This Tahoe may weigh close to three tons, but it has more than enough engine to make up for it.
The second-generation Chevrolet Tahoe was built to do a lot of things. It could carry an entire family and their stuff on long trips. Z71 Tahoes were designed to go off-road and get over, around, and through natural obstacles. One thing the Tahoe wasn’t made to do? Go fast. It started rolling off of Chevy’s assembly lines before high-performance SUVs such as the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S and Range Rover Sport SVR existed. That didn’t stop Jeff Shortt, host of the High PSI tv channel on Youtube, from turning his Z71 Tahoe into a hot rod.
To make sure his Tahoe hauls ass in addition to passengers and cargo, Shortt put a significant amount of work and money into the engine. The Vortec 5300 now features upgraded rods, pistons, cams, headers, and the supercharger from an LSA V8 running around 11 psi. An auxiliary tank has plenty of room for ice, which lowers the inlet air temperatures so the V8 gets denser air that it can convert into better quarter mile times.
Shortt also beefed up his Tahoe’s transmission and torque converter to handle the extra oomph under the hood. New gears translate the Tahoe’s additional power into forward motion.
After pumping in five gallons of 93-octane fuel and topping off with E85, Shortt heads to the Fayetteville Motorsports Park to find out just how fast his modded Tahoe is at the drag strip. He skips the pre-run burnouts and decides to make each pass on cold rubber. The Tahoe spins it tires on the first run and hits the finish line in 13.62 seconds at 103 mph.
Shortt knocks some of the gunk off of his tires before the second pass, then manages to blast through the quarter mile in 13.25 seconds at 102 mph. His final speed may be down, but so is his time.
Once he dumps a fresh bag of ice into the air chiller box, Shortt makes one final run. This time, he gets under the 13-second mark: 12.91 at 105. You read that right. Shortt turned a 5,700-pound off-roader into a 12-second truck.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
