Speed records will always be chased. The mantra goes bigger, stronger, lighter and faster. Of course, if you’re building it, you have to test it. Because if tool testing doesn’t back up your claims, they’re just claims. But with great speed comes great risk, especially in the realm of hypercars and supercars. Just ask Hennessey Performance.
The Texas-based manufacturer was conducting 0-to-250-mph tests of a new aerodynamic setup for the Venom F5 hypercar on Monday when things went awry. One social media post, company founder and owner John Hennessey said the Venom F5 prototype was returning strong acceleration numbers when a low power issue caused the test driver to lose control. Hennessey did not release details of the incident other than to thank first responders and workers at the scene and to say the driver walked away “uninjured.”
A new track-focused variant of the standard coupe, the Venom F5 “Revolution” coupe is said to bring more than 800 pounds of downforce at 186 mph and more than 1,400 pounds of downforce at 249 mph. Hennessey didn’t say which Venom F5 model was tested, but the fact that the driver was able to get away with anything close to those downforce figures is a testament to the car’s overall strength and safety. Nevertheless, it was probably a sad experience.
Finding a place to test the car at such high speeds was a challenge in itself. Hennessey Performance usually ends up on the runways. For this particular test, Hennessey’s team was on the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC).
Announced in 2017, the Venom F5 offered 1,600 horsepower at a price of $1.6 million. When the order books finally opened (and closed) in 2021, things were looking up. Horsepower was now 1817, and the price was 2.1 million dollars. But to achieve a claimed 311 mph top speed, the production car will ship without airbags and with a “show and display” plate for US buyers only.
24 shares of the car were sold anyway.
Boasting a 6.6-liter twin-turbo “Fury” V8, the Venom F5 features a carbon fiber chassis and body, weighs less than 3,000 pounds, and can accelerate from 0 to 64 mph in 4.7 seconds. A version adapted to the track was announced last year. Also limited to just 24 cars, the Venom F5 “Revolution” coupe recalibrates the standard coupe’s “Fury” engine and adds other modifications such as aero upgrades, a retuned suspension, new wheels and a roof-mounted air duct. The Revolution variant will set you back $2.7 million.
Hennessey said the team will “evaluate aerodynamic data to determine the root cause” of the loss of downforce.