AUTO TUNING HOUSE HENNESSEY SPECIAL VEHICLES REVEALS THE VENOM F5—WHICH EXCEEDS THE 300-MPH MARK FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A STREET-LEGAL SUPERCAR

BY EVAN MONROE

Established in 1991, Hennessey Performance Engineering (now known as Hennessey Special Vehicles) is a U.S.-based tuning house that specializes in modifying car and truck models from makers like Cadillac, Ford, Ferrari, Porsche, McLaren, Lincoln, and Lexus. They’re even known on occasion to upgrade the occasional Ford Raptor and Jeep Cherokee, and also work on hyper-luxury models like Bentleys. Among its legendary vehicles is the Venom 650R, the Cadillac-platform CTS-V, and the Hennessey Exorcist— the last a Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1 that featured output boosted to a then-mind- boggling 1,000 horsepower. Not quite satisfied, it seems, with that level of performance accentuation—one that exceeds Formula 1 standards— Hennessey, Shell, and Pennzoil have now teamed for what the trio describe as the highest-horsepower street legal sports car ever made, the Hennessey Venom F5, based on a Lotus Exige platform and an early version of which debuted at the 88th Geneva International Motor Show in 2018.

Interior details are frustratingly spare, as the makers are keeping a number of aspects of the F5 under wraps prior to its late-winter release, but what we can tell you about is the motor: a Texas-built twin turbo 6.6-liter V8 dubbed “F URY ” by its makers, which produces (please be seated) 1,817 horsepower and 1,193 lb.-ft. of torque. In combination with a very low coefficient of drag (0.33) and a curb weight of less than 3,000 pounds, the F5 will be capable—as company founder, John Hennessey, himself explained at another Venom reveal at last August’s annual Quail in Monterey motorsports event in Carmel, CA—of a 0-to-186-mph (300 km/h) time of under 10 seconds and a top speed of 311 mph (point of reference: a 747 takes flight at 180 mph). It will have an exclusive production run of just 24 vehicles (12 dedicated to the U.S. market), at a cool $1.6 million per.

“We exceeded our target horsepower number,” said Hennessey. “Actually, we blew the target number out of the water. The F5 engine also has a very broad power band with over 1,000 lb.-ft. of torque available from 2,000 to 8,000 rpm. Give it the full throttle and it’s the most furious engine that we have ever built… thus the name.”

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