Detroit Auto Show: Exploding the 2009 Corvette ZR1's Brilliantly Beautiful LS9 Engine

Although you'll be able to see it for yourself if you're in town for the Detroit Auto Show next month (or watch the coverage live here on Jalopnik!), you still won't be able to see the new 2009 Chevy Corvette ZR1 the way we're showing it to you right now. If you'll remember, we were the first to show you the unofficial shots of the new 2009 Chevy Corvette ZR1's beautiful 620+ HP LS9 engine. Next we brought you the in-cockpit camera footage of the ZR1 taking a lap at Laguna. Then we had the opportunity to show off all of the pictures and details on the new up-powered Corvette ZR1. Now we're going to go a little bit more in-depth, showing off all the little bits n' pieces of the supercharged small-block V8 engine under the hood of Zee-Really fast One. Above, you'll find the LS9 completely exploded and below, you'll find all the little bits n' pieces in the detail you know you need. Specific press release on the LS9 below the jump. More »

The 2009 Corvette ZR1 is Coming! So Sayeth Hennessey, Reveals 678 HP Venom 650R

Somehow we think maybe the 2009 Corvette ZR1 pre-Detroit Auto Show embargo will be lifting sometime very soon. It's the only explanation we can come up with for why Nissan felt compelled to have an embargo on the 2009 GTR's Z06-beating Edmunds Inside Line 0-60 test lift late last night. OK, maybe that was just a freak scheduling thing — but then, like a bolt out of the blue devil, we received a press release just past midnight from Hennessey Performance Engineering calling out the Lutzian devil with the blue highlighted engine. Apparently they weren't quite done with the 2008 Viper SRT10. The boys at Hennessey came up with an additional 78 horsepower to add atop the straight-from-the-shelf 600 found in the fang-toothed serpent, bringing the total horses up to a staggering 678 and a 0-60 time to match that of the 3.3-second GT-R. It's called the 2008 Hennessey Venom 650R, and oh, how they rushed this one to bed — someone check out the gaping hole below the jump in the press release for "fill in original Viper model name here". Yes, somehow methinks these won't be the only high horsepower numbers we'll be comparing by the time we hit the hay tonight. More »