By Justin Hutto

FuelTech’s C8 Corvette became the first to run in the 8-second zone and makes 1,350-horsepower with its twin Garrett turbos.

Straight from the factory, the 2020 Chevrolet Corvette is a true performance machine. The team at FuelTech, though, still saw plenty of room for improvement and bolted on a set of twin Garrett turbochargers before going out and rocking the world with the first-ever C8 8-second quarter-mile run.

At first, the goal was to eclipse the previous C8 Corvette record of 1,022 rear wheel horsepower and FuelTech’s American-based team got to work. Inspired by the top-mounted twin-turbo setup from Late Model Racecraft, FuelTech’s founder Anderson Dick selected two potent Garrett G35-900 turbochargers. Each capable of supporting 900-horsepower independently, the G-Series turbos were the perfect choice to ensure maximum flow and efficiency.

To withstand the higher boost supplied by the Garrett turbos and to transmit more power to the tires, FuelTech added additional plates to the Corvette’s TREMEC TR9080 DCT 8-speed dual clutch transmission courtesy of an upgrade available from Dodson Motorsport.

Ensuring streetability wasn’t sacrificed for the sake of record-shattering performance, FuelTech also innovated an auxiliary fuel system with Aeromotive components that feeds a family of eight Injector Dynamics 1,700cc/min fuel injectors housed in a custom sheet metal intake manifold. Additionally, a uniquely positioned fuel cell was mounted in the C8’s front luggage compartment. The secondary fuel system runs VP Racing Fuels M1 methanol and serves two purposes: in addition to increased performance, the alcohol injection also reduces inlet air temperatures and eliminates the need for an intercooler.

Showcasing the incredible capabilities of the FuelTech FT600 engine management system, the team integrated its award-winning PowerFT electronics into the C8 Corvette’s infrastructure to control the fuel, spark, and power management of the twin turbo LT2 engine while still working in conjunction with the factory PCM.

In April of 2021, FuelTech announced to the world that it had broken the record for the most powerful C8 Corvette; a whopping 1,075-wheel horsepower and 888 lb-ft of torque at 21 psi was verified by their in-house hub dyno. By September, that number had risen significantly to a final tally of 1,350.2-horsepower courtesy of the C8 Corvette’s twin Garrett G35-900 turbos and FuelTech’s Brazilian-born mastermind.

Curious to see what the car could do in the quarter-mile, the FuelTech group transported it from their headquarters in Georgia to Virginia Motorsports Park for a test session. There, the twin turbo C8 clocked a best elapsed time of 9.017-seconds at 153.13 mph.

Just one month later, the FuelTech C8 Corvette returned to the dragstrip for another go. At Florida’s Orlando Speed World, Anderson Dick piloted the amazing machine into the record books when he became the first to run in the 8-second zone with a C8 and commemorated the occasion with the 8.973 at 160 mph timeslip.

An icon of American muscle with supercar status at a reasonable price, the C8 Corvette is an incredible piece of modern engineering. Coupling the car with twin Garrett turbos and FuelTech technology, though, makes it truly shine and pushes its performance to a whole new level.

VEHICLE: C8 2020 Chevrolet Corvette
ENGINE: Chevrolet 6.2-liter LT2 V8
TURBO: Garrett G35-900 twin turbochargers
TRANSMISSION: TREMEC TR9080 DCT 8-speed dual clutch
POWER: 1,350.2
USED FOR: drag