Venom hits 270mph

[RB Will]

I know Hennessy comes with an interesting reputation but if I won big on the Lotto I would have one of these

"Hennessey has conducted a top speed run with the Venom GT and managed to hit 270.49 mph (435.31 km/h) at the Kennedy Space Center.

It was July 3, 2010 when an unrestricted Bugatti Veyron Super Sport managed to set an official average top speed of 268 mph (431,072 km/h) at Volkswagen Group's Ehra-Lessien track near Wolfsburg, Germany. It should be noted the production model was however electronically limited to 258 mph (415 km/h). Now, Hennessey says they currently have the fastest production car in the world as their Venom GT climbed all the way up to 270.49 mph (435.31 km/h).

However, the Hennessey Venom GT cannot receive the title of being the fastest production car in the world because the heavily modified Lotus Exige can't qualify for a Guinness record since it didn't do two runs, one in either direction. An official Guinness record is established by doing an average of the top speeds achieved in those two runs. Since the Venom GT did only one run, the Veyron SS is still the official top speed king for a production car.
Even if it did both runs and surpassed the Veyron Super Sport, the Venom GT still wouldn't have been the new record holder since in order to be eligible to receive this title the car must be built in 30 units and Hennessey announced they will only make 29, with 11 of them already delivered.

Interestingly, Hennessey believes the car would have been capable to reach even 280 mph (450.62 km/h) if it had another mile to run. In addition, the American tuner says the Venom GT has what it takes to "be the fastest at Dunsfold" (Top Gear track)."

[Mastodon2]

Fastest at getting from one end of the Dunsfold runway to the other, maybe. It's a monster car, but it doesn't have the aero to be fastest on the track.

[J4CKO]

Wonder if we will see a 300 mph production car, its creeping up there, that last 30 mph doesnt seem that far but in reality it is a huge gap.

[zeduffman]

J4CKO said:

Wonder if we will see a 300 mph production car, its creeping up there, that last 30 mph doesnt seem that far but in reality it is a huge gap.

I have no doubt man already has has the capability of building an engine, transmission and aero package that will see a road legal car to 300mph. I think the biggest hurdles are the tyres and finding somewhere to do it.

I also think the big investment of the moment is in hybrid tech - getting batteries to increase performance and economy. Tech that's more relevant, really.

[TREMAiNE]

I'd love to see it around Dunsfold; I reckon it would be a contender for the fastest time but it would really struggle to put its power down.

I bet any money that the Veyron SS feels a hell of a lot more stable at 168 than the Venom feels at 240!

[McSam]

I'm very interested that Hennessey have chosen to almost blatantly ensure the car can't hold a proper world record, and thus avoiding the need to do a proper 2-way witness test as "it's not eligible anyway".

Just the cynic in me observing that precisely one less than required will be built. I'm not saying the car shouldn't be capable of that speed, it's not very bloody hard to build a single-minded machine to reach that speed, and to be honest I'm pretty surprised it hasn't gone much faster. Obviously I haven't driven one, but I don't believe it's likely to have a hope in hell of setting a lap record somewhere like Dunsfold either.

Still interesting to watch its progress, mind.

[anthonysjb]

the P1 would eat it around a track...

[kambites]

McSam said:

I'm very interested that Hennessey have chosen to almost blatantly ensure the car can't hold a proper world record, and thus avoiding the need to do a proper 2-way witness test as "it's not eligible anyway".

By the looks of it, this was a proper GBoR witnessed 2-way run?

I agree it probably wouldn't have a hope in hell against more... thoroughly engineered cars around a track, though. In a way, I respect it for that. I find the obsession with lap times for road cars thoroughly odd.

Edited by kambites on Monday 24th February 22:38

[161BMW]

270mph
Christ
Weren't that long ago the top speed was 240mph

[Ozzie Osmond]

That's a lot quicker than I'd want to travel in an over-powered Lotus Exige!

[RB Will]

I find it odd that the car is not allowed to try for the Guiness WR for top speed when it holds the Guiness WR for fastest 0-300kph (done on a 2 way run etc)

Would be great if VW would let them onto their test rack to have a go but obviously that wont happen.
The Venom managed to get to 265mph from a standstill in 2 miles on a runway where they Veyron SS did 268? with a 4 mile straight with a banked corner that can be taken at about 120mph either end. I reckon given VWs track the Venom would hit 280.

vid of the run now up too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWAavCjVQvM

Edited by RB Will on Tuesday 25th February 09:34

[JDMDrifter]

Hasn't John Hennessey also stated there's plans to put more power into these things? A 1600bhp one of these would be madness!

[northwest monkey]

J4CKO said:

Wonder if we will see a 300 mph production car, its creeping up there, that last 30 mph doesnt seem that far but in reality it is a huge gap.

Good question.

It's a bit like the 100m sprint in athletics - current world record is 9.58s and the top 25 fastest times have all come in the last 20 years. Could anybody go any faster & if so, how much?

270mph must be getting close to the maximum with current technology?

Someone on here must be able to work something out - i.e. if the Veyron needed 1100 BHP to achieve its V-max of 268, what would it need to get that extra 33mph & how much space would you need?

[Monty Python]

I'd hardly call a run of 29 cars "production". After all, all they do is take a Lotus apart, make some changes, then put it back together again. They're more like a combined tuner/coachbuilder than a proper car manufacturer.

[Kawasicki]

northwest monkey said:

Good question.

It's a bit like the 100m sprint in athletics - current world record is 9.58s and the top 25 fastest times have all come in the last 20 years. Could anybody go any faster & if so, how much?

270mph must be getting close to the maximum with current technology?

Someone on here must be able to work something out - i.e. if the Veyron needed 1100 BHP to achieve its V-max of 268, what would it need to get that extra 33mph & how much space would you need?

Dragsters are hitting 330mph in 1000ft. So though I'm very impressed with the Venom, it is not near the current technical limits.

[northwest monkey]

Kawasicki said:

Dragsters are hitting 330mph in 1000ft. So though I'm very impressed with the Venom, it is not near the current technical limits.

A dragster is not really a road car though is it?

[Monty Python]

northwest monkey said:

A dragster is not really a road car though is it?

...and how long do the tyres last? I suspect this will become the limiting factor.

[Garlick]

kambites said:

McSam said:

I'm very interested that Hennessey have chosen to almost blatantly ensure the car can't hold a proper world record, and thus avoiding the need to do a proper 2-way witness test as "it's not eligible anyway".

By the looks of it, this was a proper GBoR witnessed 2-way run?

Reports we've seen suggest a one-way timed run, not too sure though. Thing is, until he makes 30 cars or more it cannot be classed as a production car so, as McSam says, it does seem like he is avoiding it for some reason.

[kambites]

Garlick said:

kambites said:

McSam said:

I'm very interested that Hennessey have chosen to almost blatantly ensure the car can't hold a proper world record, and thus avoiding the need to do a proper 2-way witness test as "it's not eligible anyway".

By the looks of it, this was a proper GBoR witnessed 2-way run?

Reports we've seen suggest a one-way timed run, not too sure though. Thing is, until he makes 30 cars or more it cannot be classed as a production car so, as McSam says, it does seem like he is avoiding it for some reason.

Ah yeah, it was the acceleration run that was a 2-way timed jobbie.

[DB89]

I'm sure when Harris was at EVO and drove the Veyron SS, he reported on its 'unlimited' speed run. I think it hit 271mph in one direction.