First Road Test: Hennessey Venom F5 Is the American Hypercar That Delivers Over 1,800 HP From LS-Based V8
Hennessey Venom F5 is a 300-mph hypercar that can make a Bugatti Chiron seem slow. But what is the F5 like on the road?
John Hennessey is the founder and CEO of Hennessey Performance. Both the man and the company are performance vehicle legends. The Hennessey Venom F5 is the crown jewel on top of a legendary career. The F5 is a numbers car of the highest order. Some highlights. Top speed of over 300 mph, curb weight of less than, 3,000 pounds, and 0 to 250 mph in 15.5 seconds. It does this thanks to a couple other big numbers.
Over 1,800 horsepower and nearly 1,200 pound-feet of torque. And this power is not made via new-school, nearly silent electric motors. Oh no. This incredible engine uses a good old LS V8 as the base architecture. So, if anyone tells you the best days of the LS are behind it, you can present this as exhibit A.
Jack Rix from Top Gear recently got the opportunity to drive the Hennessey Venom F5 both on the track and on the street. This impressive video has recently been posted on the Top Gear YouTube channel. Only 24 of these cars will ever be made. They cost over $2 million apiece. And they are all sold out. So, chances are this video is about as close as you will ever get to one. And we can’t think of a better way to spend a few minutes than with the American hypercar.
Launch
Rix wastes no time with the Hennessey Venom F5. First thing he does is put the car in “F5” mode and launch it down the drag strip. Let’s be honest that is the first thing any of us would do if we had access to such an amazing car. And the car did not disappoint. By the end of the run the car hit 150 mph and Rix was sweating like mad from a mix of fear an adrenaline.
That is exactly how a hypercar should make you feel. It is incredibly quick and alive. It is not an anodyne speed machine. This thing is hot, and loud and awesome. You can be forgiven for chanting “USA! USA! USA!” after every drive.
Fury
The internal combustion engine may be facing extinction with EVs knocking on the door. But the F5 might be the ultimate expression of what an ICE car is capable of and why we love them so much. This 6.6-liter V8 makes a peak 1,817 horsepower at 8,000 rpm. Feeding that V8 are a pair of 76 mm Precision turbos that are rated at 1,350 bhp per turbo. The engine has been upgraded throughout with lightweight and strong parts. Everything from the billet aluminum intake manifold with integrated air to water intercooler system to the high-flow 3.5-inch titanium exhaust system has been upgraded. This engine in the Hennessey Venom F5 is appropriately named “Fury.”
On the Road
Building a high-top speed hypercar is one thing. But Hennessey didn’t want to create a one trick pony. The F5 needed to work on the road as well. Rix got the opportunity to see what the F5 was like on the streets around Hennessey headquarters. It might not pamper and coddle like a Bugatti, but everything the F5 does have is high-quality and well put together. “That old myth that Americans don’t know how to screw together a car. It ain’t true in here,” said Rix.
And the ride is naturally firm but not unbearably so. The car is closer to a racer than a limo, but for the occasional weekend jaunt around town it is fine. You could even pickup a burger in the drive thru with it. And then get home before the person behind you in line even gets to the pickup window.
Conclusions
This is why you play the lottery. The Hennessey Venom F5 is amazing, and the best part is that at its heart is an American V8. If you missed the boat on this car, there is some good news. There will be an open top version revealed later this summer. So, you still have some time to hit the jackpot and get yourself a genuine American hypercar.
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