Author: TJ

I have owned four C8s, one of them a Stingray, the same car Emelia Hartford started with. She took hers a lot further. This page is the Corvette side of her story in date order: the build, the records, the broken parts, and the Corvettes that came after.

Who Emelia Hartford is, for Corvette people

Hartford launched her YouTube channel in 2017 and built it around modifying cars herself. Corvette people know her for one car above the rest: a white and orange 2020 Stingray she named Phoenix, which held the C8 quarter-mile record in 2021.

Her work has spread out since then. She played Leah Vega in the 2023 film Gran Turismo, began co-hosting the Car Stories podcast with Sung Kang in September 2023, and in June 2026 she drove a Corvette ZR1 up Pikes Peak. Her official site is emeliahartford.com.

Phoenix is a 2020 Stingray that made 1,022 hp at the wheels

Phoenix started as a 2020 Stingray, so the base engine is the 6.2L LT2 that Chevrolet rated at 495 hp with the performance exhaust. The turbos went on in the summer of 2020. CorvetteBlogger reported on July 30, 2020 that the kit had been added over roughly the previous month, and that an early dyno session showed 539 hp and 609 lb-ft.

By March 2021 the numbers had nearly doubled. The dyno figure was 1,022 hp and 942 lb-ft at the wheels, which is more than double the factory rating, and the factory rating is measured at the crank. The parts list that got it there:

• Short block: upgraded, with forged pistons.
• Turbos: twin Precision 62/66 units.
• Power adders on top: methanol injection and nitrous.
• Transmission: upgraded clutches in the dual-clutch gearbox.
• Turbo control: a Peitz Performance control unit.
• Fueling: a Holley Dominator EFI standalone ECU running auxiliary fuel.
• Fuel: 91 octane mixed with C16 race gas.

The two extra control boxes are there because the factory C8 ECU is encrypted. It could not be tuned directly at the time, so the team ran the boost and the added fuel on separate hardware beside the stock computer. The team said that piggyback setup needed constant tuning, and controlling the transmission became the recurring problem.

If you want boost on a C8 without chasing records, I cover the bolt-on route in my C8 supercharger and ProCharger guide.

The records: 9.41 in March 2021, then 9.36 in June

Both record days happened at Famoso Raceway in California. Going into March 2021, the quickest C8 quarter mile was a 9.95 from Extreme Turbo Systems. Hartford made three passes that reset it: 9.908 seconds at 138.70 mph, then 9.474 after the boost went up to 11 psi, then 9.41 seconds at 144 mph. Turn 14’s report from March 16, 2021 has the day in detail.

She came back in June 2021 for a private two-day test. Day one produced a 9.39 and a 9.36, the 9.36 at 147 mph. Day two went the other way. The car ran 9.63, then 9.75, dropped into limp mode in fourth gear, and the crew parked it with the clutches as the suspect, as CorvetteBlogger reported on June 15, 2021.

The record did not last. FuelTech’s C8 later ran 8.973 seconds at 160.92 mph, the first C8 pass in the eights. CorvetteBlogger still listed 9.36 as Hartford’s personal best in April 2022, and I have not found a sourced quicker pass for Phoenix since.

Timeline: her Corvette milestones in date order

The setbacks: two engines and a lot of clutch trouble

July 2020, the first engine. The turbos had been on the car about a month. During a quick pull on the street while she was getting the car ready for a road rally, the LT2 started ticking. A borescope showed a failed piston. The plan from there was a stronger engine, and by March 2021 the short block had forged pistons.

June 2021, the transmission. The day after the 9.36, Phoenix backfired, went into limp mode in fourth gear and slowed to 9.75. The team suspected the tune and the clutches, not the engine.

April 2022, the second engine. Phoenix went back to Famoso with a prototype transmission controller. Boost started at 9 psi and went to 13 psi. The best pass was 9.74 seconds at 144.21 mph, short of her 9.36. On one run the transmission jumped straight to sixth gear. The outing ended with what looked like coolant in the oil, and the engine was torn down afterward. CorvetteBlogger covered that outing on April 10, 2022.

The video: why Phoenix went quiet at the end of 2021

After the June 2021 record the Corvette mostly dropped off her channel. This update, which CorvetteBlogger wrote up on January 7, 2022, is her explanation. The short version is testing and development behind the scenes. What she walks through:

• The intercooler had a hairline fracture and was replaced with a reinforced one.
• The direct injectors were gummed up from leaded fuel and methanol and were replaced.
• The PCV lines were rerouted, and oil return reservoirs were added at the back of the car.
• Extra cooling went in, with mesh to protect it.
• Transmission control was still the open item, with dyno time planned before any return to the strip.

The April 2022 Famoso trip above was the return that followed.

What Phoenix runs now

The most recent build state I can source is from April 2023. CorvSport reported on April 13, 2023 that Hartford had taken delivery of a rebuilt LT2 from Texas Speed, billed at 1,500 hp, along with a new turbo system, clutch plates, a flywheel and lighter brakes. The stated goal was a 7-second quarter mile.

I have not found a published time slip for Phoenix on that engine, so I am not going to quote one. The 9.36 at 147 mph from June 2021 is the number that stands.

Her other Corvettes: a twin-turbo Z06 and a Pikes Peak ZR1

The 2023 Z06

Hartford helped Chevrolet reveal the 2023 Z06 in late October 2021. By December 2022 she had a new 2023 Z06 of her own, and she moved Phoenix’s twin-turbo system onto it. The first drive was at 3 psi with no problems reported. Her own verdict on camera was that she liked the flat-plane car better without the turbos. If you know the Z06 and its LT6, that makes sense. The sound is the car.

The 2026 ZR1 at Pikes Peak

In June 2026 she entered a 2026 Corvette ZR1, the 1,064 hp car, in the Time Attack 1 division of the 104th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Her time was 10:11.018, good for 17th overall and 4th in class, and it made her the fastest woman to run the mountain, according to CorvetteBlogger’s July 1, 2026 report.

The car was not stock. It ran Carbon Revolution carbon fiber wheels, 2.5 degrees of rear camber and extra roll cage gusseting, and it wore a livery that pays tribute to Phoenix. I own a ZR1, and my notes on the street car are in my C8 ZR1 review.

One non-Corvette number for context. Her quickest quarter-mile car is a Nissan Z she built herself, which ran 7.75 seconds at 181.85 mph in December 2024.

Frequently asked questions

C8 Corvette widebody kits compared

This page started as a post about one car, the Label Motorsports widebody C8 from the 2021 SEMA Show. It now covers every C8 widebody kit and build I could verify, with the maker, what comes in the box, how much width it adds, and what the maker or a named source says it costs. Where a number was never published, the table says so.

Prices are parts only, in U.S. dollars, as last published: Pandem from GReddy’s U.S. listing in October 2026, Liberty Walk from January 2023, Sigala from July 2021, Duraflex from March 2022. Check the maker before you budget.

Read those prices as the first line of the bill. GReddy’s listing says the Pandem parts ship in raw gel coat that needs prep before paint, and truck freight is extra. Paint, bodywork, installation, wheels and tires come on top of every kit here.

Factory wide body vs aftermarket widebody: not the same thing

Chevrolet sells its own wide body. The Z06, Grand Sport and ZR1 are 79.7 inches (2,024 mm) wide. The Stingray is 76.1 inches (1,933 mm). That is 3.6 inches of extra width, and it comes with tires to fill it: 275/30ZR20 front and 345/25ZR21 rear, against 245/35ZR19 and 305/30ZR20 on the Stingray.

An aftermarket widebody kit is a different job. It adds flares or replacement panels to a narrow-body car. The suspension, the hubs and the stock wheels stay where Chevrolet put them, so the extra body width is empty until you change wheels and tires. Some kits also need the factory fenders cut, which you cannot undo.

The money is worth a look too. For 2027 the Grand Sport puts the factory wide body on the Stingray’s 535 hp LS6 for $15,000 more than a Stingray at the same trim. A Liberty Walk kit at $19,580 and a full carbon Sigala kit at $24,995 both cost more than that at their last published prices, before paint. I ran the full numbers in Grand Sport vs Stingray.

Every C8 widebody kit, one by one

Pandem (Rocket Bunny) C8 Aero

Pandem announced its C8 kit in 2020, and the first customer car, a black Stingray on air suspension, was shown that November. GReddy sells it in the U.S. for 2020 and newer C8 coupes. The complete kit is $8,000 in FRP: a front lip ($1,250), side skirts ($1,450), front over-fenders ($2,100), rear over-fenders ($2,100) and a rear wing ($1,450). Bought one at a time the parts total $8,350.

The over-fenders are listed as +40 mm front and +70 mm rear, about 1.6 and 2.8 inches. The listing does not say whether that is per side. It does say body cutting and inner fender sealing are required. It is also the kit on TheStradman’s C8 Stingray.

Liberty Walk

Liberty Walk released its C8 Stingray kit in January 2023. Per GM Authority’s report, the complete kit is a front bumper with an integrated splitter, side diffusers, a rear bumper, a rear wing and front and rear fender flares. It was priced at $19,580, or $21,780 in carbon fiber reinforced form. The wing alone was $4,400, or $6,600 in carbon. Unlike the Pandem parts list, it includes both bumpers. No width figure was published.

Sigala Designs C8RR

The C8RR is the most complete kit of the group. CorvetteBlogger covered the finished kit in July 2021: 32 pieces that replace every body panel except the doors, including a vented hood, widebody fenders and quarter panels, a rear diffuser built around a center quad exhaust, a roof and a three-piece high wing. It makes the car six inches (152 mm) wider. Pricing started at $14,995 in a fiberglass and carbon mix and $24,995 in full carbon. Parts were also sold singly, such as the hood at $1,970 and the high wing at $1,195.

Duraflex Grand Veloce

This is the cheapest way in. Duraflex, out of Fullerton, California, makes the Grand Veloce flares in hand-laid fiberglass with a riveted-on look. CorvetteBlogger listed them in March 2022 at $1,709 for the front panels and $1,709 for the rear, $3,418 for both ends, adding up to four inches (102 mm) of width. The car in that feature ran ADV.1 wheels in 20×9.5 front and 21×12 rear on air suspension, which tells you how much wheel it takes to fill the flares.

Streethunter Designs

TJ Hunt’s kit was designed by Jon Sibal with a GT3 race car look, and it was first shown as a rendering in February 2020. The design covers wider fenders, rear quarter panels, a rear diffuser, a race wing and nose pieces. TJ Hunt’s own car, a Torch Red Stingray, was finished in August 2021 with a carbon fiber wing, diffuser and front splitter. I could not confirm a current price or a width figure, so the table leaves both open.

Label Motorsports Vouno: the SEMA 2021 build

Label Motorsports is a shop in Ada, Michigan, owned by Andy Siradakis. Its widebody C8 program is called Vouno, from the Greek word for mountain. Label showed the first renderings in August 2020. The finished car took 17 months and was revealed at the 2021 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, in the Gentex Corporation booth. It was shown again at the 2022 Michigan International Auto Show in Grand Rapids.

What makes it different from every kit above is that you do not buy it in a box. Label builds the whole car. From the Vette Vues interview with Siradakis and Label’s own build pages, the SEMA car carried:

• 29 carbon fiber pieces, finished in forged carbon: hand-cut chips laid over a woven carbon base.
• Air struts that Label engineered for the car.
• CEIKA big brakes with an integrated e-brake.
• Brixton Forged wheels.
• An all-titanium exhaust and a functional aero hood.
• Clear taillights developed with Gentex, plus Alcantara interior trim.

Label has kept going since. Chassis number 3 was its first widebody C8 convertible, a 35-piece program with full carbon fiber replacement fenders and Brixton AS01 wheels, built for a client in Texas as one of an initial five builds. The Label pages I read give no price and no width figure. You commission a car through Label Motorsports directly.

Video: the Label Motorsports widebody C8 in 4K

Khoality Media filmed the Label car in 4K and published it as “One of a Kind Widebody C8 Built by Label.” This is the video the first version of this post was written around.

The widebody C8s at SEMA 2021

SEMA 2021 had widebody C8s all over the floor. Vette Vues walked the Las Vegas Convention Center and logged these:

• Competition Carbon: three cars, in the Extreme Dimensions booth, an air suspension company’s booth, and the Toyo Tires walkway between the Central and South Halls.
• Streethunter Designs: the Jon Sibal design from TJ Hunt.
• Sigala Designs: the C8RR, with one car entered in SEMA’s Battle of the Builders.
• Label Motorsports: the Vouno, in the Gentex booth.
• Rocket Bunny: the Pandem kit.

What a widebody kit does to wheels, tires and ride height

The kit is the cheap part of the decision. Three things follow it.

• Wheels and tires. A Stingray leaves the factory on 245/35ZR19 front and 305/30ZR20 rear tires. Put flares over that and the wheels sit inside the new fender line. Filling it takes wider, lower-offset wheels or spacers, and tires to match. GReddy lists wheel and tire specs for the Pandem kit as TBA, so fitment is on you and your wheel shop. Start with the stock C8 wheel sizes.
• Ride height. The Label car, the Duraflex feature car and the first Pandem car all sit on air suspension. The look depends on getting the car low, and the extended splitters on these kits sit close to the road.
• Cutting. Over-fender kits like Pandem need the body cut. Decide that before you order, not when the car is on the lift.

Frequently asked questions