Camaro ZL1 Coupe

Make
Chevrolet
Segment
Coupe

Say, you know what beats a demon? An exorcism.

In 2017, in anticipation of Dodge's completely bonkers, limited-run 840-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, Hennessey Performance Engineering quickly cooked up a super-high-powered muscle car to smack it down: the Hennessey Exorcist Chevrolet Camaro ZL1. It was - and probably still is - the fastest sixth-generation Camaro in the world, with a tested top speed of 217 miles per hour.

How did they do it? By throwing every tuning trick in the book at it, including a high-flow induction system, an upgraded billet throttle body, ported heads, a custom camshaft, and most importantly of all, a whopper of a twin-screw supercharger, with nearly 3 liters of displacement.

Now, more than two years later, Hennessey is finally giving us an up close look at how it's done. It's an involved process that involves stripping the Camaro ZL1's LT4 V8 engine down to the short-block for the camshaft swap and installation of the cylinder heads, which are ported and polished on the intake and exhaust. While the heads are off receiving those modifications, Hennessey swaps out the lifters, pushrods, valves, and valve springs and retainers for good measure.

After that comes a number of fuel system upgrades, to ensure the LT4 doesn't lean out at higher power levels, along with long-tube stainless headers that help more effectively scavenge exhaust gases. The supercharger is among the last things to go on.

The owner of the car in this video requested something a bit different for his supercharger upgrade: a 2.65L Magnusson unit, as opposed to the 2.9L blower Hennessey usually puts on the Exorcist. Despite its smaller size, it still helps this Camaro put out an awesome 850 horsepower at the rear wheels, after a baseline run at 569. That most likely leaves it a bit shy of the Exorcist's advertised 1,000 horsepower, but only just.