Thursday 2nd November 2017

Hennessey Venom F5: Built for 300mph

Unveiled at the SEMA show, the latest Venom is a follow-up shot at the record books from Hennessey

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Hennessey Performance Engineering has history here. In 2011 it launched a heavily modified Lotus Exige - fitted with a twin-turbocharged 7.0-litre V8, and dubbed the Venom GT - to attempt a number of speed records; not least the right to call itself the fastest production car in the world. In 2014, on the arrow-straight 3.2-mile runway of the Kennedy Space Center, it hit 270mph - very slightly quicker than the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport managed in 2010.

Of course, unlike Bugatti, Hennessey did not spin the car around and do it again the other way, which - in Guinness's view - rather negates the point of doing it in the first place. Nevertheless, the GT managed it, and it also managed (officially, this time) to hit 186mph from a standing start in 13.6 seconds - which is impressive, and also the net result of partnering 1,261hp with 1,244kg of kerbweight.

The relationship was clearly not lost on the firm when it came to design and build an in-house follow-up to the GT. The Venom F5 - F5 being the most powerful storm on the Fujita scale - is also powered by a twin-turbocharged V8, this time producing in excess of 1,600hp. It remains light, too: a carbon fibre body, seven-speed single-clutch transmission, and all-new rear-drive chassis contributing to a kerbweight of 1,338kg.

As before, the point - aside from charging 24 buyers £1.2m each for the privilege of ownership - is to deliver a "new level of hypercar performance". Being Texans, there is no beating around the bush either: Hennessey confidently predicts that acceleration to 186mph will be achieved in less than 10 seconds; from zero to 249mph (400km/h) and back to zero will be under 30 seconds - and the car is 'projected' to exceed 300mph.

Big talk, certainly. For the record, the new Bugatti Chiron managed 13.1 seconds and 32.6 seconds, respectively - and is 'anticipated' to hit around 288mph. It produces 1,500hp, and weighs the best part of two tonnes; so you can see where Hennessey is going with its maths - ditto the best-effort 0.33 drag coefficient claimed for its active aero.

"We've designed F5 to be timeless so that in 25 years it will still have a level of performance and design that will be unmatched," said John Hennessey, company founder and CEO. That's as maybe - but if Hennessey really wants its name next to 300mph in the record books, it'll need to get used to the idea (and challenge) of coming back the other way in Florida. Then it'll need to build one more car; 25 apparently being the cut-off point for Guinness's idea of 'production'.

 

 

[British Beef]

Will surely need 4wd to beat the Chiron to 100mph with the extra power and less weight.

288 - 300 mph will require more than the additional 100hp over the Chiron, even accounting for less frontal area of this thing.

Claims are one thing, results on standard customer cars are quite different especially on pump fuel and street legal tyres.

[Edition87]

That is beautiful.

[Uppercut]

British Beef said:

288 - 300 mph will require more than the additional 100hp over the Chiron, even accounting for less frontal area of this thing.

I'm sure they've done their sums and simulations before making their predictions public.

[CraigyMc]

Uppercut said:

British Beef said:

288 - 300 mph will require more than the additional 100hp over the Chiron, even accounting for less frontal area of this thing.

I'm sure they've done their sums and simulations before making their predictions public.

Presumably you're new to Hennessy.

[sinbaddio]

Whilst much of the motoring world is predicting the death of the ICE, it's just bloody ace that we still have the Hennessey's of this world doing completely bonkers things like this.

Couldn't really care whether it can do it or not, giving it a bloody good go is enough for me! Bravo!

[RumbleOfThunder]

£1.2m for a one trick pony car that won't reach 300mph. Nah be rate.

[Uppercut]

CraigyMc said:

Uppercut said:

British Beef said:

288 - 300 mph will require more than the additional 100hp over the Chiron, even accounting for less frontal area of this thing.

I'm sure they've done their sums and simulations before making their predictions public.

Presumably you're new to Hennessy.

Does being new here mean I'm to be subjected to sarcasm?

[Venturist]

I don’t understand why there is a split line from headlamp to wheelarch. The front clam is one piece, there’s no bonnet/bumper split.

I’m glad it exists - assuming it ever gets made as an actual car, since this is clearly a styling model only. But I wouldn’t be giving them any money. Or braving the 300mph barrier.

[CountZero23]

Uppercut said:

Does being new here mean I'm to be subjected to sarcasm?

Nope. You'll be subjected to sarcasm however long you've been here

[Uppercut]

Fair enough then!

But Venom GT did what it set out to do, did it not, so I wouldn't write this off just yet.

[HappyMidget]

If they can get a frontal area under 21 sqft then yes 1600bhp is enough



Taken from http://www.rbracing-rsr.com/aerohpcalc.html

[CraigyMc]

Uppercut said:

CraigyMc said:

Uppercut said:

British Beef said:

288 - 300 mph will require more than the additional 100hp over the Chiron, even accounting for less frontal area of this thing.

I'm sure they've done their sums and simulations before making their predictions public.

Presumably you're new to Hennessy.

Does being new here mean I'm to be subjected to sarcasm?

No, just being here means you're subjected to that.
Have a read of https://jalopnik.com/ex-employees-say-hennessey-is...

[hondansx]

I thought the previous Venom looked absolutely gorgeous; a pumped up but elegant looking Exige. Would have been a lottery car for sure!

The front of this looks fantastic also, but the rear makes it look a bit like a car designed for Grand Theft Auto.

Not sure why someone said it is a one trick pony. Imagine it must go round corners pretty nicely too...

[Uppercut]

CraigyMc said:

Uppercut said:

CraigyMc said:

Uppercut said:

British Beef said:

288 - 300 mph will require more than the additional 100hp over the Chiron, even accounting for less frontal area of this thing.

I'm sure they've done their sums and simulations before making their predictions public.

Presumably you're new to Hennessy.

Does being new here mean I'm to be subjected to sarcasm?

No, just being here means you're subjected to that.
Have a read of https://jalopnik.com/ex-employees-say-hennessey-is...

I already aware of all that. It's been in the public domain for a long time.

But as I said above, the Venom GT did exactly what it set out to do and achieved it's projected targets, so I wouldn't write this off just yet.

[cookie1600]

CraigyMc said:

Have a read of https://jalopnik.com/ex-employees-say-hennessey-is...

Or here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hennessey_Performanc...
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2016/06/john-henn...
https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/comments/1fecpk/what...
http://www.forzacentral.com/forum/threads/for-thos...
https://www.carthrottle.com/post/wpqymry/
https://www.bbb.org/houston/business-reviews/car-r...

I don't know if he (or Hennessey Performance) have turned a corner recently, but he was number one car villain for ages on a host of forums and websites dedicated to tuned American cars.

Edited by cookie1600 on Thursday 2nd November 11:27

[Fetthobler]

Love It!

The front is as clean as the Sesto Elemento. Bravo Hennessey! It's very difficult to create a car design for a small car company that looks from all angles good. Good design is very expensive and difficult to make.

I like to see that the car manufacturers are still pushing the limits, and still making big leaps in chassis development, tire improvement, dynamics management and aerodynamics.
But seriously, this kind of car is too fast for everyone of us.
Maybe it’s only my point of view, but I like playful cars, rather than straight speed. I rather detune my cars, than make them going faster. I want to have a toy to play around and explore it’s capabilities, rather than just looking at it and discuss what is possible in theory.
Currently I'm reducing the tire size of my 997 C2 from 295 to 265 and from the 997 Turbo from 325 to 295. The development of tires went really too far so that I have a feeling that the car like to corner faster and be very safe than stock, but losing it’s character too.

Robert

[qube_TA]

Think it looks rather wonderful. One of those mythical cars you'll never get to see but knowing it'll be out there is great.

Be nice to see a review of one when it appears.

[r11co]

I was going to ask how many of their customers' cars have been cannibalised to make this, but it seems that base has already been covered.

[Uppercut]

My first thought was tyres. 300mph tyres don't exist yet as far as I'm aware.

[TurboHatchback]

1600bhp going through just the rear wheels in a car weighing less than a family hatchback? That must be verging on undriveable, one sneeze or itchy foot at 70mph and you'd be parked backwards in a tree before you knew what had happened.