It’s not everyday you see an 8-second 4th-gen Camaro. I mean sure, they exist, and you don’t need to search any further than Holley LS Fest or LSX Shootout to see more than a handful of them laying down the law. But the vast majority of those cars are doing so with a built Powerglide, TH400, or maybe even a 4L80E transmission. Very, very few rely on a manually-shifted six-speed.
There are two reasons for this; first is consistency, and the second, when you’re pushing well over 1,000 hp to the rear tires, the idea is to keep both hands on the wheel as much as possible for ultimate control. That second or two between shifts can end up costing you more than just time.
The 6-speed manual record-holder up this point was Joe Huneycutt, with his Sunset Orange Camaro holding would-be opponents off with an 8.69. But with Huneycutt recently switching to an automatic, he’s out of the running. Now there’s a new sheriff in town, Ray , who has now beaten Joe’s previous best, albeit slightly, with a quarter-mile E.T. of 8.54 at 164 mph, during Streetcar Takeover Indianapolis. All of the footage was caught on film by BigKlieb34.
Packing a 365 ci. LQ iron block with a 76mm turbo pumping out 20 psi. of boost, the powerhouse is backed by an RPM-fortified T-56. The throwback Camaro is pushing 1100 rwhp – enough to be the current record holder with its setup. BigKleib34 caught up with Ray at the 2014 Holley LS Fest in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and he gave him the rundown of how well the car was running that day, what kind of hardware sat under the hood, and what clutch was squeezed behind the apparent bulletproof T-56. You can get all of your answers in the attached video on this page.
While Ray may be the current record-holder with a boosted 6-speed shifted Camaro, we can only expect his position will either fall, or be improved upon next season. Either way, we’re keeping our eyes peeled to this record to see what happens.
Ray credits The Driveshaft Shop, S&M Motorsports, RPM Transmissions, Monster Clutches, Creative Auto Concepts, Midwest Chassis Inc., Brian Tooley Racing, and Rhodus Fabrication for helping make this accomplishment possible!
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of AutoCentric Media, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles; GM, Ford, Dodge, imports, trucks — you name it! When he isn’t clacking away on his keyboard, he’s building, tuning, driving or testing his current crop of personal projects!
