Developing a road-going car to hit more than 500 kilometers per hour isn’t an easy job. Hennessey is gunning for 310 miles per hour in the F5 hypercar, and in addition to cutting-edge aerodynamics and loads of grunt, you also need structural rigidity.
In regards to the latter, the chassis of the F5 sports a torsional rigidity of 52,000 newton-meters per degree while tipping the scales at 86 kilograms (190 pounds). In other words, a tuning shop from Texas offers 2,000 more newton-meters per degree than the Bugatti Chiron, the pinnacle of road-going cars from the Volkswagen Group.
“Our all-new carbon-fiber chassis is an engineering marvel,” said John Hennessey. “It’s like a piece of automotive jewelry that’s built to run 500-plus km/h,” and if you were wondering, a jetliner like the Boeing 747 takes off at anything between 240 and 285 clicks.
It’s been revealed that the first three examples of 24 are currently being built. Testing is scheduled to start in the second quarter of the year, and the most affordable F5 retails at $1.8 million. No more than 12 units will be sold in the United States and the rest are meant for international markets. According to Hennessey, U.S. allocations of the 1,817-horsepower and 1,193-lb.ft. hypercar are almost sold out.
The suck-squeeze-bang-blow comes courtesy of a twin-turbo V8 with a billet-aluminum block, steel cylinder sleeves, ball-bearing chargers, and 24 psi of boost. The 6.6-liter Fury engine also features 3D-printed titanium compressor housings, and if you’re feeling brave, the tachometer’s needle can be pushed all the way up to 8,000 revolutions per minute.
What’s even more surprising about the F5 is that Hennessey will offer two transmission choices. The most performance-oriented option is the semi-automatic box with a single clutch, a seven-speeder designed for blistering shifts. Purists, on the other hand, are offered a six-speeder and three pedals to row their own gears for maximum driving pleasure.
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
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News