Hennesy Venom vs Lotus Exige
Discussion
So I was having a nice chat on http://www.teamspeed.com/forums/superca ... video.html
and Hennessey sent me a PM....
So I had this in my in box this morning... I hate PMs
hey ronin
i can see that you do not understand our car. but why bash something you dont understand or have never seen in person? are you in socal? if so then i invite you to come and see the car in person and i would be glad to tell you more about it. i am here in our lake forest shop all week. just let me know if you want to come by and take a look.
john hennessey
It's true I don't understand your car, why take a Lotus and try and make it something it's not...It's still a Lotus.
Dude why not bring your Lotus up to LA. and we can go for a little cruise in the canyons since you are in So.Ca. we can do a little side by side comparason like David and Goliath in the real world.
I'm sure that will give you something to use for marketing...and something for me to smile about....Bring a film crew and let's have some fun in the real world.
Do you think that thing can stay on it's own side of the road ?
This could be fun, now who wants to bet it never happens ?
and Hennessey sent me a PM....
So I had this in my in box this morning... I hate PMs
hey ronin
i can see that you do not understand our car. but why bash something you dont understand or have never seen in person? are you in socal? if so then i invite you to come and see the car in person and i would be glad to tell you more about it. i am here in our lake forest shop all week. just let me know if you want to come by and take a look.
john hennessey
It's true I don't understand your car, why take a Lotus and try and make it something it's not...It's still a Lotus.
Dude why not bring your Lotus up to LA. and we can go for a little cruise in the canyons since you are in So.Ca. we can do a little side by side comparason like David and Goliath in the real world.
I'm sure that will give you something to use for marketing...and something for me to smile about....Bring a film crew and let's have some fun in the real world.
Do you think that thing can stay on it's own side of the road ?
This could be fun, now who wants to bet it never happens ?
Oh well I was banned from Teamspeed.com for not kissin the ass of a vendor..
It seems Hennessey didn't like to be called out in public...
No one dare ask for proof from these ripoffs... I guess there is no real world comparison of a $850,000.00 salvaged Lotus and my rocket pig. It's a shame.
It seems Hennessey didn't like to be called out in public...
No one dare ask for proof from these ripoffs... I guess there is no real world comparison of a $850,000.00 salvaged Lotus and my rocket pig. It's a shame.
Hennesy is a know rip off artist here in the states and he wouldn't even come up for a little canyon drive to show me that his hunk a junk could even stay in it's own lane in the canyons...
He claime 1200 hp but he has yet to show a real time dyno video, only the car makin noise no dyno screen to back up his claims..
Here is my exige today on the dyno with 104*f ambient temps.... 615 whp and 422 ft tq. from a 1.8 ltr 2ZZ Toyoya engine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jOakcr92W0
2,150 lbs 708 BHP
He claime 1200 hp but he has yet to show a real time dyno video, only the car makin noise no dyno screen to back up his claims..
Here is my exige today on the dyno with 104*f ambient temps.... 615 whp and 422 ft tq. from a 1.8 ltr 2ZZ Toyoya engine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jOakcr92W0
2,150 lbs 708 BHP
Stating facts as to lost law suits is not defamatory last time I had to point that out....
I'm not saying he ripped off the Lotus design but his customers in the past...Do a google search and read up..
He claims that his Exige is only 10% Lotus and yet it is as much Lotus as is my Exige.
Here in the states you can't just remove the chassis ID numbers and add your own to claim it is not what it once was sold as...
Seriously it's a slavaged titled Lotus not a Hennesy.
I have a Lotus not some poorly designed wannabe $1,000,000.00 supercar that looks as if it would snap in two on a rough road.
From the videos you can see how porly it is tuned with smoke billowing out as it runs by..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB5RzLzY54U&fea...
Seriously this is supposed to be a $1,000,000.00 supercar....
I'm not saying he ripped off the Lotus design but his customers in the past...Do a google search and read up..
He claims that his Exige is only 10% Lotus and yet it is as much Lotus as is my Exige.
Here in the states you can't just remove the chassis ID numbers and add your own to claim it is not what it once was sold as...
Seriously it's a slavaged titled Lotus not a Hennesy.
I have a Lotus not some poorly designed wannabe $1,000,000.00 supercar that looks as if it would snap in two on a rough road.
From the videos you can see how porly it is tuned with smoke billowing out as it runs by..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NB5RzLzY54U&fea...
Seriously this is supposed to be a $1,000,000.00 supercar....
Edited by the ronin on Sunday 7th August 14:16
Would you buy a car from this guy ?
Re: Hennessey 705 HP Corvette ZR1 for 2010
From Autoweek:
Hennessey's Vipers are fast, but lawsuits say he serves them up too slowly. (Photo by Mark Vaughn)
Ninety-eight percent of his customers love him, John Hennessey says. But a few hate him and some have sued. Hennessey Motorsports in Houston specializes in tuning Vipers, adding more power to what is already one of the most powerful cars in the world. Hennessey’s Vipers have been featured in this and many other magazines and the cars he has sent to us and to other media were impressive performers. Hennessey presents himself well, projecting an image of the consummate Texas good ol’ boy whose reassuring conversational style and howyewdoin’ demeanor put customers at ease. People believe they will get what he says he’ll give them. But not all people do.
According to a lawsuit filed in Salt Lake City, Utah resident Taig Stewart sent his Viper GTS to Hennessey last May for an engine upgrade to 1100 hp along with several other modifications. For that he wire-transferred $142,500 to Hennessey. The lawsuit states the parties agreed the car would be done by mid-July 2001. As of press time the car was still sitting under a tarp in Hennessey’s shop in Houston. Or most of the car, anyway. Stewart’s suit claims Hennessey sold the car’s engine, transmission, wheels, tires and hood. The suit seeks return of the money, the Viper and “no less than $1 million” in punitive damages.
Hennessey claims he’s just slow in getting the work done.
“My side of the story is we’re planning on finishing his car and planning on giving him everything that he paid for,” said Hennessey. As for the parts being sold, “That’s totally false. We’ve got all his parts in the shop except the hood and he wanted to do a lightweight hood.”
Stewart is not the first unsatisfied customer. The longer we dug the more dissatisfaction we found. Here’s a sampling:
On Nov. 14 a New Jersey court entered a final judgement of $133,674 against Hennessey on behalf of Viper owner Gary Dan for a botched conversion.
William Walters said he is out over $22,000 after shipping his Corvette to Hennessey for a head and cam package that was never done; he did have five rods bent and a head gasket damaged on the dyno in Hennessey’s shop during an experiment Hennessey tried with nitrous oxide.
Jerry Johnson said he had to file suit in Placer County Court in California to straighten out registration and engine computer problems on a Viper he bought from Hennessey. n Jon Belinkie said he loves the changes made to his Viper but had to sue in his home state of Maryland, then register the judgement in Texas, to recover overcharges Hennessey made on his American Express card.
Rick Ryan said he had to hound Hennessey for eight months by long distance from Marietta, Georgia, to put the proper wing and stripes on his Viper.
Mark Lublin said he sent his Viper cylinder heads to Hennessey for new valves but when the heads came back he found the “new” valves were actually used; a cam that was delivered to Lublin in a Hennessey box turned out to be a stock Chrysler cam. Lublin was finally refunded $5,715 from American Express but only after nine months of disputing the charge; and he got no money from Hennessey.
Bruce Iannatuono said he ordered $8,500 worth of Hennessey parts for his mechanic in Baltimore to install but was only able to use two-thirds of what was shipped, and then only after haranguing Hennessey for six months on an order that was originally promised in five weeks.
Most of the complaints come from outside Texas. Hennessey, some said, tends to take better care of local customers.
“If you were out of state, man you were fair game,” said Kyle Kent, a former employee at Hennessey Motorsports. When an out-of-state car came in it was sometimes parted out, with the wheels, tires and whatever else looked good going to other cars waiting to be finished or sold outright, according to Kent and others inside Hennessey Motorsports. Then Hennessey would call the car’s owner and try to sell him an upgraded kit. If the customer balked, Hennessey would take parts from other cars in the shop, or just let the job sit.
Kent described one typical disassembly on an out-of-state Viper. “The motor and transmission went into a Durango John was putting together, the brakes went to someone else, the hood went to a guy in Ohio, the rear bumper to South Carolina, man you name it. We had multiple cars like that.”
Another common practice was putting stock parts on what was supposed to be an upgraded car.
“One customer spent $130,000 to $140,000 and that guy thought he had purchased a Venom 650R package which he thought came with the stroker motor,” Kent said. “John told him he was getting a stroker. He was just getting heads and cams.”
Hennessey denies any wrongdoing.
“I’ve got probably 3000 customers,” he said. “I’ve built over 300 cars and out of that I’ve had a handful of people that I’ve had some sort of a delivery problem with and I’ve had some of them who have sued me. So is that some sort of a trend or is that par for the course?”
From Car & Driver:
"There is, of course, no place in the world where talk is cheaper than on an Internet message board, and a few lurid posts hardly constitute proof of wrongdoing. So I went to the Web site of the Houston Better Business Bureau (www. bbbhou.org) and searched for Hennessey Motorsports. The BBB reported 12 complaints filed against Hennessey in the past 36 months, of which seven were in the past year. Of the 12 complaints, only one was listed as resolved. To put this performance in context, I ran checks with the local BBBs of every participant in our Supercar Challenge. Just one other complaint turned up, against AutoThority, and it was described as "resolved."
Then I went to Dun & Bradstreet, the financial research firm, where for $117 I purchased a comprehensive report on Hennessey Motorsports. For comparison, I also purchased a report on the well-known Lingenfelter Performance Engineering. The report indicated that LPE was financially sound, with no liens, lawsuits, or judgments pending against it. In contrast, the Hennessey report revealed that courts have four times ruled against the company and that there are 10 lawsuits currently in various stages and three liens. The D&B report also provided a "Financial Stress National Percentile" rating, measured on a 1-to-100 scale, with 100 being the best possible score. Hennessey's company had a rating of one. (LPE had a 79.) "
Buyer stories (Note that Hennessey's name is in the word filter on Viper forums)
Five years ago I bought a brand new 2001 Viper GTS and sent it to John [******]--along with $142,500--to build what I hoped would be one hell of a Viper. Many of you will remember that fiasco. I won’t revisit any of that history here, not because I have any moral or legal compunctions restraining me from doing so but because I lost interest in fighting this fight quite a long time ago.
So why this post? Simple. To tell the rest of the story and more importantly to give credit to a couple of exceptional guys who took up the fight for me and who fought until the end without any expectation of a reward other than the feeling that comes from helping someone out. Also, since expressing that gratitude here wouldn’t make much sense without at least a brief conclusion to the story of my experiences with John [******], I need to make that happen. Along with the good, of course, there were a few other guys who deserve credit of a very different nature too, but they know who they are so we’ll just let that pile go unstepped-in.
Just to recap my story, I sent $142,500 and a brand new Viper to John [******] after reading Motor Trend’s gushing article on [******]’s Venom 800 in April 2001. It took three years to get my Viper back from [******] in a “dynoable,” if not “drivable” condition. In fact it ran just long enough to make a strong run on the dyno in Salt Lake City in September of 2003 (for which I was not present) before the first turbo blew 50 miles later. The car was also missing over $85,000 of parts and upgrades I’d paid for two years earlier: Brembos, Penske suspension, HREs, Quaife, etc. Without going into specifics, a legal “settlement” was reached which stipulated that I was to receive the missing parts over the course of the next several months with the promise that the car would be tuned to actually run.
Well, to make a very long story very, very short, I spent a total of $315,000 (the new Viper and [******]’s fee plus the attorney’s take of 33% on everything recovered from [******]--including the car itself--plus miscellaneous expenses) for a Viper made up of parts from at least two different cars that wouldn’t even start. I confess, at this point I simply gave up.
But that wasn’t the end of the story.
Most of you know a guy named Bill (aka MANA) who can frequently be found wherever there are exhaust fumes on the net. Most of you also know, or have heard about a tuner named Jason Heffner (8.75/168 MPH). Simply stated, if it wasn’t for the collaborative efforts of Bill and Jason, I still wouldn’t have a Viper that ran today.
I met Bill in 2002 not long after I realized things weren’t quite as they should be in Houston. After receiving an anonymous message on my cell phone urging me to “look into the forums and call [******] again about your car” I began delving into the Viper and other forums. After I’d read a few of Bill’s posts on the Corvette forum, I sent him an e-mail with my story. I didn’t expect anything, it just felt good to get it off my chest. It wasn’t like I wanted to talk to my wife about it yet, after all… Bill and I have been close friends ever since. Every single time progress was made in trying to get information about my car from [******], Bill was behind it. He was the reason I even got the car back three years later. Bill proved to be an exceptionally loyal friend who never gave up the fight, even long after I had. I owe him a hell of a lot and I won’t ever forget it.
Some months after I’d given up on the car altogether, I got a call from Jason Heffner. I’d heard of Heffner’s cars and Bill spoke highly of him but I didn’t know too much about him other than that. Jason told me Bill had talked to him about my Viper and he wondered if I would be willing to send the car out to him to work with. He didn’t talk about money, he just said maybe he could help with the car. I sent it to him (plug for Gary Almond here--Thanks Gary!) and assured Jason that he could have it as long as he wanted it since I’d had it for five years already without it running for more than a few hours.
Again, without going into the details of what he found under the hood, Jason worked and worked and worked. He called and updated me consistently every step of the way. In the end there was a lot of work that had to be done, parts to be replaced and/or modified (the second turbo was also blown) to make it all work but the day came when he called and told me the car was finished. He felt bad that it wasn’t perfect but he said it ran “pretty well” and that he’d done everything he could do. A week later, Gary Almond delivered it to me and I can honestly say it didn’t look like the car I’d sent him. Not only had he fixed the engine and turbo system and installed all braided SS lines instead of the rubber ones it had came back to me with but he’d added an AEM EMS, installed Penske suspension (one of the many things I never received from [******] despite the legal settlement) and had the whole car wet sanded because he felt the paint “just wasn’t quite right.” When I asked him what I owed him he just asked if I’d feel comfortable covering his cost for the AEM and the Penskes. He would not take money for anything else and insisted that he just wanted to help out.
That was six months ago now. The Viper runs like I imagined it would when I sent it to John [******] five years ago. To say I think Jason Heffner is an honorable man who went way beyond the call of duty to help out a guy he didn’t even know is an understatement. Hell, he went way beyond what anyone else even offered to do for me for substantial additional money. And his work--including that on a turbo system he can’t vouch for--is exceptional. Needless to say I have nothing but the highest praise for Jason Heffner.
I realize that if I had hung out on the forums instead of just trusting the car mags before my adventures with John [******] that I probably wouldn’t have the experiences I did. But hindsight is 20/20 and I’m not complaining. What I can’t let get swept under the rug, however, is the recognition and credit for the way Bill and Jason have fought in my corner, not because they had to or were paid to, but because that is just the way they are. I said in the beginning there were many players in this story; many who turned out to be self serving, deceptive, or even downright nasty, those who turned out to be genuinely interested and helpful, and a few who were extraordinary in giving their support and giving of their time and effort with no hope for reward or compensation other than my friendship.
In any event, that’s the rest of the story. I felt it was necessary for me to finally clear the air about what really happened and to give credit to those who worked to make things right for me--especially to Bill and Jason. I’m very grateful.
Taig Stewart
More at this link: http://forzacentral.com/forum/showthread.php?t=170...
______________
There's no apology for stupid, boy!
Re: Hennessey 705 HP Corvette ZR1 for 2010
From Autoweek:
Hennessey's Vipers are fast, but lawsuits say he serves them up too slowly. (Photo by Mark Vaughn)
Ninety-eight percent of his customers love him, John Hennessey says. But a few hate him and some have sued. Hennessey Motorsports in Houston specializes in tuning Vipers, adding more power to what is already one of the most powerful cars in the world. Hennessey’s Vipers have been featured in this and many other magazines and the cars he has sent to us and to other media were impressive performers. Hennessey presents himself well, projecting an image of the consummate Texas good ol’ boy whose reassuring conversational style and howyewdoin’ demeanor put customers at ease. People believe they will get what he says he’ll give them. But not all people do.
According to a lawsuit filed in Salt Lake City, Utah resident Taig Stewart sent his Viper GTS to Hennessey last May for an engine upgrade to 1100 hp along with several other modifications. For that he wire-transferred $142,500 to Hennessey. The lawsuit states the parties agreed the car would be done by mid-July 2001. As of press time the car was still sitting under a tarp in Hennessey’s shop in Houston. Or most of the car, anyway. Stewart’s suit claims Hennessey sold the car’s engine, transmission, wheels, tires and hood. The suit seeks return of the money, the Viper and “no less than $1 million” in punitive damages.
Hennessey claims he’s just slow in getting the work done.
“My side of the story is we’re planning on finishing his car and planning on giving him everything that he paid for,” said Hennessey. As for the parts being sold, “That’s totally false. We’ve got all his parts in the shop except the hood and he wanted to do a lightweight hood.”
Stewart is not the first unsatisfied customer. The longer we dug the more dissatisfaction we found. Here’s a sampling:
On Nov. 14 a New Jersey court entered a final judgement of $133,674 against Hennessey on behalf of Viper owner Gary Dan for a botched conversion.
William Walters said he is out over $22,000 after shipping his Corvette to Hennessey for a head and cam package that was never done; he did have five rods bent and a head gasket damaged on the dyno in Hennessey’s shop during an experiment Hennessey tried with nitrous oxide.
Jerry Johnson said he had to file suit in Placer County Court in California to straighten out registration and engine computer problems on a Viper he bought from Hennessey. n Jon Belinkie said he loves the changes made to his Viper but had to sue in his home state of Maryland, then register the judgement in Texas, to recover overcharges Hennessey made on his American Express card.
Rick Ryan said he had to hound Hennessey for eight months by long distance from Marietta, Georgia, to put the proper wing and stripes on his Viper.
Mark Lublin said he sent his Viper cylinder heads to Hennessey for new valves but when the heads came back he found the “new” valves were actually used; a cam that was delivered to Lublin in a Hennessey box turned out to be a stock Chrysler cam. Lublin was finally refunded $5,715 from American Express but only after nine months of disputing the charge; and he got no money from Hennessey.
Bruce Iannatuono said he ordered $8,500 worth of Hennessey parts for his mechanic in Baltimore to install but was only able to use two-thirds of what was shipped, and then only after haranguing Hennessey for six months on an order that was originally promised in five weeks.
Most of the complaints come from outside Texas. Hennessey, some said, tends to take better care of local customers.
“If you were out of state, man you were fair game,” said Kyle Kent, a former employee at Hennessey Motorsports. When an out-of-state car came in it was sometimes parted out, with the wheels, tires and whatever else looked good going to other cars waiting to be finished or sold outright, according to Kent and others inside Hennessey Motorsports. Then Hennessey would call the car’s owner and try to sell him an upgraded kit. If the customer balked, Hennessey would take parts from other cars in the shop, or just let the job sit.
Kent described one typical disassembly on an out-of-state Viper. “The motor and transmission went into a Durango John was putting together, the brakes went to someone else, the hood went to a guy in Ohio, the rear bumper to South Carolina, man you name it. We had multiple cars like that.”
Another common practice was putting stock parts on what was supposed to be an upgraded car.
“One customer spent $130,000 to $140,000 and that guy thought he had purchased a Venom 650R package which he thought came with the stroker motor,” Kent said. “John told him he was getting a stroker. He was just getting heads and cams.”
Hennessey denies any wrongdoing.
“I’ve got probably 3000 customers,” he said. “I’ve built over 300 cars and out of that I’ve had a handful of people that I’ve had some sort of a delivery problem with and I’ve had some of them who have sued me. So is that some sort of a trend or is that par for the course?”
From Car & Driver:
"There is, of course, no place in the world where talk is cheaper than on an Internet message board, and a few lurid posts hardly constitute proof of wrongdoing. So I went to the Web site of the Houston Better Business Bureau (www. bbbhou.org) and searched for Hennessey Motorsports. The BBB reported 12 complaints filed against Hennessey in the past 36 months, of which seven were in the past year. Of the 12 complaints, only one was listed as resolved. To put this performance in context, I ran checks with the local BBBs of every participant in our Supercar Challenge. Just one other complaint turned up, against AutoThority, and it was described as "resolved."
Then I went to Dun & Bradstreet, the financial research firm, where for $117 I purchased a comprehensive report on Hennessey Motorsports. For comparison, I also purchased a report on the well-known Lingenfelter Performance Engineering. The report indicated that LPE was financially sound, with no liens, lawsuits, or judgments pending against it. In contrast, the Hennessey report revealed that courts have four times ruled against the company and that there are 10 lawsuits currently in various stages and three liens. The D&B report also provided a "Financial Stress National Percentile" rating, measured on a 1-to-100 scale, with 100 being the best possible score. Hennessey's company had a rating of one. (LPE had a 79.) "
Buyer stories (Note that Hennessey's name is in the word filter on Viper forums)
Five years ago I bought a brand new 2001 Viper GTS and sent it to John [******]--along with $142,500--to build what I hoped would be one hell of a Viper. Many of you will remember that fiasco. I won’t revisit any of that history here, not because I have any moral or legal compunctions restraining me from doing so but because I lost interest in fighting this fight quite a long time ago.
So why this post? Simple. To tell the rest of the story and more importantly to give credit to a couple of exceptional guys who took up the fight for me and who fought until the end without any expectation of a reward other than the feeling that comes from helping someone out. Also, since expressing that gratitude here wouldn’t make much sense without at least a brief conclusion to the story of my experiences with John [******], I need to make that happen. Along with the good, of course, there were a few other guys who deserve credit of a very different nature too, but they know who they are so we’ll just let that pile go unstepped-in.
Just to recap my story, I sent $142,500 and a brand new Viper to John [******] after reading Motor Trend’s gushing article on [******]’s Venom 800 in April 2001. It took three years to get my Viper back from [******] in a “dynoable,” if not “drivable” condition. In fact it ran just long enough to make a strong run on the dyno in Salt Lake City in September of 2003 (for which I was not present) before the first turbo blew 50 miles later. The car was also missing over $85,000 of parts and upgrades I’d paid for two years earlier: Brembos, Penske suspension, HREs, Quaife, etc. Without going into specifics, a legal “settlement” was reached which stipulated that I was to receive the missing parts over the course of the next several months with the promise that the car would be tuned to actually run.
Well, to make a very long story very, very short, I spent a total of $315,000 (the new Viper and [******]’s fee plus the attorney’s take of 33% on everything recovered from [******]--including the car itself--plus miscellaneous expenses) for a Viper made up of parts from at least two different cars that wouldn’t even start. I confess, at this point I simply gave up.
But that wasn’t the end of the story.
Most of you know a guy named Bill (aka MANA) who can frequently be found wherever there are exhaust fumes on the net. Most of you also know, or have heard about a tuner named Jason Heffner (8.75/168 MPH). Simply stated, if it wasn’t for the collaborative efforts of Bill and Jason, I still wouldn’t have a Viper that ran today.
I met Bill in 2002 not long after I realized things weren’t quite as they should be in Houston. After receiving an anonymous message on my cell phone urging me to “look into the forums and call [******] again about your car” I began delving into the Viper and other forums. After I’d read a few of Bill’s posts on the Corvette forum, I sent him an e-mail with my story. I didn’t expect anything, it just felt good to get it off my chest. It wasn’t like I wanted to talk to my wife about it yet, after all… Bill and I have been close friends ever since. Every single time progress was made in trying to get information about my car from [******], Bill was behind it. He was the reason I even got the car back three years later. Bill proved to be an exceptionally loyal friend who never gave up the fight, even long after I had. I owe him a hell of a lot and I won’t ever forget it.
Some months after I’d given up on the car altogether, I got a call from Jason Heffner. I’d heard of Heffner’s cars and Bill spoke highly of him but I didn’t know too much about him other than that. Jason told me Bill had talked to him about my Viper and he wondered if I would be willing to send the car out to him to work with. He didn’t talk about money, he just said maybe he could help with the car. I sent it to him (plug for Gary Almond here--Thanks Gary!) and assured Jason that he could have it as long as he wanted it since I’d had it for five years already without it running for more than a few hours.
Again, without going into the details of what he found under the hood, Jason worked and worked and worked. He called and updated me consistently every step of the way. In the end there was a lot of work that had to be done, parts to be replaced and/or modified (the second turbo was also blown) to make it all work but the day came when he called and told me the car was finished. He felt bad that it wasn’t perfect but he said it ran “pretty well” and that he’d done everything he could do. A week later, Gary Almond delivered it to me and I can honestly say it didn’t look like the car I’d sent him. Not only had he fixed the engine and turbo system and installed all braided SS lines instead of the rubber ones it had came back to me with but he’d added an AEM EMS, installed Penske suspension (one of the many things I never received from [******] despite the legal settlement) and had the whole car wet sanded because he felt the paint “just wasn’t quite right.” When I asked him what I owed him he just asked if I’d feel comfortable covering his cost for the AEM and the Penskes. He would not take money for anything else and insisted that he just wanted to help out.
That was six months ago now. The Viper runs like I imagined it would when I sent it to John [******] five years ago. To say I think Jason Heffner is an honorable man who went way beyond the call of duty to help out a guy he didn’t even know is an understatement. Hell, he went way beyond what anyone else even offered to do for me for substantial additional money. And his work--including that on a turbo system he can’t vouch for--is exceptional. Needless to say I have nothing but the highest praise for Jason Heffner.
I realize that if I had hung out on the forums instead of just trusting the car mags before my adventures with John [******] that I probably wouldn’t have the experiences I did. But hindsight is 20/20 and I’m not complaining. What I can’t let get swept under the rug, however, is the recognition and credit for the way Bill and Jason have fought in my corner, not because they had to or were paid to, but because that is just the way they are. I said in the beginning there were many players in this story; many who turned out to be self serving, deceptive, or even downright nasty, those who turned out to be genuinely interested and helpful, and a few who were extraordinary in giving their support and giving of their time and effort with no hope for reward or compensation other than my friendship.
In any event, that’s the rest of the story. I felt it was necessary for me to finally clear the air about what really happened and to give credit to those who worked to make things right for me--especially to Bill and Jason. I’m very grateful.
Taig Stewart
More at this link: http://forzacentral.com/forum/showthread.php?t=170...
______________
There's no apology for stupid, boy!
No hatred towards Hennesy, I'd just like to see what it can do in the real world, like a real dyno video and more than just a lap around a smooth track..
All his claims and nothing to really back them up..
Here is his dyno video anyone see a screen to show proof of claimed power ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H78dqGzSXeg&fea...
Tell me this sounds like a $1,000,000.00 supercar..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBQKNvmP-6s&fea...
He can't even get it to idle smoothly instead it sounds like some junk yard leftover.... Seriously its a $1,000,000.00 joke and he's right it isn't a Lotus...
Maybe I should sell my car for $1,000,000.00 at least it runs perfecty with documented proof of power... 707 BHP 2,100 lbs.?
All his claims and nothing to really back them up..
Here is his dyno video anyone see a screen to show proof of claimed power ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H78dqGzSXeg&fea...
Tell me this sounds like a $1,000,000.00 supercar..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBQKNvmP-6s&fea...
He can't even get it to idle smoothly instead it sounds like some junk yard leftover.... Seriously its a $1,000,000.00 joke and he's right it isn't a Lotus...
Maybe I should sell my car for $1,000,000.00 at least it runs perfecty with documented proof of power... 707 BHP 2,100 lbs.?
Edited by the ronin on Monday 8th August 00:47
First off all I asked was to see if his car could put its claimed power down and use it in the real world. I then asked if it handle the canyons in the real world .
He has refused to post a real dyno showing the claimed power and anyone that knows anything about engines can clearly see something is wrong in his own posted videos.
The fact that he says his car is only 10% Lotus is a joke.....
It took zero effort to look into Hennesy's past dealings as they are well known here in the states.
Sorry I popped the $1.000,000.00 supercar fantasy bubble guys. I'll just leave it be now...
Cheers
He has refused to post a real dyno showing the claimed power and anyone that knows anything about engines can clearly see something is wrong in his own posted videos.
The fact that he says his car is only 10% Lotus is a joke.....
It took zero effort to look into Hennesy's past dealings as they are well known here in the states.
Sorry I popped the $1.000,000.00 supercar fantasy bubble guys. I'll just leave it be now...
Cheers
Scrambled said:
It's not the bubble popping that bothers people, it's the manner in which you lofted the big pin.
ETA. Some could consider your own car to be a far cry from the Lotus ethos _ the original elan was not about huge power, the most pure elise is probably the most basic. Who is really bothered by 700+ horse power?
Hennesy is a huge blister and needed popping....ETA. Some could consider your own car to be a far cry from the Lotus ethos _ the original elan was not about huge power, the most pure elise is probably the most basic. Who is really bothered by 700+ horse power?
As for my car, its my car and not something being put together from donor cars to be sold off as something else.
I'm not bothered by its 707 HP or its looks since it's mine and I like it just the way it has grown into the rocket pig it is today.
We are not talking about a 45 yr. old Elan
Edited by the ronin on Monday 8th August 14:48
No crusade on my part I just stated facts in responce .
Guys, come on now do you think he was gonna just toss me the keys and say come me back and let me know what you think ?
I've let a number of guys I know take my car out on track and in the canyons to get their opinion of my setup not some show and tell dog and pony show... He's a scamer and people don't change.
Still the videos of a smokin engine tells me its not a $1,000,000.00 supercar...It's a modified Lotus..
Seriously what price should I put on my car..... $850,000,00 ? Oh and it doesn't blow smoke.;)
Guys, come on now do you think he was gonna just toss me the keys and say come me back and let me know what you think ?
I've let a number of guys I know take my car out on track and in the canyons to get their opinion of my setup not some show and tell dog and pony show... He's a scamer and people don't change.
Still the videos of a smokin engine tells me its not a $1,000,000.00 supercar...It's a modified Lotus..
Seriously what price should I put on my car..... $850,000,00 ? Oh and it doesn't blow smoke.;)
To be honest I wanted them to put their best driver in the car and see them take it through the twisties without crossin the centerline on every corner....
I know from my own experience with a lightweight Lotus and big power there is a learning curve as you progressively increase the power....
If their Lotus has the power they claim and they don't have the seat time at lower power levels to know its handling quirks up to where it is now then that car will be totally uncontrollable and plain dangerous in the real world...
I knew I was taking advantage of them when I asked them to come play in the canyons. I have 6 yrs. of Exige ownership with power levels growing from 160-615 whp and I know the car. To jump into a 1,200 HP Lotus for the first time for anyone is a learning curve no one will be able to master on the street....
They took a Lotus and turned it into something so far from the base of perfect handling mild powered sportscar and turned it into a stretched out Texas Mile joke.
My offer for them to come up to LA and go for a little canyon run still stands, I say come prove me wrong and I'll buy lunch..
I know from my own experience with a lightweight Lotus and big power there is a learning curve as you progressively increase the power....
If their Lotus has the power they claim and they don't have the seat time at lower power levels to know its handling quirks up to where it is now then that car will be totally uncontrollable and plain dangerous in the real world...
I knew I was taking advantage of them when I asked them to come play in the canyons. I have 6 yrs. of Exige ownership with power levels growing from 160-615 whp and I know the car. To jump into a 1,200 HP Lotus for the first time for anyone is a learning curve no one will be able to master on the street....
They took a Lotus and turned it into something so far from the base of perfect handling mild powered sportscar and turned it into a stretched out Texas Mile joke.
My offer for them to come up to LA and go for a little canyon run still stands, I say come prove me wrong and I'll buy lunch..
Scrambled said:
The thing is Frank, you must have known that they would not have taken you up on your offer of a trip through the canyons.
You've made assumptions about what they would have and what not have done if you had accepted the offer _ but you didn't so it's all assumptions.
Email him, apologise for not accepting his offer straight off, go and see the car, come back and tell us all your thoughts about the venom.
I accept that you have issues over Hennesy; divorce those thoughts for a day and see what it's all about.
If you don't get answers as to BHP or handling etc. then we will be interested to hear that _ it will be based on cold hard facts.
Ok I just sent this off to Hennessey :You've made assumptions about what they would have and what not have done if you had accepted the offer _ but you didn't so it's all assumptions.
Email him, apologise for not accepting his offer straight off, go and see the car, come back and tell us all your thoughts about the venom.
I accept that you have issues over Hennesy; divorce those thoughts for a day and see what it's all about.
If you don't get answers as to BHP or handling etc. then we will be interested to hear that _ it will be based on cold hard facts.
Hey John, it's Frank Profera [ronin] from the forums.
There are a few guys that think I'm over reacting and should base my opinions on first hand knowledge not speculation ...
How would you like me to eat crow on every forum with regards to your Lotus creation ?
I'd like to take you up on your offer and see your car first hand and if possible to get a ride or drive and see it through it's paces in the twisties...
I've got a little seat time in a high output Lotus [ 707 BHP], so I have a fairly good idea how things should feel.
I hear crow is tasty when properly cooked....
Cheers dude,
Frank
That.Seriously dude he's the one that needs to prove his car to be what he claims... I have no need to kiss arse to prove him wrong... I can do that on the road.
He hasn't responded to my Email and I can tell ya he won't since it's all smoke and mirrors from Hennessey.
Think about it ... some old guy with a home brew modified Lotus stomps all over a $1,000,000.00 so called supercar and even if he bettered my car it took a $1,000,000.00 to do it, if it could.
He loses either way..... But operators are standing by to take his call.
So now I'm the asshole for pointing out the unproven claims from a known ripoff..
And the thread should be closed because you guys feel it's ok to insult me for stating facts.... I could easily come back with a proper response but it would bring me down to your level....
Enjoy your fantasies ladies..
It's funny how the thread title reads... Hennesy Venom vs Lotus Exige ..., not how to kiss arse and make internet heros your friends.
And the thread should be closed because you guys feel it's ok to insult me for stating facts.... I could easily come back with a proper response but it would bring me down to your level....
Enjoy your fantasies ladies..
It's funny how the thread title reads... Hennesy Venom vs Lotus Exige ...
, not how to kiss arse and make internet heros your friends.Edited by the ronin on Thursday 11th August 15:27
cheddar said:
Has anyone watched one of ronins "Look at me" 'canyoning' video's?
I have and far from thinking 'Wow that's fast' I have a strong suspicion that a bog standard Exige would absolutely murder his unbalanced overpowered frank-enstein car across any stretch of twisty blacktop Frank cares to mention.
I have and far from thinking 'Wow that's fast' I have a strong suspicion that a bog standard Exige would absolutely murder his unbalanced overpowered frank-enstein car across any stretch of twisty blacktop Frank cares to mention.
Un balanced.. by hofmanns » Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:31 pm
I’ve been out in Vegas for the last week taking in the West Coast Lotus Meet, the SEMA show, the strip and also got the chance to drive Frank Profera’s (AKA Ronin) monster car, which has been the highlight of the trip.
Frank seems to think that, for some reason, there are people who doubt that his car works with all it’s compound charger trickery so I said I would give a little insight into my time behind the wheel.
Like him or loathe him, Frank has a great ability to bring a challenging project to fruition and his car really is an amazing bit of kit in the flesh. The detail and finish of the car is very high and, although the looks are bound to divide opinion, the quality of the work that has gone into the car is exemplary. Being in the lucky position of driving many fast cars it’s rare that I get excited about the prospect of driving another but this one really did set my pulse racing.
Frank took to the wheel first and quickly showed me how the car could light up the tyres at 70mph but I felt perfectly at ease and sat back and enjoyed the warp speed and sound track. If you like forced induction cars then you will love the scream of a supercharger, the whoosh of a turbocharger and this car has both. It sounds unreal and not in a chavvy way, more of a sci-fi meets terminator meets star ship enterprise way. Basically it sounds REALLY cool.
It didn’t take long for Frank to kindly entrust me with the keys so I jumped in the drivers seat and pulled away and instantly felt at home. There isn’t really anything to fear with the car at normal speeds, the clutch being reasonably light, the gearchange positive and slick and the engine tractable. You can felt the extra inertia of the SC and turbo on the downshifts but it doesn’t take too long to account for that in your driving and the cars generally feels very OEM. Setup wise the car felt terrific, but that’s exactly what I had expected seeing as Frank had fitted a set of my dampers and taken all my advice on geo! Until I got comfortable I was fairly gently with the throttle and at low engine speeds the performance feels very similar to a top spec SC Honda with a linear power delivery. What really does grab your attention is the way that, once you have settled into the car, it will pull all the way to the red line, in every gear, just building and building speed in a way that’s quite unreal. On the big open American roads you don’t get the same perspective of speed that you do in the UK but on glancing down at the speedo after only a few moments of full throttle you will see the needle threatening to jump off the end of the dial. If the car were mine I would travel everywhere at 160+mph as it’s just so easy to reach silly speeds. You can stick it in 5th at 70mph and nail it, there will be a whine as the SC starts turning, followed in very short order by a whoosh as the turbo spools and the car will set off and start building speed. As the revs climb the engine pulls harder and harder and harder until the point where you remember it’s Frank’s toy and not yours and that you really should slow down. At speed the car is stable and comfortable, and I’m sure it would feel that way all the way up to whatever silly speed it would reach which has to be 180+. Luckily for me I got to spend a decent amount of time behind the wheel, taking in some sight seeing a normal speeds and some twisty bits at silly speeds and at all times the car was fantastic. On the road there is nothing to touch it and what impresses most is the breadth of its power delivery, with massive urge from 2000rpm through to 8500rpm and this makes complete sense of the tall gearing.
So, the car gets a resounding thumbs up… I was pained to give back the keys! My thanks go out to Frank for entrusting me with his fantastic toy. I know Frank can be abrupt on the forums but he is a generous and warm person in real life, very entertaining company and very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about cars.
The car has an additional 115 whp. now
Please come show me how it's done cheese boy....
Edited by the ronin on Friday 12th August 14:49
When it was only 290 whp it set the Lap Record for any Lotus at Willow Springs Raceway on worn A048 street tires 3yrs ago...... It took 3yrs for a fully race preped WCR Exige with the same power to match the time on qualifing slicks...
I have not driven my rocket pig on track in its current configuration but I can tell you without doubt the difference is night and day.
Different suspension, aero, wheels slicks and massive power. 290 whp vs 615+ whp..I say plus because the 615 whp was at 28 psi. on the dyno, I run 33 psi. on the street...
I have not driven my rocket pig on track in its current configuration but I can tell you without doubt the difference is night and day.
Different suspension, aero, wheels slicks and massive power. 290 whp vs 615+ whp..I say plus because the 615 whp was at 28 psi. on the dyno, I run 33 psi. on the street...
Minismiles said:
Hey Ronin,
Sorry for dragging this thread back up and driftin away from it slightly. But if you were able to make your car for others as a living what sort of price would you charge??
I know this has nothing to do with the Hennesy argument, i'm just curious as to what it would take to get what you have??
That is a wonderful write up from Randy, and having met him i would trust his opinion a lot.
For the point of the thread, have you thought of just popping over to see the Hennesy guys, just drop in, and see what they have going on??
I think you could put together a car like mine for under $120k. That is custom body and full tilt engine gearbox setup... I know the peeps that could put it together since I've done all the R$D... Start out with a used car and it would be much less..Sorry for dragging this thread back up and driftin away from it slightly. But if you were able to make your car for others as a living what sort of price would you charge??
I know this has nothing to do with the Hennesy argument, i'm just curious as to what it would take to get what you have??
That is a wonderful write up from Randy, and having met him i would trust his opinion a lot.
For the point of the thread, have you thought of just popping over to see the Hennesy guys, just drop in, and see what they have going on??
Remember I've been screwin with this as soon as I got it home new in 05.
Check out www.Lotussport.org if you want to know the nuts and bolts of my car..
.
As for poppin down to Hennessey's it would be a waste of time for me in LA traffic to see a Lotus that will never be driven in anger in the twisties....
The fact remains he pussied out because he knows his car won't live up to all the HYPE... and I seriously doubt it could even stay in its own lane in the canyons..... I have my rocket pig dialed in for the real world as far as the suspension goes and I know I've got the power dialed in.... 615 real WHP not BS.
It would be a great David vs Goliath match and I have guys wanting to video it but Goliath seems to be a unick..
Nightmare said:
Scrambled said:
No Frank, you're not an asshole for pointing out unproven claims. You're an asshole for not taking the opportunity to see the car in the flesh whilst divorcing your prejudices however well justified on completely different matters.
What makes you the king among kings of assholes is that you do not seem to understand we do not want you to make friends with him, worship his car or forgive any alleged passed misdemeanours.
We just want a first hand experienced critique of the venom as oppose to your slagging the car off without evidence and 'no evidence' does not prove you right. You may be 100% right, but you could have had the proof or you could have come back here and said, "you know what chaps, not as good as he said, pretty good car but not worth $50 let alone $1,000,000"
Now we'll never know.
possibly my favourite ever pistonheads post!What makes you the king among kings of assholes is that you do not seem to understand we do not want you to make friends with him, worship his car or forgive any alleged passed misdemeanours.
We just want a first hand experienced critique of the venom as oppose to your slagging the car off without evidence and 'no evidence' does not prove you right. You may be 100% right, but you could have had the proof or you could have come back here and said, "you know what chaps, not as good as he said, pretty good car but not worth $50 let alone $1,000,000"
Now we'll never know.
Frank.....read the above again and again. The world is about a f**k lot more than fast/nearly fast or not fast cars. You need to seriously get over your attitude issues here. Why do you think you're a one-man crusade against someone or something I have no idea.
I would also have liked someone who knows car engineering and set-up to go and sit in, poke about, passenger or possibly drive the Venom. I wouldn't be remotely interested in YOUR opinion on it any more, however as you have proved s total lack of objectivity and the ability to say a good word about anything other than your own creation.
Shame.
t if someone likes my opinion since I drive with neon yellow wheels on a Ferrari grey 707 bhp Lotus, I know I'm out there and I don't know anything about putting together a Lotus that fuquin works...Gassing Station | Elise/Exige/Europa/340R | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff