Hennessey Special Vehicles has plans in place for its 1,817 hp Venom F5 to surpass 300 mph (483 km/h) in 2024, celebrating the world’s fastest car record set a decade ago.
In 2014, the Hennessey Venom GT set a world record top speed of 270.49 mph. To this day, the Venom GT is still the fastest car equipped with a manual transmission in the world. Hennessey’s feat allowed Hennessey to surpass the previous record of 268.86 mph held by the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.
Now, Hennessey has delivered all 22 customers of the Venom F5 supercar and has expanded its engineering team to move towards “America’s Hypercar” V-max record. During development, the Venom F5 achieved speeds of over 270 mph at the former NASA Space Shuttle Landing Facility in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Now, people are looking for a runway or public road with enough length where the 1,817-hp twin-turbo V8 monster can accelerate to over 300 mph and come to a stop safely.
Founder and CEO John Hennessey said, “I like that Koenigsegg is preparing for rapid development, and I hope Bugatti will join it. It is competition like this that inspires our passion and drives us to go faster and innovate more. Work harder! With 22 customer vehicles delivered and a newly expanded engineering team, we are ready to refocus our attention on making the Venom F5 realize its potential.”
“Our supercar simulation has a theoretical top speed of 328 mph, but we’re certainly not chasing that number. Breaking 300 mp in two directions is the goal this year, and 500 km/h (310.8 mph) in the other. It will be the ultimate way to celebrate the internal combustion engine!”
Hennessey recently recruited former AMG ONE chief engineer Brian Jones and 2023 Pikes Peak Hill Climb record-setting racer David Donohue, who will work with the Hennessey team to showcase the Venom F5’s bespoke ultra-lightweight carbon fiber chassis and 1,187 bhp Possibility of combining twin-turbocharged V8 Fury engine.
Brian Jones, vice president of engineering at Hennessey, said: “I think the Venom F5 is the perfect example of ‘peak combustion’, combining 1,817bhp of twin-turbocharged V8 power with a weight of just 2,998 lbs (1,360kg) to deliver the ultimate in acceleration. Capability. We are confident we have the ability to achieve our goals, so our team will work hard to optimize power delivery and aerodynamics while pushing for top speed.”
American racing champion David Donohue joins Hennessey as its supercar test driver in 2023, where he will conduct all high-speed testing and record runs. The 2023 Pikes Peak record-setter brings more than three decades of racing experience to Hennessey, including first-place finishes in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the North American Touring Car Championship, and the Daytona Rolex 24 Hours.
Although all 24 Venom F5 Coupes for 2021 have been sold, Hennessey continues to produce convertibles and other track-focused Venom F5 derivatives based on customer demand.
