Hennessey Venom F5 - the king is dead, long live the king!
Hennessey Performance Engineering is a Texas tuning company that since 1991 has been turning strong men like the Dodge Viper, Challenger or Chevrolet Corvette and Camaro, as well as the Ford Mustang, into more than 1000-horsepower monsters. But the dream of the founder of the company, John Hennessy, was to create his own car. In 2010 he was successful. Now it's time for a second try.
Already submitted 7 years ago Venom GT he was definitely above average. The car was based on the Lotus Exige, which was almost completely modified for the project. At its heart was a 7-liter LS-series V8 engine from the General Motors stable, which was equipped with two turbochargers, thanks to which it developed an output of 1261 hp. and a torque of 1566 Nm. Combined with the low weight of 1244 kg, the car's performance was more than impressive. The sprint from 0 to 100 km / h took 2,7 seconds, to 160 km / h in just 5,6 seconds, and to 300 km / h in just 13,63 seconds - a Guinness world record. The maximum speed achieved during the tests was 435,31 km/h, which is more than the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport (430,98 km/h). At the request of Steven Tyler, vocalist of the band Aerosmith, a roofless version called the Venom GT Spyder was also created, which weighed 1258 kg and which at the end of production was increased to 1451 hp and torque to 1745 Nm. . This allowed the car to reach a top speed of 427,44 km/h, thereby dethroning the roofless Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse (408,77 km/h). But that's all in the past because it's happening now Venom F5which makes the Bugatti Chiron, Koenigsegg Agera RS, or even the Venom GT just pale.
Where did the name F5 come from?
Let's start from the very beginning, that is, with the name F5, which does not come from the pitch in music or from the function key on the computer keyboard. The F5 designation describes the highest level of tornado intensity on the Fujita scale, reaching speeds of 261 to 318 miles per hour (419 to 512 km/h). What does this have to do with the car? And such that its maximum speed was over 300 miles per hour (more than 482 km / h), which will be an absolute record. As he himself said John Hennessy in an interview with the Autoblog service, the impulse to create a new car was his friends, who suggested that he prepare a completely new supercar, which, of course, did not take long to convince him of.
The idea was to create a car that would perform well both on the road and on the track. However, as John Hennessy said, he did not intend to create a car that would break the Nurburgring record - enough if Venom F5 "Come down" in 7 minutes and become a member of an elite club. Interestingly, the design team had a lot of leeway from the start, as John Hennessy only set two hard conditions.
The first was the appearance of the body, which was supposed to suggest a fast animal, such as a peregrine falcon, which inspired the designer, whose personal details John Hennessy does not want to disclose. In addition, the body was supposed to express at first glance the ability of the car to reach exorbitant speeds. The headlights also had to be unique, as John Hennessy believes that they are the same for a car as the eyes are for a person - they define it, expressing its character and personality. This led to the choice of LED headlights with an F motif that echoes the car's name.
The second condition was the presence of a drag coefficient below 0.40 Cd - for comparison, the Venom GT had 0.44 Cd, and the Bugatti Chiron had 0.38 Cd. The result that was obtained in the case Venom F5is 0.33 cd. Interestingly, the lowest value the stylists got was 0.31 Cd, but according to John Hennessy it suffered from a look that was quite bizarre. The importance of aerodynamics in such a car is best illustrated by a comparison with the Venom GT, which - to balance the force of air resistance and accelerate to a speed of 482 km / h - would need an engine not with 1500 or 2000, but as much as 2500 hp.
Unlike Venom GT, the new model has a completely new design. According to John Hennessy, it was completely designed from scratch in his company, from floor to roof, including the power unit. The main "brick" of the car is carbon fiber, from which the supporting structure and the body fixed to it are made, due to which the weight of the car is only 1338 kg. As the Venom F5 is still being dabbled in before production, its interior is still waiting to be unveiled. However, it is already known that the finish will be much more luxurious than in the case of the Venom GT. According to the announcement, it will be trimmed with a combination of leather, Alcantara and carbon fiber. Quite unusual in a car of this class, the interior will be spacious. According to John Hennessy, it should easily accommodate a 2-meter American football player - by the way, one of the first owners of the Venom F5 will be just such a growing player. It has not yet been decided how to get into the cockpit - there are doors that open up, resembling the wings of a seagull or a butterfly.
8 V7.4 engine
Let's move on to the "heart" of this automotive "venom". This is a 8-liter aluminum V7.4, supported by two turbochargers, that produces 1622 hp. and 1762 Nm of torque. John Hennessy, however, does not rule out using more turbochargers, although he said in an interview with Top Gear magazine that they could unnecessarily add weight to the car. In any case, the final parameters of the engine have not yet been approved, as they will partly depend on the needs of the customer. One may ask why a hybrid drive was not used? Because, as a set of four turbochargers, it would be too heavy. This is also the result of John Hennessy's traditional approach to car design, which speaks for itself:
“I am a purist. I like simple and functional solutions.”
However, let's dwell on the topic of transmission a little more. The engine is paired with a 7-speed single-clutch automatic transmission that drives the rear wheels. A manual transmission can be ordered as an option, but John Hennessy says that in this configuration, the driver will have to contend with the GPS-based traction control system up to 225 km/h.
What is the Venom F5 really capable of?
When "Vmax" is activated, the front air intakes are closed with shutters and the rear spoiler is lowered. All this in order to reduce air resistance and allow the car to reach maximum speed. However, it gets interesting earlier. “Sprint” from 0 to 100 km/h? With such potential power and performance, no one even bothers about it and gives out values from “slightly” higher ceilings. And so the value of 300 km/h from standstill appears on the counter after 10 seconds, which is faster than in a Formula 1 car, so that in less than 20 seconds the driver can enjoy a trip at a speed of 400 km/h. What does the competition look like against this background? Poor thing… Koenigsegg Agera RS needs 24 seconds to “catch up” to 400 km/h, and Bugatti Chiron – 32,6 seconds. For comparison, Venom GT showed a time of 23,6 seconds.
Interestingly, despite such powerful acceleration and braking - which is responsible for a set of ceramic brake discs - the company is not particularly interested in the "war" in the competition called "0-400-0 km / h", which is fought by opponents. John Hennessy mentioned this when giving them a "flick on the nose":
"I think the guys from Bugatti and Koenigsegg chose this race because they couldn't beat our top speed."
However, for reference, it is worth noting that the time it takes the Venom F5 to accelerate from 0 to 400 km/h and decelerate to 0 km/h is less than 30 seconds. And here again, competitors have nothing to brag about, because the Agra RS travels 33,29 seconds, and the Chiron even more, because 41,96 seconds.
What tires will the Venom F5 have?
When describing the Venom F5, it is worth considering the topic of its tires. This is the well-known Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 that the Bugatti Chiron also has. And here an important question arises - the weight of the car. Bugatti has already said it won't try to top speed the Chiron until late next year. Cause? Officially unknown, but unofficially, tires are said to be incapable of transmitting the forces generated at such high speeds - while Bugatti is probably waiting for the development of new tires. This is probably the reason why the Chiron's top speed is electronically limited to 420 km/h, although theoretically the car can reach 463 km/h.
So why did Hennessey choose these tires and is going to break the speed record on them? Because the weight of the car is crucial here, and the Chiron is almost 50% heavier than the Venom F5 - it weighs 1996 kg. That is why John Hennessy is convinced that Michelin tires are enough for his car:
“Tires are the limiting factor for Bugatti. However, I don't think they are for us. When we made the calculations, it turned out that we do not overload them. We don't even come close to their maximum load at our speeds."
According to calculations, tires should withstand speeds of 450 km / h or even 480 km / h without any problems. Hennessy, however, does not rule out developing special Venom F5 tires with Michelin or another interested company if it turns out that the current tires are not durable enough.
Only 24 copies
Orders for the Venom F5 can be placed today, but the first units won't ship until 2019 or 2020. A total of 24 vehicles will be built, each at a minimum price of $1,6 million... The minimum, since choosing all options for additional equipment raises the price by another 600 2,2. dollars, or up to $2,8 million in total. Expensive? Yes, but compared to, for example, the Bugatti Chiron, whose list price starts at $5 million, this is the real deal. However, the willingness to place an order and your bank balance are not enough to become the owner of the Venom F24, because in the end you will have to count on the favor of John Hennessy himself, who will personally select the lucky winner from among all those who apply.
Unsurpassed
How to describe Venom F5 in a nutshell? Perhaps his "father" John Hennessy did it best of all:
“We designed the F5 to be timeless, so even after 25 years, its performance and design are still unsurpassed.”
Will it really be so? Time will tell, but holding on to this “crown” can be tricky. Firstly, the Venom F5 should have been something like the legendary McLaren F1, and secondly ... the competition is on the rise. No matter what, I keep my fingers crossed for this John Hennessy dream to come true. In addition, the more such dreamers, the more emotions we, car freaks, have ...
