This is the 650 horsepower Chevy SS upgrade from Hennessey Performance.
It’s been a few years since Chevrolet discontinued the SS. It’s not that they wanted to--the SS sold relatively well in the four years of its existence. Sales kept climbing right up until 2017 when the factory that made the SS closed its doors.
You see, the SS is actually a rebadged import. It’s originally from Australia where it’s sold as the Holden Commodore. Holden was purchased by GM in 1931 but kept manufacturing their own cars right up until the last of Holden’s factories closed in 2017. Now, the company exists only to rebadge GM products and sell them in Australia.
The Commodore was based on GM’s Zeta platform (just like the 5th-gen Camaro) and used the same engine as found in the C6 Corvette. The 6.2-L LS3 V8 produced 415 hp and 415 lb-ft of torque in Commodore/SS form and came mated to a 6-speed automatic or a 6-speed manual transmission.
Although beloved by enthusiasts, the SS was still very much a niche product, so when the Holden factory shut down GM had no reason to continue making the SS themselves. That means getting your hands on an SS will be quite difficult due to their limited supply.
But if you do have an SS, Hennessey wants you to know that they’re here to give it exactly what it deserves: more power.
As with all Hennessey upgrades, the HPE650 Chevy SS boosts the car’s power to somewhere north of stratospheric. A 2.9-L Whipple supercharger gets added along with ported cylinder heads, long-tube stainless steel headers, various valvetrain upgrades, and a strengthened camshaft. With all these upgrades installed, the HPE650 produces 650 horsepower and sounds like an absolute demon on Hennessey’s test track.
Hennessey also provides the usual assortment of badges, plaques, dyno and road testing, as well as their 36,000-mile or 3-year warranty.
And, in a brief homage to Holden, you can even hear the haunting notes of a didgeridoo at the 23-second mark.