Ruby Corvette Rips Off New Personal Best E.T. with Massive Turbo

Giant 88mm turbo propels an auction Corvette to impressive 8.3-second pass with massive amounts of boost.

Insanely popular YouTuber, Florida man, and mulleted car guy Cleetus McFarland owns his fair share of fast Chevys. Including, of course, a 7-second Corvette go kart. But his long-running auction-bought C6 Corvette dubbed “Ruby” might just be our personal favorite. We’ve been watching this wild turbo’d machine get faster and faster since McFarland first bought it roughly a year-and-a-half ago. And now, after receiving a giant 88mm turbo, Ruby just ripped off its fastest pass ever.

The new huffer is easily capable of making more power with the same boost its previous turbo managed, of course. And McFarland’s pal (and mechanic/driver) James brushes off his fears that 22 pounds is too much. “I would just leave it and make a change if it doesn’t work,” James said. “There’s no point in taking power out of it, we’re trying to go faster. If the track doesn’t take it, we’ll take it out.” Turns out, the pavement at Bradenton Motorsports Park is plenty capable of taking it on this particular day.

On the very first pass with James behind the wheel, Ruby the Corvette manages to run a 9.1-second 1/4 mile at 116 mph. But James lets off at the top end, so this is obviously not even close to the ceiling for Ruby. That becomes clear on the next pass, when the auction Corvette bounces back and rips off an 8.5-second pass at 167 mph. Afterward, however, the team discovers that the car is riding its admittedly loose limiter far too long. So they swap out the ATF fluid for some thicker stuff to try and tighten things up.

Ruby responds by running a new personal best e.t. of 8.3-seconds. But something doesn’t look right following pass number three. “Ruby needs to go to the shop for a health check,” McFarland says. “We aren’t sure if it pushed water out because she had air in the system, or because the head gasket is starting to go. But we’re not gonna risk it and run the car again.” Regardless, this particular outing was still a major success. And you can bet that this old Corvette isn’t finished just yet, either!

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Brett Foote

Brett Foote has been covering the automotive industry for over five years and is a longtime contributor to Internet Brands’ Auto Group sites, including Chevrolet Forum, Rennlist, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, among other popular sites.

He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.

In addition to his expertise writing about cars, trucks, motorcycles, and every other type of automobile, Brett had spent several years running parts for local auto dealerships.

You can follow along with his builds and various automotive shenanigans on Instagram: @bfoote.