1993 Callaway SuperNatural CL-1 Corvette
Commissioned by Bridgestone, Executed by Callaway
By Ron Grable/Motor Trend
Photography by Mike Magda
The Callaway SuperNatural Corvette roadster draws attention like Dracula at a Red Cross blood drive. The outrageous paint job was designed by Paul Deutschman and executed by Spiess Hecker, the ultimate German Custom Paint company, which lists BMW, Audi, Mercedes, and Porsche among its customers. Two such vehicles (a coupe and a roadster) were commissioned by Bridgestone to be used as demonstration vehicles for its new never-get-a-flat tire technology.
The SuperNatural designation refers to the fact that these cars are normally aspirated, a departure for Callaway Cars, which, over the past six years has sold over 500 Vettes with twin turbochargers. The new SuperNatural aims at a wider audience, appealing to customers who might be apprehensive about the additional complexity and perceived reliability of the turbocharged cars.
Complete SuperNatural cars are available from Callaway, or a customer can deliver his Vette to the plant at Old Lyme, Connecticut, to be upgraded accordingly. The options are available for either LT1 or LT5 (LT1s must be '88 or later). Appearance options include the aerobody kit, priced at $11,600 installed and painted ($12,600 for ZR- 1s), exotic paint job of your choice including a custom interior color comes to $7,500, or a full-on Connolly leather interior for $15,000. In the performance department, Callaway offers a coil system (coil-over independent link) to replace the standard Corvette composite leaf spring, priced at $2,825, Brembo billet brake system for $4,250, a center outlet exhaust to draw attention to the lack of spare tire ($1,700), the Bridgestone Expedia Run-flat tires (275/40ZRI7 front, 315/35ZR17 rear) on required special three-piece wheels that are 17x9-inch fronts and 17x11-inch rears. The Run-flat tire and wheel option is $5,000.
It would seem pointless to spend all that money, and not get the killer motor, so for another $10,390 the CL-1 (LTI motor) engine package is included, which increases power to 403 horsepower at 5800 rpm. The engine package for the LT5 raises power to 475 horsepower and is priced at $14,750.
We used the CL-1 for this test, but all the options are applicable to the ZR-1 (Callaway designation CR-1), as well, the only differences are relative to the engine modifications. Our analysis will address only the pushrod motor.
Callaway’s attention to the ports, intake manifold, exhaust system, and combustion chamber means each cylinder is fed the same amount of charge, compresses the same, exhausts the same. The resultant equal power from each cylinder produces the smoothest possible power, since all the pulses reaching the crankshaft are equal.
Driven hard, the SuperNatural CL-1 rewards the driver with exceptional cornering dynamics. The CL-1 antiroll bars are Z51 pieces, so the cornering balance is biased toward neutral, but in the real world, a couple objectionable characteristics surface. The car draws an inordinate amount of attention, and the exhaust note is much too intrusive at freeway speeds. On the positive side, the expected harshness, from the Run-flat tires wasn't evident, and the massaged engine is wonderful to use.
For the Corvette owner with deep pockets, Callaway offers a smorgasbord of goodies. We think a nice combination would be the engine option, Brembo brakes, and coil system, which would lighten your checkbook by only $17,465. Not bad, considering the whole SuperNatural package adds over $50,000 to the price. Nobody ever said exclusivity was gonna be cheap.
Specifications
0-60 mph 5.9 sec
1/4-mile 14.0 sec @ 97.6 mph
0-60 braking 115 ft
Skidpad 0.94g's
600-ft slalom 67.6 mph
