In the midst of all those HPE power upgrades, it’s hard to forget that Hennessey is still gunning for the world speed record with the Venom F5 hypercar. After all, as you all know, the F5’s purpose is to top what Hennessey pulled off with the 270.49-mph, Lotus Elise/Exige-based Venom GT.

Well, fellas, what you’re about to read is a shocking wake up call that Hennessey just used to turn our attention from its obnoxious tuning jobs to its future speed record attempt. And yes, it has to do with the F5’s gargantuan engine.

Everything you need to know about the new Hennessey Fury V-8

Back in 2018, Road&Track reported that the engine set to power the Hennessey Venom F5 would pack 1,600 horsepower. Crikey. The engine is based on the LS V-8 architecture we all know and love, but the similarities end here. What you’re looking at is basically what Hulk represents to Bruce Banner.

There’s a good reason why we made that particular comparison. The standard engine, on its road to becoming what Hennessey calls “Fury,” was slapped with two giant turbos with 3D-printed titanium compressor housings. The engine displaces 6.6 liters and makes use of a unique intake manifold that has the intercooler mounted between the plenum and the cylinder heads.

Hennessey says that this arrangement greatly reduces the temperature of the hot air coming from the turbos, which makes it denser, with visible improvements in efficiency. In fact, the tuner proudly boasts that “we exceeded our target horsepower number.”

As far as the hip-shattering torque is concerned, you’ll want to know that over 1,000 pound-feet of it is unlocked in the 2,000 to 8,000 rpm interval. The full plate of horses is unleashed at 8,000 rpm, while the engine redlines at 8,200 rpm. Oh, and the turbochargers generate up to 23 psi worth of boost. Based on these numbers, Hennessey promised that the Venom F5 will be able to launch itself from 0 to 186 miles per hour in under 10 seconds and go flat-out past the 300 miles per hour mark. The projected weight of less than 3,000 pounds will also lend a hand to that purpose.

It was also back in 2018 when John Hennessey let the press know that 15 out of the 25 Venom F5s scheduled for production have been spoken for. In case your memory isn’t working with you on this one, remember that Hennessey is asking $1.6 million for its hypercar, with customers getting $600,000 worth of optional features to choose from on top of the starting sticker.

The 7-liter engine was assisted by two turbos but redlined at 7,200 rpm. Now, since the new engine was downsized slightly to 6.6 liters, we expect it to be lighter than its predecessor, which could make the sub-3,000-pound target work, especially since the Venom GT tipped the scales at 2,743 pounds and the F5 has just 38 pound-feet of torque more than its predecessor.

For reference, the Hennessey Venom GT could run from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 2.7 seconds. The 0-100 miles per hour sprint took 5.6 seconds, while the 0-200 dash took 14.51 seconds to completion, with top speed being 270.49 miles per hour. The Venom GT would also light up the 1/4 mile in 9.92 seconds at 163 miles per hour.

Hennessey Venom GT vs Hennessey Venom F5 - By The Numbers

Model

Venom GT

Venom F5

Engine

7-liter V-8

6.6-liter V-8

Redline

7,200 rpm

8,200 rpm

Power

1,244 hp

1,817 hp

Torque

1,155 lb-ft

1,193 lb-ft

Weight

2,743 lb

<3,000 lb


Further reading

Read our full review on the 2019 Hennessey Venom F5.

Read our full review on the 2016 Hennessey Venom GT.