Hennessey Venom
The Hennessey Venom, or Venom GT, is a very-low-production high-performance sports car that few people will ever get the chance to see and even fewer will be able to drive. The Venom GT was produced for model years 2011 to 2017 with just 13 units produced, 6 Spyders and 7 coupes. The Venom is based off the Lotus Exige/Elise and manufactured by Hennessey Performance Engineering.
The Venom GT set the Guinness World Record as the fastest road legal vehicle from zero to 186 mph, which took 13.63 seconds. It also earned the unofficial record for zero to 200 mph, doing so in 14.51 seconds. The Venom GT runs on a 7.0-liter twin-turbocharged GM LSX V8 engine. The LSX architecture uses some key design features, including twin-Precision dual ball bearing turbochargers and reinforced internal components. This engine’s construction delivers 1,244 horsepower at 6,600 rpm as well as 1,155 pound-feet at 4,400 rpm. There are also three settings to adjust the output, including for 800, 1,000, and 1,200 horsepower, with a redline at 7,200 rpm. The engine works with a Ricardo 6-speed manual transmission.
That is not the only vehicle to wear the Hennessey Venom name, as the Hennessey Venom F5 will be arriving very soon. This upcoming high-performance sports car will be the very first auto that the company develops and manufactures in-house. This includes the exhaust system, bodywork, chassis, and engine. The Venom F5 is named after an F5 tornado, which is the highest rating on the Fujita scale.
The Venom F5 first appeared during the SEMA Show in November 2017. The goal behind the Venom F5 is to set new benchmarks for high-performance autos. The original reports indicated a 7.4-liter twin-turbo V8 would be under the hood, but it will actually be a 7.6-liter. This engine should deliver 1,300 pound-feet of torque and 1,600 horsepower. Hennessey even plans to make a record attempt to reach 301 mph, which they claim is the top speed. Hennessey expects the Venom F5 to reach 186 mph from a stop in less than 10 seconds and only need about 20 seconds to get up to 249 mph.
It will work with either a 6-speed manual or a 7-speed semi-automatic single-clutch, complete with paddle shifters. Much of the vehicle features carbon fiber and there are active aerodynamics. There will only be 24 vehicles produced, following the trend of exclusivity set by the Venom GT, and the owners are hand-picked.
