(Hennessey Performance)
Hennessey Performance has never seen a car that it didn’t think could use more power. Apparently, that includes its own.
The Texas tuning house has unveiled an even faster version of its Venom GT, which claims the title of “World’s fastest production car.”
The original Venom GT broke 270 mph on NASA’s Space Shuttle landing runway at the Kennedy Space center on Valentine’s Day last year, courtesy of its monstrous 1244 hp 7.0-liter V8.
But the updates make it seem like an economy car.
What we mean is that the engine is now E85 capable, which raises its maximum output to 1451 hp, a jump of 207 hp. That’s more than the total you get in a typical economy car.
Hennessey says the changes were relatively minor, and mainly involve a flex fuel sensor that monitors the fuel mix, allowing the ECU to adjust its mapping, and increase the turbo boost from 19 psi to 26 psi, made possible by E85’s high octane rating.
The company now projects a top speed of over 280 mph for the 2743-pound Venom GT, with a quarter-mile sprint of just 9.4 seconds along the way.
The new engine is now standard on the $1.2 million Venom GT, which is nearing the end of its 29-unit run.
But don’t think for a split-second that Hennessey is satisfied.
The company is currently working on its next-generation hypercar, dubbed the Venom F5 – as in F5 on the Fujita scale, which is expected to arrive in 2016 with a top speed in excess of 290 mph.
The Space Shuttle may be retired, but it looks like NASA’s going to need a bigger runway if it wants to keep up.
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Up close with the Hennessey Performance Venom GT