Supercharged – Pulpaddict

Supercharged Audi A6 Uses Some Unusual Parts to Produce 430 Wheel Horsepower

This unassuming, sleeper of an Audi A6 is quite quick, but it’s also stock-looking and supremely comfortable.

The Audi A6 has long been a popular choice in the luxury sedan segment, offering up plenty of technology, performance, and comfort in a stylish package. Of course, those that crave more performance can opt for the S6 or RS6, while the A6 is more of a plush, soft-riding alternative. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t give the Audi A6 a serious boost in that regard, and that’s precisely what the owner of this one did – leaving quite an impression on David Patterson of the YouTube channel, That Dude In Blue.

Patterson has driven all kinds of modified rides in his years on the social media platform, but he admits that he has a special place in his heart for sleepers – a category that this Audi A6 certainly falls in. On the outside, it looks like a bone stock example with zero obvious modifications – not even a clue that this car has been upgraded in significant and in some cases, strange ways underneath its unassuming skin.

This particular car has the optional supercharged 3.0-liter V6 that made a respectable 333 horsepower in factory form, but that wasn’t quite enough for its owner, Nate. Thus, he added a smaller supercharger pulley to up the boost, a stage 2 APR ECU upgrade with an E85 tune, and strangely enough, a cold-air intake designed for a Ford F-150. Regardless, the results are indeed impressive – this A6 now makes 430 horsepower at the wheels, and is capable of ripping off quarter-mile passes of 11.8 seconds. It’s truly a fantastic example of a sleeper, as well as a proper S4 clone in many regards.

The beauty of this combination is that Nate isn’t giving up his car’s comfortable ride or relaxed nature while also gaining that performance. Given the fact that he routinely drives long distances as a competitive golfer, that’s important, but at the same time, he can also enjoy a spirited drive when he wants to – making this modified A6 the perfect all-round daily driver.

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HENNESSEY VENOM 1200 MUSTANG GT500

With 1,204 horsepower on tap, the performance of the HENNESSEY VENOM 1200 MUSTANG GT500 is elevated to Supercar status!

Hennessey, the Texas-based Hypercar manufacturer and high-performance vehicle creator has confirmed production for its new Venom 1200 Mustang GT500. Based on the most powerful factory-produced Mustang of all time, the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500, the latest Hennessey build will be one of the most powerful Musclecars Hennessey Performance has ever produced.

Ford Performance’s factory-stock Shelby GT500 boasts a hand-built supercharged 5.2-liter V8 rated at 760 horsepower and 625 pound-feet of torque. It’s the most powerful factory engine ever dropped under the iconic Ponycar’s hood. Yet, Ford still leaves much of the vehicle’s potential untapped.

The Hennessey Performance team engineers have made wide-ranging improvements to the factory setup to increase horsepower and torque considerably. These include a higher capacity 3.8-liter supercharger, a high-flow induction system, new fuel rails and injectors, and an air/oil separation system. In addition, fittings, lines, belts, and tensioners are upgraded, and the dual-clutch transmission is recalibrated for its high-output role. Lastly, the vehicle is calibrated on Hennessey’s in-house dynamometer, before being road-tested.

When the Venom 1200 leaves Hennessey Performance, its comprehensive upgrades and enhancements have unleashed a formidable 1,204 horsepower and 902 pound-feet of torque – an astounding 58 percent increase in horsepower over stock.

John Hennessey, company founder, and CEO: “The stock Shelby GT500 is an extraordinary Musclecar, but we take it to the nth degree with our Venom 1200. Our engineers were able to coax more than 400 additional horsepower out of the engine, which takes performance to Supercar levels. Only a handful of vehicles in the world offer this level of power – especially at this price point.”

Priced from $59,950 – exclusive of the base Ford Shelby GT500 – the HENNESSEY VENOM 1200 MUSTANG GT500 package offers comprehensive professional upgrades to the stock 5.2-liter V8 engine, unique exterior badging, and a special serial-numbered plaque. Only 66 examples of the Venom 1200 will be built globally. Owners will have the choice of adding the historic 1966 24 Hours of Daytona Ford Mark II red, white, and black livery to their build (an optional upgrade priced at $4,950). Hennessey prides itself on the reliability of its vehicles and the quality of its workmanship, backing up every Venom 1200 transformation with its comprehensive 1-year / 12,000-mile warranty.

For more information about the new HENNESSEY VENOM 1200 MUSTANG GT500 and its portfolio of specialty vehicles, please visit https://www.hennesseyperformance.com/

OUTLAW: PORSCHE DOUBLE AA SPORTS 911

With its wide-body RSR attitude, seriously upgraded suspension and supercharged 3.6 engine, Archie Urciuoli’s OUTLAW: PORSCHE DOUBLE AA SPORTS 911 rules the road!

Retired sports car racer Archie Urciuoli’s last four competition cars – Ford Mark IV, Mark I GT40, Porsche 956 and Lola T70 Spyder – represented some of the sports’ most iconic and fastest examples of purpose-built racecars. He competed (and finished) in the Le Mans Classic in the GT40 and ran 200 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats in his big-block Mark IV. Now that he’s now longer racing, his favorite road car, also purpose-built, is this Outlaw-style 911 that looks and performs like a racecar!

A member of the exclusive Road Racing Drivers Club (RRDC) and a recipient of its Bob Akin Memorial Award, Urciuoli’s racing resume dates back to the 1950s when he competed on the New England SCCA circuit in popular British sports cars. He worked his way up to an exotic D-Type Jaguar, then competed in open-wheel Formula Atlantic, Can-Am and Daytona Prototype competition before moving up to a GT40. In 2005, he won the Historic GTP Series Championship in his Porsche 956.

Custom built for Urciuoli by racer and racecar builder Jim Newton and his crew at Automobile Associates of Canton, CT (AAOC), this one-of-one featherweight road rocket was crafted in the Colin Chapman tradition of adding lightness! The donor car, an ’88 Carrera 3.2 weighed in at 2,866 pounds and powered by a naturally-aspirated 3.2 liter Flat Six rated at 217 horsepower and 195 pound-feet of torque. After AAOC worked its magic, the Double AA Sports Porsche tipped the scales at 2,300 pounds, and its supercharged 3.6 engine from a 964 Porsche dynoed at 380 horsepower and generated a whopping 350 pound-feet of torque.

Boosted by a positive-displacement Eaton supercharger producing six pounds boost and backed up by a Porsche G-50 five-speed and limited-slip differential pirated from a 964 Porsche, Newton estimates that 0-60 mph sprints should take 3.4 seconds and top speed max out at 170 mph. Unlike modern Porsches, it’s not fitted (and controlled by) computers. It’s an “analog” car with disc brakes from a 928 Porsche. “At six horsepower per pound, acceleration is phenomenal. A 3,600-pound 911 would need 600 horsepower to equal it,” says Urciuoli!

While he wanted his Outlaw 911 to be purely focused on performance, handling and flawless build quality, he was also going for a unique look that would set it apart of other 911s of that generation. He also wanted creature comforts like great seats – custom Recaro buckets upholstery in Ferrari red leather – air-conditioning and a sunroof. A firm believer in using OE Porsche parts whenever possible, Newton utilized factory suspension components, Porsche KW adjustable shocks and updated the torsion bars to 911 (930) Turbo specifications. Custom aftermarket anti-roll bars were the exception.

What makes Archie Urciuoli’s silver metallic Outlaw 911 stand out in a parking lot of Porsches is its steel Porsche RSR widebody treatment including custom RSR bumpers, accented by VW Salsa Red striping and accents. His last racecar, a dark blue Lola T70 Spyder powered by a Weber-carbureted Corvette engine, prominently featured Salsa Red stripes. There are also the Salsa Red 17×9 front and 17×11 Fuchs alloy wheels fitted with sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires.

A serious racer needs a serious road car when he retires from the sport; that’s exactly what Jim Newton delivered. For proof-of-concept after competition in 2019, Newton put it through its paces at a major vintage racing event at Lime Rock. As far as its builder and owner were concerned, it exceeded expectations on the road and race track!

Photos: Howard Mintz & Martyn Schorr

For more information about AAOC, builder of Archie Urciuoli’s OUTLAW: PORSCHE DOUBLE AA SPORTS 911, and its road and racing services, please visit https://automobileassociates.com/

DUECE COUPE: OLD SCHOOL; NEW SCHOOL!

Ronnie Staples’ flamed classic ’32 Ford has gone through a number of engine-transmission combos over the years, but it’s all sorted out now and ready for serious cruising thanks to a modern five-speed.

Ronnie Staples is a serious carguy with a very large garage filled with Pro Touring customs and hot rods that he drives as well as shows. His collecting mantra is simple: NO TRAILER QUEENS! Some are designed and engineered to “bring back the good old days”, while others feature state-of-the-art billet fabrication. All, except those still under construction, are plated, insured and road-ready.

One of his favorite hot rods is this flamed, chopped ’32 Ford five-window coupe powered by a stroked and supercharged Flathead. Its top was chopped three inches and the roof section filled. Originally built in the late-1990s by Ohio-based hot-rodder, Greg Steiner and it was powered by a 302-inch Ford with three two-barrel carbs backed up by a C4 automatic. One of Ronnie Staples’s friends purchased it at the Goodguys event in Charlotte, NC in 1998. He swapped the 302 Ford for a vintage Joe Smith Automotive Flathead with a ¾-race Potvin camshaft and a new B&M blower topped with three Holley 94 two-barrels on an adapter. Unfortunately, he retained the C4 automatic.

In 2002 Staples saw that the coupe was for sale and road tested it. “No power to say the least,” said Staples. “Two of the carbs were blocked off, so the blower was pushing air through two butterflies, less an one-inch-diameter each. He saw the potential and made the buy. And, he has never looked back!

One of the first decisions Staples made after purchasing it was to sort out the powertrain by modifying and machining the engine and mating it to a modern five-speed. Rod and custom craftsman Mike Griffin, at his shop in Sarasota, FL, executed the Chevy S10 five-speed transmission conversion, fabricated new engine mounts and worked on a number of detail body and paint modifications. While out of the car, Griffin epoxy and K36 primed, then painted the Flathead block and finned aluminum heads Torch Red.

What appears to be STAPLES finned aluminum heads on the vintage late-1940s Flathead are actually from Offenhauser. The Offy logo was milled off and replaced with composite letters that Staples had found on eBay! Engine displacement is 255 cubic inches thanks to a four-inch-stroke Mercury crank. Bore diameter is stock 3 3/16-inch. A pair of leaned-out Stromberg Super 97 carbs from Speedway Motors tops off the billet Roots positive-displacement supercharger, custom built for Staples by an old high school buddy in Virginia, Donnie “Duck” Townsen. “Duck is an artist with his CNC machinery and can make almost anything, including cutting my name into the lower sides of the custom blower housing,” said Staples.

The unique twin-V-belt blower is over-driven 100-percent (3-inch blower pulley, 6-inch crank pulley) and makes 6 ½-pounds boost. Staples estimates a 50 horsepower increase over stock. With a 3.55 Posi rear, cruising at 75 mph in 5^th gear, the stroked Flathead is running at just 2,300 rpm. Acceleration is outstanding thanks to a very low First gear.

Since there’s not a lot of room in a chopped ’32 Ford coupe, the rear package shelf was removed and the seats relocated rearward. Tracks were removed from the seats and seats were bolted directly to the floor. JR’s Upholstery, Venice, FL, is responsible for the custom “very” red interior. The ’31 Cadillac dash bezel was salvaged from junkyard back when Greg Steiner was building the hot rod.

Sammy Long, with some help from Ronnie Staples, redid the chassis and suspension for increased suspension travel, improved ride and handling. The frame was C-notched to bring the car down approximately one-inch and the old crossmember was cut out and replaced with a tubular mounting for adjustable coil-over shocks. Dropped I-beam front axle, finned brakes, chrome tube shocks, and filled grille shell look as good today as they did in the 1950s!

Ronnie Staples is a member of the Sarasota Café Racers and these photos were taken at the group’s carguy events and lunches. For more information about the Sarasota Café Racers and its satellites here and abroad, please visit http://www.sarasotacaferacers.com/home.html

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’19 COPO CAMARO: SPECIAL EDITION GOLD!

Chevrolet celebrates the golden anniversary – 50 years strong – of the legendary COPO Camaro at the SEMA Show.

An anniversary-themed ‘19 COPO Camaro racecar introduced today at the SEMA Show celebrates the 50-year milestone of the special order, ultimate performance models and launches the 2019 COPO Camaro program.

“Chevrolet is proud to celebrate 50 years of the COPO Camaro legacy,” said Jim Campbell, GM U.S. vice president of Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. “It’s one of the most enduring legacies in drag racing, with a powerful past and fast future.”

Featuring a special Anniversary Blue Metallic exterior color that pays homage to the original Laguna Blue offered in 1969, the SEMA show car previews the special color and graphics of the COPO Camaro 50th Anniversary Special Edition package offered for 2019. A 50th Anniversary Engine Appearance Package that emulates the look of vintage Chevy performance engines, with an orange engine block, chrome valve covers and a black high-rise intake manifold, is also available for the naturally aspirated LSX-based 427 racing engine.

The ‘19 COPO Camaro’s available engine lineup includes a revised version of the supercharged, LSX-based 350 engine, now featuring a 2.65L Magnuson supercharger as well as a 302-cubic-inch engine. The COPO Camaro also features a distinctive and exclusive front-end design not shared with other production Camaro models. Only 69 ‘19 COPO Camaro racecars will be built — the same number of ‘69 COPO Camaro models that were built with the all-aluminum 427 ZL1 engine.

COPO CAMARO HISTORY

The COPO Camaro program got its start in 1969 and was inspired by Illinois-based Chevrolet dealer Fred Gibb, who used the company’s special order system to build what wasn’t already offered in the Camaro. The goal was to make the car more competitive in Stock Eliminator drag racing, which was rooted in production-based vehicles.

Racers scraped for every extra horsepower the factory could give them, and it occurred to Gibb that Chevrolet’s in-house special order system, known as Central Office Production Order (COPO), could provide an advantage. Typically, the COPO system was used for fleet vehicle services such as special paint or truck equipment, but Gibb used it to equip the Camaro with the all-aluminum ZL1 427 racing engine, below. With its lightweight block and heads, the ZL1 427 engine weighed about 100 pounds less than the iron-based 396 big- block engine offered in the Camaro and produced more power. It was the perfect solution for the drag strip.

Chevrolet didn’t simply rubber-stamp Gibb’s request. It took plenty of convincing and some cajoling from Vince Piggins, who was responsible for the Camaro Z28 at the time, to get the project approved. There was also another catch: To make the engine eligible for NHRA competition, at least 50 examples of the car had to be offered for sale to the public.

Gibb ordered them, but knew he’d have a hard time selling the pricey muscle cars, which were essentially twice the cost of a standard Camaro. He sold 13 and the remaining 37 were redistributed to other dealers. In the meantime, more dealers found out about the ultimate performance COPO Camaro models and ordered their own. A total of 69 COPO Camaro models with the ZL1 engine were built.

The 1969 COPO Camaro program included a number of models equipped with an iron-block version of the 427 engine. In the years after, drag strip success evolved into collector car distinction, with the comparative handful of ZL1-engined models among the most coveted muscle cars with collectors today.

Chevrolet opened the next chapter in the COPO Camaro anthology in 2011 with the introduction of a COPO Camaro racecar concept at the SEMA Show. The overwhelming response helped Chevrolet make the decision to build the new COPO Camaro racecars in 2012. The contemporary COPO cars quickly picked up what their predecessors laid down on the drag strip half a century earlier, setting national records with eight-second ets.

The ‘19 COPO Camaro joins the eCOPO Camaro Concept — an electrified racecar based on the ‘19 COPO Camaro — and approximately two dozen additional Chevrolet concepts and show vehicles at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas through November 2^nd.

Customers can register for a chance to purchase a ‘19 COPO Camaro at https://www.chevrolet.com/performance/copo-camaro

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