Hennessey last December took the wraps off its Venom F5, a 1,817-hp hypercar the company is confident will top 300 mph—and in the process set a new land speed record for production cars (the current record is the 282.9 mph set by SSC in January).
However, Hennessey hasn't ruled out launching additional versions of the Venom F5 whose primary focus might not be on top speeds.
In an interview with Top Gear published last week, Hennessey CEO and founder John Hennessey revealed that a high-downforce version designed for carving up the track could be a possibility at some point, something he referred to as a “GTR-type” version.
However, he said the focus right now is on getting the current car into production. He said there's still a lot of testing to be done, a process the company said at the Venom F5's reveal would include time spent at top racetracks, including the Circuit of the Americas and the Nürburgring.
Hennessey Venom F5
Could a 'Ring record be planned? Hennessey told Top Gear that a crazy lap record isn't necessary but the company would like to see the car come in under the magic seven-minute mark.
Deliveries of the Venom F5 are expected to start this summer. Just 24 will be built, though any additional variants will likely add to that figure.
The Venom F5 is powered by a bespoke 6.6-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 that according to Hennessey will see the car deliver 0-62 mph acceleration in 2.6 seconds. The top speed is to be decided at a later date but we know the car's 7-speed automated manual transmission is geared to 334 mph.
We should point out that the car's 1,817-hp will be limited to when a special F5 driving mode is selected and when the car is already running at 140 mph. According to Hennessey, it's only at this speed that there's enough traction for the full 1,817 hp to be properly utilized.
