The Hennessey Venom F5:

Assembled, designed, and built in Sealy, Texas, the Hennessey Venom F5 is a marvel of an automobile, featuring a bespoke proprietary 6.6-litre twin-turbocharged V8 ‘fury’ engine outputting a tremendous 1,817 horsepower, which is almost double that amount of a modern Formula 1 vehicle. This American-made hypercar is capable of reaching a blistering top speed of 271.6mph, reports Oliver Taylor.
 

Unveiled at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, Nevada as the successor to the Venom GT, The Hennessy Venom F5 is the physical manifestation of raw power. The Hennessy Venom F5 utilises the finest in advanced automotive engineering and high performance technology, stretching the boundaries of possibility on four wheels. The ‘F5’ name refers to the highest rating on the Fujita scale which is designated to tornadoes that have attained wind speeds as alarming as 261-318 mph! The car was manufactured by Hennessey Special Vehicles, which is a company that specialises in modifying sports cars from reputable brands including Ford, Dodge, Jeep, Cadillac, Chevrolet and Lincoln. Hennessey has re-engineered more than 18,000 vehicles for performance enthusiasts worldwide, including six-wheeled super trucks, mid-engine super cars, modern muscle cars with 1,000+ hp- and everything in between.
 

Hennessey’s main 36,000 sq. ft. facility is situated on 143 acres, with a showroom, fabrication shop, and 24 bay workshop. The company has even established a private institution called Tuner School, which is the only institution of its kind, dedicated to teaching and training high performance vehicle tuner technicians. Hennessy has its own test track and engineering curriculum for aspiring tuners, along with more than 80 team members and the capability of working on more than 40-50 vehicles at any one time. This could certainly be the main reason why they consistently build superb automobiles that challenge the fastest cars on earth! The Hennessey Venom F5 has an acceleration of 0-60 mph in 2.6-2.7 seconds.
 

Nathan Malinick is the primary designer responsible for crafting the visual identity, functional aerodynamics, styling, surfacing and aesthetic direction for the Venom F5. A graduate of Auburn’s School of Industrial and Graphic Design, Malinick initially designed jets for Embraer and was instrumental in the development of the Embraer Pulse and Embraer Duet. The passion which drives Hennessy’s beautiful visuals is clearly a characteristic of the designer’s strengths, with Nathan Malinick notably excelling in automotive history, where he wrote a thesis paper on the golden era of car design.

There are more than 3,000 bespoke parts and hand-crafted components on the car, with exquisite details right up to the 8 microns ultra-thin, precision-milled aluminium exterior badge (thinner than a strand of hair) simply exuding prestige. The Hennessey Venom F5 is also available to buyers in nine major body paint options and eight interior colour schemes with gloss or satin clear-coat finishes, although there are essentially unlimited possibilities in personalised paint choices, split liveries and personalised graphics when working with Hennessy Special Vehicles division.
 

The Hennessey Venom F5’s sleek body is shaped to minimise drag and maximise downforce, with a 0.39 Cd drag coefficient that was designed for extreme top speeds approaching 300 mph. The exterior design combines minimal sharp lines with smooth flowing surfaces, exuding purpose, determination and drama from every side. The car has front splitters, rear wings, and a distinctive dorsal fin that extends from the roof-mounted air intake, to the trailing edge of the rear deck, providing an eye-catching aesthetic. The vehicle’s striking interior is a minimalist, fighter-jet inspired cockpit aesthetic, with an airplane-style yoke steering wheel that contains key driving functions, and there is a distinct emphasis on digital screens and simple rotary controls. Interior design is lean and elegant, constructed to evoke the spirit of fast aircraft cockpits, while promoting enhanced driver functionality, tactility and visibility.  In addition, the Hennessey Venom F5’s front LED headlight clusters are positioned in an ‘F’ shape while rear horseshoe-shaped tail lights are arranged to form the number ‘5’, as an intentional nod to the name of the vehicle. The taillights surround a hollow centre void which functions as a thermal cooling duct, pulling hot air from the bay of the mid-mounted engine. Air intake is water cooled, with two injectors per cylinder, and three fuel pumps.
 

Carbon-fiber bucket seats are cushioned with leather-clad pads and offer comfortable support at high speeds with premium Alcantara upholstery. The Venom F5’s bodywork is entirely constructed from ultra-lightweight carbon fiber, featuring a monocoque tub providing structural safety and a vehicular dry weight of approximately 1,360Kg. The car also uses an independent double-wishbone suspension system on both the front and rear axles, keeping tire contact patches stabilised at times where extreme braking and high-speed cornering are required. This is coupled with full adjustable motorsport-grade coil-over Penske dampers and direct-mounting braces. The automobile’s shape, wings and vents were painstakingly designed to manage airflow, and without the proper aerodynamics- the vehicle would be dangerous at 300 mph. High performance Brembo carbon-ceramic brake systems with multi-piston callipers are also included, optimised for rigid clamping force, rapid response, and the carbon-ceramic rotors are designed to cope with heavy deceleration loads. Moreover, The Hennessy Venom F5 possesses lightweight forged aluminium alloy wheels with a seven-pair spoke design held by titanium wheel nuts, and Michelin Pilot Cup 2 tires have been rigorously tested to ensure they are capable of withstanding extreme forces and temperatures at high speeds.
 

The Hennessey Venom  F5 utilises a seven-speed automated single-clutch paddle-shift manual transmission in Standard Venom F5 Coupe and Roadster models, while newer models like the Venom F5-M and Revolution LF, feature a six-speed gated manual transmission. The Hennessey Venom F5 also features a number of driving modes which adjust the car’s power output, traction control, throttle response and adaptive suspension. The five distinct modes are Sport, Wet, Drag, Track and F5. Sport is the ‘ordinary’ setting which limits power to approximately 1,200-1,500 hp for your regular escapades on the road. Crank it up to the maximum power output of F5 mode, and prepare to be thrilled as you tear down the road in one of the fastest vehicles in the world! The F5 setting was intended for use only on top-speed runs and on closed straightaways (naturally).
 

The current price to acquire this exclusive automobile ranges between £2,000,000-£2,400,000 ($2,650,000-$3,000,000), depending on the specific variant, whether your choice is for the standard coupe, the open-top Venom F5 Roadster, or the ultra exclusive Hennessey Venom F5-M. Some high profile owners with a taste for excellence in American supercar manufacturing include entrepreneurs Robert Herjavec, Rafa Martinez, and basketball legend Michael Jordan. It is no surprise, as this symbol of American ingenuity represents the finest in performance, engineering and luxury.   EG