Hennessey Venom F5: 300mph hypercar to make 2020 debut
F5 was revealed in concept form in 2017
£1.2m, limited-run hypercar will pack a 1600bhp twin-turbo V8 and weigh the same as Ford Fiesta
Three years since it was revealed in concept form, the Hennessey Venom F5 is finally on track to make its production-spec debut by the end of 2020.
Speaking on the Drive On podcast, company founder John Hennessey said the hypercar had originally been scheduled to appear at California's annual Pebble Beach motoring extravaganza, which was cancelled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. He is yet to confirm exactly when the F5 will fully break cover, but maintained it will be before 2021.
In production guise, the Venom F5 will have a price tag of £1.2 million and a top speed projected by the company to exceed 300mph.
The power to get it to this headline-grabbing top speed comes from a twin-turbocharged V8 producing in excess of 1600bhp. Hennessey aims for the F5, which is named after the most powerful storm on the Fujita scale, to be the fastest road car yet made.
Weighing in at 1338kg, which is little more than a Ford Fiesta, the Venom uses carbonfibre for the entirety of its aerodynamically optimised body, which has a drag coefficient of 0.33.
Unlike previous models, which have been based on the Lotus Exige, Hennessey has developed and built this latest car in-house from the ground up, including the engine, chassis and body. A paddle-shift, single-clutch seven-speed gearbox is used, and the car is rear-wheel drive.
No 0-62mph time has been revealed, but 0-186mph (300kph) will come in less than 10sec, and the company plans to break the 0-400kph-0 record comfortably, predicting a time of under 30sec. This would mean smashing Bugatti's time of just under 42sec, and Koenigsegg's record of 36.44sec.
Just 24 examples will be made, and it is yet to be confirmed whether any will come to Europe.
*Read more *
*Hennessey: ‘Being the fastest in the world really matters’*
*The fastest production cars in the world*
*Hennessey to tune new C8 Corvette to 1200bhp next year*