Corvette Magazine

     Graham manned the passenger seat and we went for a long test drive. After plenty of seat time, my conclusions are simple and straightforward. Without doubt, this is the most impressive, most desirable Corvette I have ever driven. Consider this: LPE's famous 383-cubic-inch, 450 horsepower LS1 powers a C5 Corvette down the quarter-mile in 12.1 seconds at 120 mph. The LPE Twin Turbo 500 does this same quarter-mile in 11.8 seconds at 127 mph and reaches a top end speed of 197 mph.
     The LPE Twin Turbo 500 started easily, idled docilely, drove in heavy traffic and in town with the A/C on and possessed all the good manners of a completely stock C5. The only noticeable difference was the Corsa Pace Car exhaust - and it was very civilized - until pushed. I got the C5 rolling just a bit in first gear and then nailed it without using the clutch. With 500 horsepower and 500 ft.-lbs. of torque, this engine package produces the slickest, smoothest and by far the quickest acceleration I've even seen in a streetable Corvette.
     I took it through the gears and up to 170+ three different times and there is an extreme sensation of the faster you go, the faster you get there. But, what would you expect of a package with a rating of 196 mph top speed? We never ran out of power, we ran out of road instead, long before the LPE Twin Turbo had hit its power peak.
     The LPE Twin Turbo is an extremely refined design. In contrast, a Buick Grand National (1984-1987) with one turbo put out 15+ pounds of boost. When the BGN turbo kicked in, it did so after a noticeable