sound you hear in the engine. You should also use high-quality fuel like your manual states, because it's the cheap gas that's creating the pinging.

Performance Camshaft

Replace the camshaft in the engine with a performance one. This will increase the timing and duration of the opening.

There are a couple downsides with this modification, however. 

First: the cost. It can be pricey, because it requires taking apart the engine to get to the camshaft for replacement.

Second: your engine will have a louder and more obnoxious idle sound. (Though, maybe you won't mind a noisier engine.)

Custom Exhaust Headers and Manifolds

A great way to improve horsepower is to take the stock exhaust and headers off and replace them with an aftermarket setup. The stock ones limit your engine's performance to comply with emissions requirements and keep production costs down.

If you also want to build torque go for long-tube headers. You will get decent horsepower gains at mid to high range RPMs. If you want more horsepower at low RPMs than you should go for short headers.

High-Flow Cat-Back Exhaust

This is the part of the exhaust that comes after the catalytic converter. Replacing this means you're getting rid of the stock exhaust pipe and muffler.

Pairing this with an aftermarket catalytic converter will give you both increased horsepower and torque. You'll find that aftermarket options have larger diameters and straight flow for increase airflow leaving the engine

Large Diameter Throttle Body

By installing a larger throttle body, you can feel accelerations faster. You can expect an increase of up to 25 hp.

The throttle body controls how much air that goes into the engine. You can also add a spacer to the throttle body to also increase torque and fuel economy.

High-Flow Catalytic Converter

The difference between your stock and a high-flow catalytic converter is that the high flow does the same job faster. Your catalytic converter removes harmful gases from your car's exhaust.

The internal cell is less dense and there is more volume for the air to flow. They help with gaining horsepower during both low and high RPMs.

This is an upgrade you should do after you've made engine upgrades. You won't see a noticeable difference if you change the converter and do nothing else.

Wheel Upgrades

While new wheels do not directly increase horsepower, they do help performance and reduce weight. Be sure to adjust your alignment for a more aggressive stance.

Change out the tires for shorter high-performance ones in order to help with increased response during acceleration.

Not So Much Mods, But Helpful

There are some things you can do to help with horsepower that are more maintenance than anything. 

1. Start by keeping your filters clean! This goes for both the air and fuel filters. Regular cleaning allows for free flow through them.

2. Next, don't be cheap at the gas pump. Your car's engine wants to use the good stuff, so use it and get the max performance from your engine. Lower octane fuel will cause the ECU to adjust, and lower octane fuel will have the engine combusting at a lower rate.

3. Take your car in for regular tune-ups. This will take care of things like changing your spark plugs, which are necessary for creating the spark for combustion.

4. You will also want to keep the engine well-lubricated. Friction is your engine's worst enemy, and keeping your car's engine well-lubricated will keep everything running smooth and the temperature down.

With increased friction, comes increased heat. When the components in your engine become too hot, they will warp. (And with warping, you’ve ruined your engine.)

5. Change your oil regularly to keep things running smooth.A high-quality oil will remove contaminants that could potentially harm your engine.

6. Finally, the easiest thing you can do to improve horsepower and performance is to clean your trunk. After all, it's a Corvette, so you shouldn't be filling up the back with a bunch of stuff to begin with.

Enjoy the Horsepower Gains

Even though you’re already driving a high-performance sports car, you can always improve upon (and beef up) the horsepower, working your way from the front of the car to the back to build upon your improvements.

Start by installing a cold air intake. Then add a supercharger or turbocharger and larger throttle body.

Working your way back, upgrade the headers and manifolds. Then, upgrade the back end of the system with a new catalytic converter and muffler.

Finish off your quest for horsepower by reflashing your ECU. This will have your engine running at peak performance capability.

Still have questions on how to increase your horsepower? Don't be hesitate to reach out so we can help!