Ryan Stevens’ 2010 Camaro has come a long way since leaving the factory line at GM. He bought the Chevy Camaro in 2011, and did like any good gearhead does to an LS-based engine, he threw some bolt-ons at it right away. The car responded beautifully, but it wasn’t anywhere near done as a bolt-on-only car. As he worked his way out of into the 11-second range, he was ready to make the leap to more responsive modifications, like a good ole’ hearty camshaft to help him drop into the low 11-second range.
Ryan Stevens is the calibrator/build planner at Gwatney Performance Innovations, so he knows a thing or two about building cars. Once Ryan started digging around on the internet, he found the official quarter-mile Camaro Fast List on the Camaro5 forum. It was then that he realized there was only one 2010-2015 Camaro that had eclipsed the 10-second quarter-mile barrier with a stock bottom end. This mad Ryan thirsty to compete, and his ambition didn’t stop merely at smashing through the 10-second barrier.
“As you have probably seen, the new norm now for people is to use a power adder setup in an attempt to go fast, especially in the Gen5 platform because of its excessive weight,” Ryan Stevens told us. He added, “But in my opinion, boost makes it easy. To go fast naturally aspirated is without question the hardest and most challenging way to get it done, which is why I think it’s awesome. As simplistic as naturally aspirated setups sound, attention to detail must be impeccable to achieve maximum performance. In fact, of the top 30 naturally-aspirated stock displacement 2010-2015 Camaros, 18 of them use a combo of our (Gwatney Performance) cams, heads, and tuning.” Thanks to his advantage in his position at work, Ryan decided to act on the old adage that “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself!”, and developed a camshaft line that he would use in his Camaro. The new line, dubbed the SS4 VVT, helped him get his car into the 10s with a 10.75 at 126-mph pass, making him #1, but far from done.”
“My evolution from stock to where I’m at now started with basic bolt-ons, then came cam and gears. Then came my own cam design, ported heads, and all of a sudden it was, and still is, the quickest naturally-aspirated, stock-displacement Gen5 Camaro running 10.33 at 131.” He continues that “After that, I wanted to continue on the naturally-aspirated path and build an engine using my factory block as the starting point. And that’s what I did. I built a custom linkage to utilize my factory computer to run a cable-driven throttle body for maximum engine breathing.”
After dropping into the 10s, Ryan decided to install a set of LS3 cylinder heads that were ported by Tony Bischoff. With the new heads and a few minor changes, he grabbed some race fuel, then drove 8-hours to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to race that same night. He ran his Camaro at 10.456 at 133-mph, then turned around and drove back home the next day.
While he did feel pretty proud of the setup, Ryan would end up getting bored with it fairly quickly. He enlisted the help of Kip Fabre at Cam Motion to grind a custom, low-lash, solid-roller camshaft for him to install. At the same time, he also swapped his heads out for a set of ported LS3 heads by Frankenstein Engine Dynamics. After this set of modifications, Ryan went back to run 10.33-seconds at 131-mph.
Ryan now had the itch to break into the 9s, and he knew there was a lot of work ahead of him to get there. He used his LS3 engine block, then installed a 417 rotating assembly, kept the Frankenstein cylinder heads, swapped to a more aggressive camshaft, and decided to install a Jim Kuntz-ported Super Victor Edelbrock intake manifold. Pushing the tires hard on this combo, he got the Camaro down to 10.08 at 134 mph, as if the nine-second range was just teasing him.
Feeling stuck, he installed a cold air intake and took it to Camarofest7, where it ran a 10.7 at 134 mph in very hot weather. Once the weather changed, the conditions were finally right for Ryan to make his nine-second pass. His first taste of the 9-second zone was with a quarter-mile pass of 9.86-seconds at 135 mph. Once the weather got even cooler, he took the Camaro down the track at 9.74-seconds at 138 miles per hour at the State Capitol Raceway in Baton Rouge, LA.
Now that Ryan has tasted the glory of running in the nine-second zone, he is zigging where you’d think he’d zag and is going back to a stock-bottom-end LS3.
Tech Sheet
Owner: Ryan Stevens, Calibrator/Build Planning @ Gwatney Performance Innovations
Recorded Performance
Quarter-Mile Elapsed Time: 9.962-seconds
Quarter Mile Mile Per House: 135.78-seconds
60-Foot Time: 1.371-seconds
Rear-Wheel Dyno Numbers: 611-RWHP and 477-RWTQ at Land N’ Sea Dynomite with standard correction
Awards:
- Number 1 on 10-15 Camaro naturally aspirated fasted list, non-stock displacement (street registered) Rhino79 username on Camaro5.com (fast lists on the site)
- Runner-up at Camarofest 7 in unlimited class (ran against boosted cars)
Body
Year: 2010
Body Style: Camaro SS
Color and Paint Type: Victory Red
Hood: VFN Max Clearance
Interior
Front Seats: Factory (passenger seat out for racing)
Rear Seats: Factory (rear seat out for racing)
Engine
Engine Builder: Ryan Stevens
Block: LS3 Aluminum
Bore x Stroke: 4.075-inch bore 4-inch stroke
Displacement: 417 c.i.
Compression Ratio: 12.2:1
Crankshaft: K1 Forged
Connecting Rods: Callies Compstar H-beam 6.125
Pistons: Mahle 4032 alloy
Piston Rings: Mahle 1.5mm/1.5mm/3mm ring pack
Cylinder Heads: Stage 1 ported 821 castings by Frankenstien
Valves: 2.165 LS9 Titainium intake valves 1.59 Ferrea Stainless Exhaust valves
Camshaft: GPI custom grind, cut by Comp Cams
Cam Specifications: 263/272 @ .050 108 LSA 104 ICL .712/.703 lift
Valve Springs: PAC 1209x with BTR titainium retainers and hardware
Rocker Arms: T&D Shaft mount adjustable rockers
Lifters: Steward Performance Lifters .750 roller wheel
Cooling System
Radiator: Factory
Coolant: Dexcool 50/50
Thermostat: 160-degree
Induction
Intake Manifold: CID LS3 2-piece 4500 plenum
Throttle Body: Accufab 4500 4bbl, driven by custom linkage and servo setup to retain drive by wire and factory ECM (done in-house by Ryan)
Mass Air Sensor: None, running speed density
Induction System: Vararam COPO shootout airbox, 4-of-4 built
Air Filter: Custom
Fuel System
Fuel Pump: ZL1 factory pump
Fuel Lines: Stock, then split to dual -6an for the fuel rails
Fuel Rails: CID
Fuel Injectors: Fuel Injector Clinic 850 cc injectors (94-pound)
Fuel Pressure Regulator: Factory returnless system, regulated at pump in tank
Powertrain Control Module: Factory e38 engine and T43 transmission controllers
Tuning: Done by Ryan
Ignition
Wires: MSD
Spark Plugs: NGK R5671a7
Exhaust
Headers: Borla 1-7/8-inch, custom 3-1/2-inch collectors with merge spikes
Midpipe: custom 3-inch with H-pipe
Mufflers: Thrush glass packs
Tailpipes: 3-inch duals, with turndowns before the differential
Drivetrain
Transmission: 6L80E built by Ryan
Torque Converter: Circle D Specialties 245mm 5C Single lockup clutch
Driveshaft: Factory
Rearend: Factory
Differential: Modified factory with extra Posi Clutches
Rear Gear Ratio: 3.91:1
Axles: Factory
Shifter: Factory
Front Suspension
K-member: Modified factory (10-pounds removed)
A-Arms: Factory
Shocks: Factory
Springs: Factory
Bushings: Factory
Sway Bar: None
Wheels: Weld RTS 15×4
Tires: Hoosier 27×4.5×15
Brakes: V6 factory brakes
Rear Suspension
Shocks: Stock
Springs: Stock
Bushings: Hendrix Engineering Delrin offset differential bushings
Upper Control Arms: Stock
Lower Control Arms: BMR, modded to accept 15-inch wheels
Wheels: 15×10-inch Weld RTS
Tires: 275 Pro Mickey Thompson
Brakes: V6 Factory brakes, milled to clear the wheels