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The 301-MPH Hennessey Venom F5 Is America’s Ultimate Hypercar

Faster from zero to 186 mph than a Formula 1 car. A top speed that puts the Bugatti Chiron, Koenigsegg Regera, and every other hypercar currently in production to shame. Built in Texas and all-American at heart, the all-new Hennessey Venom F5 isn’t your usual hypercar.
2018 Hennessey Venom F5 hypercar 22 photos
Photo: Hennessey
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First, the 301-mph top speed is mind-boggling by all accounts, more so when you bear in mind the $1.6 million Venom F5 is entitled to wear license plates. Converted to 484.4 kilometers per hour, the top speed is just as impressive as the way the Venom GT's successor accelerates to 249 mph (400 km/h) and breaks to naught. As per its maker, the Venom F5 needs less than 30 seconds.

Made from carbon fiber, the twin-turbo V8-powered hypercar tips the scales at 2,950 pounds (1,338 kilograms). Drive is sent exclusively to the rear wheels by a 7-speed single-clutch paddle shift transmission, and the force-fed V8 is rated at more than 1,600 horsepower. Aerodynamics? The Venom F5 has some of those too, boasting a drag coefficient of Cd 0.33 thanks to active aero trickery.

"We've designed F5 to be timeless so that in 25 years it will still have a level of performance and design that will be unmatched," explains John Hennessey, founder and chief executive officer of Hennessey Performance Engineering. Similarly to the almighty Chiron, the F5 is also shod in specially developed Michelin Pilot Cup 2 rubber. But the Hennessey isn’t limited like the Bugatti.

Mr. Hennessey explains that tire technology isn’t a limiting factor for the Venom F5 because the newcomer is far from close to the load specification of the Pilot Cup 2s at high speed. By comparison, the Chiron has a lot of heft to it, with the lightest specification coming in at 4,398 pounds (1,995 kilograms).

Different from the Venom GT in every way imaginable, the Venom F5 was made possible with the help of technical partners Shell and Pennzoil. Hennessey plans to build 24 examples of the breed, which makes the F5 far rarer than the Chiron.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
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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.
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