Hennessey Performance Engineering is well-known in the industry for producing some of the most badass pickup trucks of them all, including a 6x6 version of the Ford F-150 Raptor R. Mat Watson of carwow recently had the opportunity to race the six-wheeled behemoth against a four-wheeled Venom 775, which is based on the F-150 with the Coyote V8 rather than the Raptor R's Predator V8.
Ford claims 700 horsepower and 640 pound-feet (868 Nm) for the 2023 model year F-150 Raptor R, whereas the 2024 model turned up the wick to 720 ponies. By comparison, the 'Yote still makes 400 horsepower and 410 pound-feet (556 Nm) because the F-150 hasn't upgraded to the dual-throttle-body Coyote of the 2024 Mustang GT and Dark Horse.
Regarding the VelociRaptor 6x6 Raptor R and Venom 775 F-150, care to guess which one has the upper hand on paper? That would be the Venom, which – as 775 implies – belts out 775 horsepower and 685 pound-feet (929 Nm) thanks to a Whipple-supplied blower, new ECU map, better induction, better cooling, better fueling, and a better exhaust.
The six-wheeled leviathan is fully stock under the hood, which means that it's ultimately going to lose against the Venom in a drag race. In addition to being underpowered – compared to the Venom, that is – the VelociRaptor happens to be much, much heavier at 7,716 pounds (3,500 kilograms) versus 4,822 pounds (2,187 kilograms) for the more affordable pickup.
Ex-McLaren Automotive test driver Sam Maher-Loughnan, who is a regular at carwow, claims that the Venom 775 is $64,000 plus the price of the donor truck. Back in October 2023, the Texas-based tuner advertised the limited-run Venom 775 at $59,950. Only 250 units will be produced for the 2023 model year. Mat Watson claims that $450,000 is the base price of the VelociRaptor 6x6 Raptor R, although Hennessey advertised it at $499,999 in April 2023.
Photo: carwow on YouTube
In any case, you need a fat account balance before inquiring about Hennessey Performance Engineering's upgrade packages. Pictured at HPE's Pennzoil Proving Ground, the full-size trucks clock 13 seconds in the standing quarter mile. That's 13.6 for the Venom and 13.8 for the VelociRaptor 6x6.
Mat and Sam also raced from a roll. Twice in a row, the Venom asserts dominance over the far more exotic and imposing six-wheel-drive colossus. The only area where the VelociRaptor 6x6 Raptor R manages to shine brighter than its brother is emergency braking performance, with Mat braking from 70 miles per hour (112 kilometers per hour) to a halt a few feet sooner than Sam in the Venom.
In addition to the F-150, the folks at Hennessey Performance Engineering also work their magic on the S550-generation Mustang GT, Mach 1, and Shelby GT500, the S650-gen Mustang Dark Horse, the Ranger Raptor R, Bronco, and – of course – the Bronco Raptor. The latest addition to the roster is the Venom 775, whereas the VelociRaptor 6x6 Raptor R thundered into production in November 2023.
The tuner's most powerful upgrade packages for Ford vehicles are the 1,200-horsepower Shelby GT500 Venom 1200 and the VelociRaptor 1000, which takes the F-150 Raptor R to a ridiculous 1,000 horsepower. Be that as it may, neither can compete against the 1,817-horsepower Hennessey Venom F5 supercar.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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