2000 Chevy Camaro SS

In the utopia that we all dream of as the perfect car world, the pavement is smooth, flat, and deep black. Hash marks are located every 1,320 feet and corners enable tail-wagging oversteer with the barest of effort. In this world, we auto writers and photographers find nary a cell tower, dumpster, nor decrepit fence to disturb a feature-photo location. Twilight lasts for two hours, allowing perfect lighting throughout the entire shoot. And yes, in this world, the local, friendly policeman opens the trunk of his cruiser to pull out a bottle of burnout-inducing water-then politely stands guard to prevent stray minivans from crossing into the shot.

Unfortunately, a few moments of contemplating such a "Second Life" version of auto-utopia is quickly met by the cold splash of reality. The car's builder, Kurt Urban, was a trooper during our compromised photo shoot however, opening up his shop to accommodate our camera equipment. He also hopped in and out of the car repeatedly, in 20-degree weather, positioning it to suit our whims. He gingerly laid down an excellent burnout in the parking lot. Luckily, the pavement was already damp from the snow and slush-the trick was keeping it out of the slush and off the ice, which he did admirably.

Restraining the Camaro was harder than it sounds. With 552 rear-wheel horsepower and 455 lb-ft to the tires, the antsy car didn't want to sit still when the clutch was disengaged.

"There's a lot of power there," Urban says. "It tricks you because it idles so well and seems so docile, but it's deceiving. For a naturally-aspirated combination, the power is tremendous."

Indeed, it is. The Camaro's original LS1 is long gone and in its place is a C5-R-based 427-cubic-inch engine with LS7-trumping capability. And more than merely an assemblage of carefully matched, high-performance components, it is also a visually appealing piece of underhood art-from the polished intake manifold to the deep-black valve covers.

As noted, the engine's foundation is the exotic (and expensive) GM Racing C5-R cylinder block. Designed for the rigors of racing, it is made from 356 T6M aluminum and goes through a litany of machining and inspection processes that other production-type blocks don't, including X-raying and "hipping." The 427-inch displacement is derived from 4.125-inch bores and a 4.00-inch stroke. A 4340-forged Callies Magnum crankshaft provides that four-inch stroke on a set of Howards I-beam connecting rods. They're made of 4340 billet steel and measure 6.125-inches in length. Atop the rods is a set of JE forged aluminum pistons (with Speed-Pro rings). When combined with the cylinder heads, they give a nominal compression ratio of 11.2:1.

That's a fair bit of squeeze on a street engine, but not out of line for its airflow capability-this thing packs a lot of atmosphere into the combustion chambers. A pair of All Pro LSW square-port cylinder heads houses those chambers. The Ohio-based company's heads have a 12-degree valve angle that maximizes flow efficiency, with intake ports measuring 284 cc. These are big-volume heads and they feature six-bolt clamping capability. Performance of the LSW heads for Joe Files' engine was optimized by having them ported by West Coast Cylinder Heads. They were also filled with titanium 2.200-inch intake valves and 1.600-inch exhaust valves. Other valvetrain components include Isky "Tool Room" 9995 dual springs, Smith Brothers pushrods, and Jesel 1.7 ratio shaft-mounted rocker arms.

As it stands, the 427 engine's Comp Cams hydraulic roller camshaft pushes toward the edge of the springs' capability, with a whopping .702-inch lift on both the intake and exhaust sides. Duration is 260 degrees on the intake side and 266 on the exhaust.