By Giles Milner, August 6, 2014
Auto tuning company Hennessey Performance put its name on the map when it modified a Lotus Exige and tuned it to hell and back, the reason was simple, to make the fastest production car in the world, a title currently owned by the Bugatti Veyron.
The Hennessey Venom GT is powered by GM sourced twin turbocharged 7.0L GM LSX V8 engine with an iron block and aluminum heads featuring twin precision ball bearing turbochargers.
The engine produces a mammoth 1,244 bhp of power at 6,600 rpm and 1,566 N·m of torque at 4,400 rpm which is enough to cause a ripple in the space time continuum.
Top speed is 270mph, 2mph more than the Bugatti Veyron, but the Venom GT did not break the world record at a speed test because two timed runs are required to collate an average speed, the Venom GT only managed one.
Now Texas based Hennessey Performance has developed the Venom F5, a successor which it hopes will cure the desire to break the Bugatti’s top speed world record.
The Venom F5 is based on the same modified Exige chassis as the Venom GT, but will use no components from the Exige, the engine will be tuned to pump out a claimed 1,400 bhp by enlarging the turbos, increasing the intercooler size and an upgrading the fuel system.
The Venom F5’s bespoke and aerodynamically improved body will be formed out of carbon fiber keeping the weight down to sub 1,300 kg.
The Venom GT is limited to a production run of 30 units, 16 have been sold so far and each go for a cool £1.2m dollars. The Venom F5 will cost more, but will also go faster, 290 mph is the target.