Video: LS9-powered Camaro HPE700 by Hennessey

By George Skentzos | September 23rd, 2009

While Chevrolet’s on again, off again Camaro Z28 flagship has left most potential buyers in a disorientated state, US powerhouse tuners Hennessey have been at work creating an LS9-powered Camaro HPE700 for just 24 lucky owners.

Unlike the Camaro Z28 which is rumoured to use the supercharged 6.2-litre LS-A engine from the Cadillac CTS-V, the Camaro HPE700 from Hennessey uses the high-output version from the Corvette ZR1.

The result is 481kW and 884Nm at the rear treads in a two-door coupe which shares its basic architecture with the local Holden VE Commodore.

http://caradvise.com schah7

Come on Ford how ’bout getting your S..T together and start producing a few HOT cars with a bit of “Heart&Soul”.
Look at what G.M[the Bankrupt Company] offer:
Corvette ZR1
Camaro SS
Cadillac CTS/V
Cadillac Station Wagon
Commodore
Pontiac G8
Pontiac Sport Ute
What ever G.M.C comes up with as well.!
etc etc etc
Sure the above all have a S..T design v8 engine.
At lease though they give the customer something that is sporty to choice from.
Ford:
Mustang
10% of Aston Martin
Oh and the FPV Falcon from Aussie which they FORD USA cant be bothered to import.
By the way is regarded as a far better car than the HSV Commodore.
Falcon 5.4 Liter V8 420 Hp
Commodore 6.2 Liter V8 423 Hp.
The Falcon has a far more modern suspension/steering design to the Commodore.
Ford you’ve done some great stuff lately with EcoTech&Electric-Hybrid etc but hey start giving us customers a few cars with BALLS and V8 engines like your main competitor does.

Jon Leong

You know FPV technically is not run by ford… its real owner is Prodrive.
just like GM is not the owner of HSV… Walkinshaw is.

BlueMan

Actually I think that both of them are joint partnership companies?
MisterTwo

Yes, the Aussie muscle car scene is owned by the Brits.

Wheelnut®™

GM had plans to sell the Pontiac Sports Truck [which is a bastardised VE SS Ute] but it never actually made it into production
Devil666

I’d say the Commy has the better front end, with the front mounted steering rack and most independent motoring authorities would agree.

Ecotec was also the Commodore engine design from the 90s.

Finally, the LS engine design is far from ‘S..T’, as it has less moving parts, easier to service, has a longer service life and is a more durable design. Sure, it is less and less efficient in today’s marketplace, but it is tried and tested design that still has life left in it.

PS: George, do you mean KW and TQ @ the rears? Lol who let that ‘and’ slip through

4:20 All Day

I take it you haven’t had much tuning experience with LS engines. They are awful motors to try and get the best out of. Low end torque is rubbish and the earlier motors have a tendancy to chew through piston rings. Harldy ‘more durable.’ That’s one of the reasons the Holden-based V8 supercars use the chev Aurora motor. I’m all for powerful engines, but GM’s antiquated theory of more cubes and sticking a giant charger on the top to get huge power is becoming seriously behind the times.

Wheelnut®™

You say “GM’s antiquated theory of more cubes and sticking a giant supercharger on the top to get huge power is becoming seriously behind the times.”

Yet what about when someone like Merc-Benz / AMG do it?

SteveH

At least Benz/AMG already have overhead cams on their engines. GM keep pushing their outdated pushrod designs.
Wheelnut®™

That may be so but they still use superchargers don’t they?

Not only that; but with the aid of a supercharger AMG only manage to extract about as much extra power out of their engines as GM-H do out of theirs – despite the fact that the AMG engines are more technologically advanced than the old Pushrod V8s
4:20 All Day

I think the same goes for AMG. It’s the same basic theory of ‘shoehorn the biggest engine we can possibly fit into the engine bay and see how much power we can get.’
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of classic muscle cars and have owned a few myself, but i think the days of huge cubes have passed. It kind of seems like cheating in a way. Instead of trying to develop a smaller, more technically advanced engine with the same output, they just stick with the ‘bigger = better’ theory. Still, each to their own. I’m sure there will still be a market for these type of vehicles for a long time to come.

Shak

At 36s in the video the car erupts. I jumped out of my seat, its that loud.
Power

yeah heaps of go!
Wheelnut®™

Whoever says that Pushrod V8 engines like the LS2; LS3 are antiquated; passed their use by date or even hard to work on; extract power from.

One of my mates owns/runs a mechanical Workshop in WA; he did some work on a customers [supercharged] VE SS Ute and was able to get over 900hp at the rear wheels. He also says that there are cars in Oz with Pushrod V8s producing 1200-1500hp.. There aren’t that many [if any] cars with OHC engines producing that much power – are there?