Back in the 60s, automotive racing history was about to change when Henry Ford II decided that it was time for America to be well-represented at the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. The European domination, most notably that of Ferrari, gave Ford the motivation to built an American race car that could take the fight to the Italian Prancing Horse. And so, the Ford GT project was born and at the 1966 Le Mans race, Ford did the unthinkable, scoring a 1-2-3 finish at Le Mans and setting off a three-year run when the American automaker reigned supreme at the 24-hour endurance race.
Fast forward to 2005 and the production version of the Ford GT - limited as they were - was born under the guise of being the company’s "Centennial Supercar". This, of course, leads us to this year and the Ford GT still holds acclaim for being the only Ford supercar to be built.
It’s omniscient looks, coupled with its standing as a true American original, has made the Ford GT a tuning favorite, particularly from US-based aftermarket companies. One such company, Hennessey Performance Engineering, recently took the task of building performance programs for the venerable supercar, including one that gives the GT a mouth-watering output of 1,000 horsepower. You’d be hard-pressed to find anything more awesome than that.
UPDATE 03/26/2012: The Ford GT 1000 Twin Turbo just established a standing mile record of 257.7 mph, officially becoming the fastest car at Texas Mile (for cars running on the Chase Field runway in Beeville).
Hennessey attempted to break the standing mile record in 2011 with the Ford GT as well, but fell short at just 235 mph. The first day of the 2012 Texas Mile brought them up to 246.8 mph, but the second day was the true triumph with the 257.7 mph record. The victorious Ford GT by Hennessey is owned by Mark Heidaker and driven by Sean Kennedy.
UPDATE 05/16/2012: Now, the supercar has set a new world record. With Sean Kennedy behind the wheel, the Hennessey GT posted a new standing half-mile record of 219.9mph in the half mile. This impressive result was achieved at the 8,000-foot runway of Ellington Airport, the Houston Half Mile.
The Hennessey Ford GT that established this impressive record was powered by an Accufab Racing V8 engine updated with two Precision Turbochargers for an impressive output of 2000 bhp.
Details on the Ford GT1000 Twin-Turbo by Hennessey after the jump.
The Cadillac CTS-V Sport Wagon is already a car that can get most enthusiasts drooling. Just about all of the boxes can get ticked off instantly with just a quick look. Luxurious leather interior? Check. Enough space to haul the wife, the kids, the dogs, and all of the useless knick-knacks they decided to bring on the family road trip? Check. A 556 HP supercharged, Corvette-sourced V8? Check.
For many enthusiasts, the Caddy wagon is just about all they could ask for in a car. Ludicrously fast, reasonably priced, and practical all at once. What more could they possibly want? Well, as Jeremy Clarkson would say, “MORE POWERRRRRRR!”
That’s right, folks. In true tuner fashion, Hennessey Performance near Houston, Texas decided that the CTS-V Sport Wagon needed just a tad more power.
More details on the Hennessey Cadillac CTS-V650 Sport Wagon after the jump.
UPDATE 05/07/2011: Here’s another tasty treat from the guys over at Hennessey. Their latest video for the CTS-V650 shows the Cadillac doing a few burnouts at Lonestar Motorsports Park. You may want to pump up the volume for this one.
Hennessey has been laying out packages left and right for a variety of models lately, including the Dodge Ram HPE500, Cadillac Escalade, and now, the lusciously tuned Nissan GT-R. There was no time wasted fiddling with the exterior of the GTR because Hennessey went straight to work pumping up the standard 3.8L V6 engine to produce up to 800 HP.
We haven’t seen this many additions under the hood of a vehicle since the last Hennessey tuned project we encountered, so we’re going to focus on some of the more important ones for now. The standard 3.8L V6 engine was jacked up with the help of SUMO turbo, intercooler piping, and intercooler core upgrades, as well as high-flow fuel injectors and chassis dyno tuning and engine calibration. Other additions include a SUMO stainless steel midpipe exhaust, SUMO stainless steel turbo downpipes, and a SUMO high-flow cold air induction. These modifications allow the GTR800 to pack an 813 HP punch and sprint the car from 0-60 mph in 2.6 seconds. The 0-100 mph sprint is made in 6.2 seconds and the quarter mile can be had for 10.5 seconds at a speed of 136 mph.
If that’s not enough for your average consumer, then Hennessey is equipped with several different options, including a transmission clutch pack upgrade, a SUMO electronic exhaust cutout (75 mm), a KW variant 3 adjustable coilover suspension upgrade, premium wheel and tire packages, and carbon fiber body kits and accessories. Oh, and they’ll also throw in Hennessey and GTR800 exterior badges and serial numbered dash and engine plaques for good measure.
Hit the jump for specifications on Hennessey’s Nissan GTR projects.
Hennessey isn’t just about creating uber-sexy vehicles like the Venom GT. In fact, a lot of their projects entail tuning up existing models and then slapping on an HPE title coupled with the appropriate horsepower number. The latest vehicle to be blessed with the alphanumeric title is the 2009-2011 Dodge Ram and its new HPE500 designation.
The Ram HPE500 is powered by a 5.7L Hemi that has been geeked up with a TVS2300 Supercharger System and an HPE Air Induction System to help cool the beast down. This setup can produce 505 HP at 5,400rpm when fueled with 93 Octane. Broken down, it gives the driver 422 HP at the rear wheels with a 20% boost providing the 505 HP at the engine. For comparison’s sake, the Ram SRT10 powered by the Viper’s V10 engine gets 410 HP at the rear wheels and 505 HP at the engine. The deep rumble of the truck’s new inner workings can be heard flowing out of the new stainless steel cat-back exhaust system.
If the engine upgrade isn’t enough to convince anyone of Hennessey’s involvement then the company’s badges found on the exterior of the car, as well as the floormats and the embroidered headrests will give onlookers the confirmation they need that this monster was tuned by the killer team at Hennessey.
Pricing for the installed kit is $12,950, but for those do-it-yourselfers out there, you can get the kit mailed to you for $10,950. A less involved HPE425 kit is also available for $6,950 (installed) and $4,950 (mailed kit).
Hit the jump for the full list of specifications for the Ram HPE500 and HPE 425 by Hennessey.
On paper, a race against a Japanese buzzsaw called the Cadillac Escalade SUV and the ’Godzilla’ Nissan GT-R, doesn’t seem like a fair fight, especially when you consider that the ’fight’ is actually a 0-60 mph test to see which vehicle can hit the mark first. On one end, you have the Japanese buzzsaw called the Nissan GT-R, a car that has earned the nickname, ’Godzilla’. Can a three-ton SUV whose hulking mass is enough to drag itself down compete against the faster GT-R? Hennessey has made sure of it.
This mismatch was given a fair shake by the folks over at Hennessey, which gave the Escalade an HPE1000 performance upgrade, getting the 6,000lb SUV’s 6.2L engine a total of 1008bhp at 5,900rpm and 967 lb-ft of torque at 3,700 rpm. This was done with a forged & balanced 427 cid LSX engine, high flow cylinder heads, a Hennessey HPE1000 camshaft, an intake manifold upgrade, upgraded fuel injectors, an upgraded fuel system (pump, lines, and Rails), twin ball bearing turbochargers, and much more.
With the playing field somewhat leveled, the two protagonists took to an isolated country road to find out which vehicle can smoke the other. To our surprise, the Escalade, which is more than twice as heavy as the GT-R, managed to outpace the Japanese supercar by the slimmest of margins - one-tenth of a second - with a time of 3.3 seconds compared to Godzilla’s 3.4-second time.
While we’re not totally blown away by the result considering the ’assistance’ the Escalade got from Hennessey, the mere fact that a mammoth of an SUV can actually outpace a powerful Japanese rocket really got us thinking just how dementedly brilliant the people over at Hennessey are.
Check out the video to watch the proceedings and hit the jump to see the full specifications for the Cadillac Escalade by Hennessey.
John Hennessey is no stranger to the world of auto tuning. After all, he does have a company that’s considered as one of the best in the business. The company, Hennessey Performance Engineering is so good at what it does that it was actually able to build it’s own supercar based on the Lotus Elise: the Venom GT. Not a lot of tuners can stake the same claim, too.
In this particular video, John Hennessey is sitting behind the wheel of another one of his company’s creations, the 2011 Hennessey ZR750 Corvette. Based on the Corvette ZR1, the ZR750 was born from a special tuning kit the aftermarket company gave to the ZR1, one that nets the American sports car an improved engine output of 755 horsepower, an increase from the standard model’s 638 horsepower output. The increased power of the Hennessey ZR750 also translates to improved lap times, including a 0-60 mph time of just 2.8 seconds compared to the standard ZR1’s time of 3.4 seconds.
Hit the jump to watch John Hennessey test driving the car.
When Chevrolet officially introduced the Camaro Convertible to the public late last year, there seemed to be no denying the fact that as soon as the car went on sale, aftermarket companies would dive at the chance to become the first ones to release a tuning package for the Camaro Convertible.
Well, you can now take that race off the board after Hennessey Performance unveiled their new performance package for the Camaro Convertible SS called the ’HPE600’.
Truth be told, the ’HPE600’ isn’t exactly a new Hennessey product as the American aftermarket company already used it on the 2011 Chevrolet Camaro. The result for both cars was pretty much dead on, with both having a modified output of somewhere north of 600 horsepower.
While some people might scoff at the notion of Hennessey being the first tuner to release a modified Camaro Convertible, the truth of the matter is that its irrelevant and inconsequential in the greater scheme of things. If for nothing else, the HPE600 for the Camaro Convertible just might become the measuring stick as to how other aftermarket companies will approach their tuning work for the Camaro SS.
Details on the Chevrolet Camaro Convertible ’HPE600’after the jump.
Hennessey Performance announced that a new tuning package will be offered for all the 2008-2011 Chevrolet Corvette models, including the Grand Sport versions. Thanks to a new supercharger system, the Hennessey Corvettes will deliver anywhere from 600 to 1000 HP, depending on customer’s wishes.
The most powerful version in the line-up is the HPE1000. It delivers an impressive 1000 HP at 6,300 rpm and includes: forged 427 cid LSX Engine, Hennessey HPE1000 Camshaft, high flow cylinder heads, ARP Main Studs & Head Bolts, FAST LSX intake manifold, fuel injector upgrade, fuel system ipgrade, twin ball bearing turbochargers, electronic boost controller, HPE stainless steel turbo manifolds and stainless steel Cat-Back exhaust among others.
While for the HPE1000 package Hennessey announced no performance numbers, the HPE600 will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 3,4 seconds and will run the quarter mile in 11.4 seconds at 126 mph.
Watch 2011 Corvette Grand Sport Supercharged HPE600 in action after the jump.
When it comes to the Hennessey Venom GT people have heard a lot, read a lot, and seen lots of images, but there are only a few people around the world who will actually have the chance to see or even drive it. Jay Leno, of course, is one of those people that will have the pleasure of being in the Venom GT’s presence.
In the latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage, the star was able to get comfy cozy with none other than the Venom GT. Accompanying the sports car to Leno’s stage was Joan Hennessey, who tries to explain the technology behind this amazing car, and the decision to base it on a Lotus Elite and not on a Dodge Viper as most of us expected. Of course, Jay Leno couldn’t resist the temptation to show everyone what the car is capable of on the track, a place that seems to be the perfect place for a car like Venom.
Hennessey has already created what was once the fastest Nissan GT-R in the world, but not everyone can handle 800 kicking horses in one sports car. So, for those with not enough gusto to handle the beast, but who are not satisfied with the tame 473 HP found in the standard GT-R, Hennessey has a package for you. It is called the GTR650, and the name pretty much says it all.
Thanks to a new stainless steel mid pipe exhaust, a new induction system, a modified boost controller, and new intercoolers, the 3.8 liter twin-turbo V6 engine delivers an impressive 662 HP at 6,500 rpm and a peak torque of 638 lb-ft Torque at 4,100 rpm. Unfortunately, there was no mention as to how this boost affected the performance of the sports car, but we are going to state the obvious when we say it will probably be faster than the standard, but slower than the 800hp modded GT-R. Next to the engine upgrade, Hennessey is also offering a transmission clutch pack upgrade.
In order to handle this amount of power, the GTR650 package needed to include new, improved suspensions and new sport brakes. A few different carbon fiber aerodynamic components, a new set of wheels, and performance tires were also added to complete the look and feel of the Nissan GT-R.
