Hennessey has been in a two-pony race with Bugatti for the world’s fastest production car for about a decade now. Their Venom GT easily smashed 270MPH at the NASA runway a few years ago — so we know more pace is certain for the GT’s successor.
That car arrived today with a huge gasp at SEMA 2017. The Venom F5 is fully redesigned with lighter, sleeker and stronger carbon-fiber bodywork. It promises even less overall drag while also providing race levels of downforce.
The quoted figures for power and performance are nothing short of amazing, if they are proven in real life.
Venoms have always been exclusive to a degree no Veyron or Chiron can boast. Not even Pagani or Koenigsegg make as few hypercars as Hennessey. Just a handful a year, if you were wondering, with total build volumes of less than 40 cars. Owning one is a giant salute to US engineering as well as sheer ballsy bravado. Not great to hear that the motor is still in development. Such is ultra small batch manufacturing, perhaps.
Venom GT
Now to the Venom F5’s design: is it beautiful?
In a functional way, yes. We lose all hints of Lotus from the nose for this generation in favor of twin vertical LED lamps on either corner. The hood is slightly formless if we’re honest, but does have that razor-sharp edge needed to slice the air at 300mph. The profile still wraps an ultra small cockpit far forward in the body in classic hypercar style. A fairly upright windshield rake is functional but enhanced with a glossblack roof that might be glass in the future. For now, it is just a skullcap around its two brave occupants.
Similar level of functional enhancement to the tail — where pieces of the bodywork extend rearward in pronounced chunks, with negative space inside to act as a vacuum to empty heat from the engine bay at speed. An even flatter underbody now shoves all its air to twin ducted panels — each with their own venturi outlet extending far beyond the tail’s bodywork. Tail LEDs are a bit hokey but we do not car.
Hennessey has done it again! It might not be fine art as a design, but this F5 gets results!
2018 Hennessey Venom F5
Hennessey Venom F5 World Premier
America’s Hypercar to Debut at the 2017 SEMA Show
- 1600 bhp Hennessey Twin Turbo V8 Engine
- Top speed: 301 mph
- 0-186 mph: < 10 sec.
- 0-249 mph-0: < 30 sec.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Las Vegas, NV and Sealy, TX – November 1, 2017. Today at the Shell “Pioneering Performance” experience at the 2017 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, NV, John Hennessey of Hennessey Special Vehicles will unveil the much-anticipated Venom F5. Together, Shell, Pennzoil and Hennessey have broken barriers, set records and now they’ve co-engineered the next big thing in the automotive industry – and that’s still just the beginning.
The Venom F5 is an all-new hypercar designed and built from the ground up with one goal in mind: To be the absolute fastest road car on earth. Hennessey and team have developed a completely new design, chassis and carbon fiber body focused on aerodynamics to achieve the lowest possible drag. The new F5 design features active aero that will yield a coefficient of drag of just 0.33.
“We’ve designed F5 to be timeless so that in 25 years it will still have a level of performance and design that will be unmatched,” said John Hennessey, company Founder and CEO. “The F5 is an all new car, designed and built from the ground up, from the engine to the chassis. We expect the Venom F5, named for the most powerful tornado speed winds on the Fujita scale, to be the first road car capable of achieving more than 300 mph and have worked closely with Pennzoil to get us across the finish line.”
The Hennessey team is developing an all new, twin turbo V8 engine that will deliver over 1600 bhp. The Hennessey engine will be mated to a 7-speed single clutch paddle shift transmission and delivering power down to the rear tires. The Venom will also feature an all new light weight chassis and all carbon fiber body, which will give the F5 a curb weight of 2,950 lbs.
The F5’s combination of light weight, low drag and all-American horsepower will deliver a new level of hypercar performance. Acceleration from 0 to 186 mph (300 km/h) will be less than 10 seconds making the new Venom quicker than current Formula 1 race cars. Zero to 249 mph (400 km/h) and back to rest will be under 30 seconds. The top speed of the Venom F5 is projected to exceed 300 mph.
The base price for the Venom F5 is $1.6 million US dollars. The company plans to build 24 examples.
“Shell is fortunate to have forged technical and co-engineering alliances with some of the most revered automotive visionaries in the industry,” said Patty Lanning, Vice President of Marketing, Shell Lubricants. “Working hand-in-hand with Hennessey on one of the most stunning road cars we’ve seen has been an incredible experience. We share a passion for performance and know that Pennzoil will protect the F5’s engine through development and testing to production.”
In addition to having Pennzoil coursing through the F5 engine, it protects engines in every Hennessey build. Hennessey also relies on Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Premium Gasoline to fuel each of their powerhouses from the test track to the road.
John Hennessey has put his pioneering excellence on full display at the Shell “Pioneering Performance” experience for the remainder of the week at the 2017 SEMA Show. In addition to the Venom F5, Hennessey also brought along the Hennessey VelociRaptor 6X6 and THE EXORCIST TM, based on the 2018 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
Follow all the action and updates on social media via #ShellatSEMA and check out www.shell.us/sema for a full schedule of events at the Shell “Pioneering Performance” experience and Live Stage.
Tom Burkart is the founder and managing editor of Car-Revs-Daily.com, an innovative and rapidly-expanding automotive news magazine.
He holds a Journalism JBA degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Tom currently resides in Charleston, South Carolina with his two amazing dogs, Drake and Tank.
Mr. Burkart is available for all questions and concerns by email Tom(at)car-revs-daily.com.