Hennessey Special Vehicles Reveals 1,600 hp Venom F5

Hennessey Special Vehicles used the 2017 SEMA show to reveal what might be the boldest hypercar yet. It's built from the ground up to deliver claimed performance that goes beyond anything else on the market.

Hennessey says that the Venom F5 will deliver 1,600 hp from a twin-turbo V8. The company says that that incredible horsepower number means 0-300 km/h in under 10 seconds. And a top speed of 487 km/h. That's right, Hennessey says it'll break the mythical 300 mph barrier.

The next closest competitor is the Bugatti Chiron, which is limited to 420 km/h but has a top speed of 463. The last hypercar to wear the Hennessey name was the Venom GT. It spent a few years as the fastest car in the world before the Chiron came to be. The Venom GT Spyder is the world's fastest convertible. It'll do 427 km/h with the roof off. Those cars were built by the same man, John Hennessey, but by a different company, Hennessey Performance.

So how does the F5 hit such a high top speed? The horsepower level doesn't hurt, but Hennessey credits aerodynamics. Unlike the previous Venom, the Lotus-based GT, this one has a chassis of its own. The body is built for speed over downforce and is made from carbon fibre. The drag coefficient is said to be 0.33. That's a relatively high number for a car, but low for a hypercar. The Koenigsegg Agera manages just 0.37, or 0.34 with the rear wing folded.

The new car will weigh just 1,341 kg, thanks to the extensive use of carbon fibre. The transmission is a seven-speed paddle-shift unit, and all power goes to the rear wheels.

Hennessey Special Vehicles worked with Shell and Pennzoil to develop lubricants to keep the max-performance F5 operating smoothly.