The war for the fastest production vehicle is still going strong and one of the contestants, Hennessey Performance, teased an upcoming record run with the Venom F5.
With its posts on Facebook and Instagram, Hennessey Performance remembered the Venom GT which exactly eight years ago achieved a one-way speed of 270.4 mph (435 km/h) at the Kennedy Space Center. While other cars have gone faster than this since then, the Venom GT remains the fastest car with a manual transmission with Hennessey asking: “Could history repeat itself?”
The new goal for the US-based company is to break the 311 mph (500 km/h) barrier with their new Hennessey Venom F5. This would make it faster than the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ prototype that reached 304.773 mph (490.484 km/h) in the VW Group’s Ehra-Lessien track back in 2019.
See Also: Watch The Hennessey Venom F5 Unleash 1,817 Horsepower And Go Over 250 MPH
The Venom F5 is fitted with a twin-turbocharged 6.6 liter V8 producing 1,817 hp (1,355 kW / 1,842 PS) and 1,193 lb-ft (1,617 Nm) of torque. Power is transmitted to the rear axle through a seven-speed semi-automatic gearbox allowing an advertised 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) acceleration in under three seconds and a 0-124 mph (0-200 km/h) sprint in under five seconds.
While those numbers are very impressive, we should note that in order to be eligible for the fastest production car title, Hennessey must repeat the record speed run in both ways, with the average speed being the one that counts. Currently, the speed record belongs to the SSC Tuatara with a two-way average of 282.9 mph (455.3 km/h) in 2021 despite some technical issues, although SSC still wants to surpass 300 mph (482 km/h) after the controversy that sparked around their first attempt.
Besides the Hennessey Venom F5 and the SSC Tuatara, another serious contestant for the record is the Koenigsegg Jesko Absolute which has not been tested yet but shows great potential. Bugatti on the other hand has made it clear that it won’t be chasing top speed records in the future, stepping out of the game.
