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Editor's note: This is part of a series at KSL.com featuring some of Utah's coolest cars. If you own a customized vehicle — from sports cars to semi trucks — email fjolley@ksl.com with a photo of the vehicle and a brief description for consideration.SALT LAKE CITY — Cody Hulse’s 2006 Chevy Corvette ZO6 is very fast and uniquely built compared to the other V-8 powered cars he has owned in the past.
Hulse first purchased his Corvette in 2015. The factory heads, as well as the factory camshaft in the car, were the first parts to be swapped out after he bought the car. Other than those modifications and a few bolt-ons to accompany them, the rest of the car retained the factory parts until 2017.
With the new year came an entirely new build for the Corvette.
“I purchased the car looking for a lighter weight platform than my previous twin turbo GTO,” Hulse said. “I also wanted a manual car over the GTO’s automatic. It's faster to run an auto at the track, but it's more fun and a challenge to go fast in a manual.”
Hulse has raced multiple cars down the quarter-mile, but he wanted to pick up horsepower for 2017. A lot of it.
The stock 427 cubic-inch engine was swapped with a new 440 cubic-inch LSX that was fitted with a forged Eagle crankshaft, K1 connecting rods and a set of Wiseco pistons. Because this new build was centered around nitrous, the extra strength of forged internal parts and added cubic inches was important.
The heads were changed out for a different aftermarket set of Brodix cylinder heads. On top of being stronger than a stock casting, the new Brodix heads flow better as well.
A custom-made camshaft along with Kooks headers, a Corsa exhaust and a Fast 102mm intake manifold help the air, exhaust and nitrous flow in and out of the engine as smoothly as possible.
The car still has the factory six-speed manual transmission and rear differential, with a McLeod RXT clutch to help handle all of the power.
Nitrous Outlet provided the nitrous system, which includes a 102mm plate to match the intake manifold, two nitrous bottles mounted in the trunk and a dedicated fuel system, that is separate from the engine's fuel supply because of the amount of laughing gas that would be going through the new LSX power plant.
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With all those modifications, Hulse’s Corvette was ready to race.
The car made its debut with the new build at the 2017 Holley LS Fest in Las Vegas with the engine being completed just two weeks before the race. The car made multiple runs throughout the event, with a best time of 9.95 seconds at 138 miles per hour in the quarter-mile.
The new engine makes 578 horsepower without nitrous and at LS Fest, Hulse added 200 horsepower worth of nitrous on top to break the nine-second barrier.
Unfortunately, the car broke the factory differential on its fastest pass. Hulse said he already has a new RPM Transmissions rear differential ordered so he can continue to race the rest of the 2017 season.
