[Cali_Fan]

only10 to be made, 200 mph $600k

http://www.auto-power-girl.com/cars-news/2010/03/29/hennessey/4085/hennessey_venom_gt.html

[allanuber]

pfwooar.

[dkabab]

i just jizzed in my pants!!!!!!

btw.... hope they stretch the chassis.... otherwise it will do really good donuts

[futurism]

it is stretched I believe
Im struggling to believe the position of the exhaust will be legal, although it shows it with a UK plate on it

[allanuber]

Exhaust is a bit high, but they might be able to work something out ... I spent quite a bit of time looking up Pete's clacker on the weekend and the Scud exhausts have crept up the tail with each iteration.

[jim501]

Zonda's are high, so are the new Mclaren's from memory. Mind you those are probably very low cars to start with. I've never actually heard what the ADR requirement is for exhausts?

[mondi]

i just jizzed in my pants!!!!!!

LOL!!!!




Twice!!!!!

[ferrarifixer]

you guys are suckers... didn't you realise it's just an april fool joke early.....

the REAL major breaking story is this....


 
http://www.auto-power-girl.com/cars-news/2009/11/04/hennessey/3428/500_hp_hyundai_genesis_coupe_by_hennessey_coming_to_sema_show.html

[dkabab]

you cant have an april fools joke 3 days early... it doesnt make sense

[AshSimmonds]

http://www.hennesseyperformance.com/venomdupont.html

unCOVERed: Hennessey 2011 Venom GT

1,200 HP + 2686 LBS = 267 MPH

Hennessey Venom GT in duPont Registry

By: Patrick C. Paternie

The Venom GT may bear some outward resemblance to the Lotus Elise, albeit on steroids, but don’t let that fool you. It may not look like the hulking mega horsepower muscle cars that one expects to see rumbling out the doors of Hennessey Performance’s Texas garage, but this Brit-built car still identifies with heavyweight boxing gloves rather than string-back driving gloves.

It’s more than the outward appearance that differs from past Hennessey vehicles. John Hennessey proudly explains a new weight shaving philosophy guided the three years of engineering development that admittedly uses some Lotus sourced bits but features a vastly different chassis and suspension.

Hennessey’s opening shot with production Venom GT serial #01 recently rolled out of the Silverstone, England production facilities headed for its excited new owner in the Middle East with a twin turbo LS-series Chevrolet V8 sitting amidships that pumps out 1200 horsepower and 1135 lb-ft of torque. A Ricardo 6-speed manual transaxle (as used in the Ford GT) puts the power to the rear wheels. Weighing in at 2685 pounds gassed up and ready to go, the Venom GT can propel itself from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in under 2.7 seconds. In 14.9 seconds it will streak past 187 mph (300km/h) on its way to hit 267 mph in sixth gear at 6600 rpm. That, by the way, is well shy of the engines 7200 rpm redline.

Very impressive stats, but do a little math and you will get an even more astonishing number – a power to weight ratio of 2.4 pounds per horsepower. Remember this is a street legal vehicle not a stripped down racer. By comparison Porsche’s latest Weight Watchers track day special, the lightweight 2011 911 GT2 RS justifiably boasts of 620 horsepower and a power to weight ratio of 4.9 lbs/hp.

‘Less’ is certainly not a word you would normally expect to come up in a conversation with a man who specializes four figure horsepower denominations. Hennessey Performance catalogs an 1,100-horsepower twin-turbo Viper that was top dog in a highly publicized super car shootout by launching from 0 to 200 mph in 20.3 seconds leaving Bugatti Veyron 16.4 gasping in its wake almost four seconds behind.

It was during that record breaking assault on the 200 mph mark that Hennessey experienced the epiphany that led him to shift his angle at the top speed barrier for a street driven performance car from horsepower to weight.

“Less is more,” exclaims Hennessey. “I was thinking a few weeks after that event that we can always add more power, but what is holding us back is the weight of the car. The Viper weighs about 3600 pounds.”

Hennessey has built race cars with engines producing 1200-1500 horsepower, but to make that kind of power requires 100 and higher octane racing gasoline. He wants to build something that would run on what he calls ‘pump gas’ – the 93 octane premium available at most service stations.

Using turbochargers to boost power allows Hennessey to lower the compression ratio for the compatibility with pump gas. Horsepower wasn’t the issue as much as how much weight these horses had to shove around.

“Something around 3200 pounds was a possibility but the lotus kept popping into my brain. This gave us 2600 versus 3200 pounds.”

Hennessey Venom GT in duPont Registry The Venom GT is based on a Lotus Elise but only the windshield, doors, roof, dash, and various trim pieces are carried over. Hennessey cites the cost factor, in time and dollars, of reinventing parts that contribute little if anything to its performance. The biggest savings came from using the Lotus cockpit structure, which has already been certified and crash tested.

“You can spend as much money designing the dash and panels as we did on the car,” he explains.

The money he did spend was more wisely spent on an all-new front and rear space frame and suspension and the aerodynamic carbon fiber body that covers it all. The Hennessey Venom GT is noticeably larger (nearly three feet longer and almost six inched wider) and obviously more aggressive looking than the Elise. Aerodynamic enhancements included a front splitter and a lower rear diffuser panel to create road hugging down force. The moveable rear wing, when fully deployed generates almost 1500 lbs of down force at 150 mph to keep the rear end firmly planted.

Even more impressive than the carbon-fiber body work is what lies beneath it. The wheelbase has been stretched nearly 20 inches for better balance and to accommodate the Hennessey Twin Turbo V8. The totally new suspension incorporates an increase in track width – almost seven inches up front and six inches in the rear. Dampers are KW Variant 3 adjustable coil-over units.

Tires are Michelin PS2 performance radials sized at 235/30/20 and 335/30/20 front to rear and wrapped around 20-inch wheels 8.5 and 12.5 inches wide respectively. Brembo brakes with 6-piston calipers and 15-inch carbon ceramic rotors reside at all four corners for light weight and maximum stopping power.

Engine choices range from a base 725 horsepower supercharged LS9 V8 as well as 1000 and 1200 horsepower variants.

The Venom GT is manufactured in Silverstone, England with engines supplied by HPE’s Texas headquarters. Prices start at $725,000. Only ten vehicles will be produced annually. The last time a Texan stuffed an American V8 inside a British sports car the results made high performance history.

History could repeat as John Hennessey warns he has only begun to fully explore the capabilities of the Venom GT.