It was quite some time ago since I wrote the article about the original Hennessey Venom GT, it was, in fact, one of the very first articles that I wrote which kick-started my automotive writing passion. Back then the Venom GT was competing for the title belt of the fastest car in the world against the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport and the SSC Tuatara. Though now Hennessey must go to battle once again, this time it’s for the 300mph top speed barrier, and the competition is fiercer. Going up against the almighty Bugatti Chiron and the ungodly Devel Sixteen. However, Hennessey isn’t planning on giving in and the Venom F5 is a monster to fear.
The Crib Sheet
Armed with an astonishing 8.0-litre Twin-Turbocharged V8, producing a jaw-dropping 1,600bhp and 1,300 lb-ft of torque. Enough to tow a sunken submarine out of the water, I’m assuming. Weighing in at only 1,338kg enough to take the beast onto a top speed of 301mph, still feeling sceptical? Well the Venom F5 achieves 0-249mph in under 20 seconds, though I think on the day of lap testing their stopwatch broke. Since Hennessey wasn’t able to provide us with a 0-62mph time, though I’m speculating it to be around the 2-second mark regions.
More impressively is both the chassis and body are made entirely out of carbon-fibre, and a first for Hennessey is the implementation of active aerodynamics that is paired with the body. Along with a 7-speed single clutch semi-automatic transmission with paddle shifters used to propel the rear wheels, along with an optional 6-speed manual transmission available. Means that this would be one difficult beast to tame, and costing in at approximately 1.2 million pounds means that the Venom F5 is much cheaper compared to its current competitors. Though it isn’t until 2019 that we’ll see the Venom go into production with only 24 being built.
The Competition
With pressure from Bugatti and Devel being put against the Venom F5, it is the launch of yet another speed war. The Bugatti Chiron already has proven its worth to the world with the possibility of achieving a top speed of over 300mph, though the problem is that all of the competition has an estimated top speed. Though we won’t know for certain what the actual top speed is until these doomsday machines are put through their paces, however, a more pressing threat is the Devel Sixteen. With an astonishing 5,000bhp and an ungodly top speed estimated to be over 310 mph and even onto a potential top speed of 348 mph.
It’s amazing how the advancement in automotive engineering has excelled over the past century, with hypercars able to achieve unimaginable top speeds. Although as I previously stated we may have the potential capacity and the knowledge to excel into unknown territory, though we are still limited by the number of resources that we have available at our disposal to achieve such an incredible feat. The dilemma here is referring to the tyres, the advancement in tyre technology has been unbelievable. But there will come a time to which we will reach a peak point of the technological and engineering iceberg. Therefore we will need to look further into other potential and viable ideas that could replace the tyre itself in the future, to allow for the entity of the car to further progress ahead into the future.
Bleeding Edge Digital 