A screen grab from the video showing Emelia (right) and Sichi looking at the C8's modified engine.
PETALING JAYA: Emelia Hartford may not be a familiar name in this part of the world.
Stateside, she's has gained a following over the years. The multi-talented lady is an actress, car show host and social media influencer.
Most interestingly, she runs her own Youtube channel, where she builds and races a broad genre of cars generating well over 70 million views.
In one of her latest car builds, she modified an already powerful 2020 Chevrolet C8 Corvette and made it even more beastly, creating what is arguably the fastest C8 in town.
The factory car has a 6.2-litre naturally-aspirated V8 producing 495hp and 637Nm of torque. The car has a reputation for having an "untunable ECU (Electronic Control Unit)".
But Emelia and her crew managed to bust that long held belief. Her team modified the engine, upgrade some parts, dropped in a twin turbo and a standalone Holley ECU to transform the car into a quarter mile monster. By the time she was done, the C8's pumped-up engine could rustle up 1,022hp and 1,277Nm of torque at the wheels.
It set a new quarter-mile record of 9.36s at 236kphm, beating a turbo build of the C8 by another tuner.
General Motors took notice of Emelia's sensational car and heaped praise on her. "We love what you are doing," GM executive Shauna Sichi told her when they met up.
The meeting was scheduled by General Motors who had invited the YouTuber over to get acquainted with the all new 2024 fully-electric Hummer SUV. So Emelia decided to drive over in the C8.
Watch the video and hear how the muscled-up C8 sounds and the reaction from the GM executive. It seems a potential buyer was quite taken with the car named Phoenix that this person was willing to offer US$180,000 (around RM750,000).
