Top Gear Drives the 1,817-HP Hennessey Venom F5, Socks Get Blown Off by the Performance

A truly phenomenal machine, so far the Lone Star State tuner-turned-carmaker hasn’t let anyone outside the company take it out for a spin. Nonetheless, that has recently changed, as Top Gear got up close and personal with it, where else, but in Texas, putting it through its paces on a closed course, and on public roads.

John Hennessey’s pet project has a carbon fiber tub, carbon fiber panels, and more of the lightweight material inside, joined by leather bedecking several parts, including the bucket seats that are quite comfortable for such a ride. It has two screens, a yoke steering wheel that appears to have come straight from a racer, and minimal sound deadening. As a result, the driver is even more connected to the car via the sound, heat, and vibrations.

Bathed in lots of character, and combining everything with truly jaw-dropping performance, the Venom F5 uses a GM-sourced V8, albeit modified to the teeth by Hennessey. The twin-turbo 6.6-liter mill produces 1,817 horsepower at 8,000 rpm, and rockets the car to 62 mph (100 kph) in less than three seconds. That’s the targeted time anyway, alongside the 0 to 124 mph (0-200 kph) in less than 5 seconds, and a maximum speed in excess of 311 mph (500 kph).

All 24 copies of the Hennessey Venom F5 were sold out, each one at well over $2 million, and the example that Top Gear got to enjoy in different environments is actually a customer car. But we’d better let them take it from here, and talk you through some of the hot stuff in what is a first hands-on review of the model.