Hennessey releases details on new supercar, the Venom GT (aka Exige S on steroids)

Elmo187

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Evidently not satisfied with having trounced the Bugatti Veyron in Road & Track's 0-200 mph showdown with its twin-turbo Viper, those tuners on speed over at Hennessey Performance Engineering are preparing a mid-engined supercar of their own. We brought you initial news, coupled with a teaser image, back at this year's SEMA show, but the company has now released additional information and the conceptual sketch you see above, which was penned by British auto designer Steve Everitt, who evidently likes the Lotus Elise/Exige, but thought it could use more oomph.

Built around the company's thousand-horsepower twin-turbocharged Dodge Viper V10 engine, the Venom GT would benefit from the immense power in a lighter-weight package weighing in around 2700 lbs. Carry the zeros and we're looking at 2.7 lbs per hp, giving the special Hennessey a 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) time estimated at less than 2.5 seconds, en route to an anticipated 300 km/h in about 14 seconds.

If it built the Venom GT, Hennessey would follow along the path of Saleen, who built the S7 supercar after years of tuning Mustangs. According to John Hennessey, existing owners of the firm's tuned Vipers would give the company a customer base to draw upon. Hennessey plans to have a pair of concept cars to show in 2009, which will help them gauge interest in potentially building the Venom GT at their factory in Houston. We're looking forward to it already.

hennessey-venom-gt.jpg


press release

just to warn you, the one thing i'm REALLY getting tired of is this whole John Hennessey being a fraud thing. its over and done with and has been for at least 5 years now. the lawsuit was settled and he's not doing it anymore, so please don't make this a "I Hate Hennessey" thread.
 
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It does look like a Lotus and I kinda like it because it looks so agile and not too long and wide (again, like a Lotus).

It's gonna be very terrifying if they provide it with Viper V10 and biturbos! (Hennessey Viper has like 1000bhp atm?)
 
Yup, that's them. No idea how they're staying in business.
 
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If it's as light and agile as they claim, it doesn't need 1,000bhp because it will just ruin the balance of the car. This is, I think, just another case of Americans misguidedly going for as much power as possible. I'm pretty sure this car would be rubbish to drive, even though it would very fast.
 
just to warn you, the one thing i'm REALLY getting tired of is this whole John Hennessey being a fraud thing. its over and done with and has been for at least 5 years now. the lawsuit was settled and he's not doing it anymore, so please don't make this a "I Hate Hennessey" thread.
Oh, well in that case let's just forget about it and give the man a virtual blowjob. You think he still hasn't gotten a reputation (-1 rep, if you will) from it?

The most amazing car in the world won't matter if somebody can't own it.
 
Hennessey may have settled the lawsuit, but there's still a couple of hundred people he's screwed. There's a LOT of well-earned animosity out there for Hennessey.

Plus, at last report, he IS still delivering cars with less than the promised horsepower.
 
Can the car put all that power down and use it or is it too light? 0 - 100 mph in 2.5 secs would be great - I hope that they can do it - that Viper engine is wonderful.
 
Hennessey should use the 4WD system out of the Cherokee SRT/8, beef it up ALOT, then run it.
 
If it's as light and agile as they claim, it doesn't need 1,000bhp because it will just ruin the balance of the car. This is, I think, just another case of Americans misguidedly going for as much power as possible. I'm pretty sure this car would be rubbish to drive, even though it would very fast.

All of this is based on nothing.
 
You add nothing to the conversation.

We have big claims and a rough sketch. When Motor Trend tested the 1100hp Hennessey Viper they said it wasn't ridiculously hard to control. You can't just assume a car is "rubbish to drive"
 
All we're able to do is speculate on it anyway, no point in arguing about a car none of us will ever drive, because Hennessey won't actually make any, because people will fear for being scammed again.

I can add my bit and say I've seen what "too much" power can affect the balance and feel of the car, because it does. Then again, I may end up chewing off my own foot.
 
If it's as light and agile as they claim, it doesn't need 1,000bhp because it will just ruin the balance of the car. This is, I think, just another case of Americans misguidedly going for as much power as possible. I'm pretty sure this car would be rubbish to drive, even though it would very fast.

That has to be one of the most ignorant and misguided statements I've ever heard. No foundation in truth at all.

Steve
 
Er yeah right. So you copy the Lotus design and then claim to put a Viper engine in it. I remain very sceptic that this will fit at all.
This reeks of BS press release just for attention whoring.
 
"Built around the company's thousand-horsepower twin-turbocharged Dodge Viper V10 engine, the Venom GT would benefit from the immense power in a lighter-weight package weighing in around 2700 lbs. Carry the zeros and we're looking at 2.7 lbs per hp, giving the special Hennessey a 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) time estimated at less than 2.5 seconds, en route to an anticipated 300 km/h in about 14 seconds."

This will be the world's fastest single car accident. The engine weighs as much as the rest of the car, for god's sake!
 
The V10 is cool...but freakin huge. No sense in trying to cram it into a car that is supposed to be built with the theme of weight savings (this coming from a guy that advocates putting huge American iron into any and every car). They'd be better to stick with Dodge's Hemi lineup for this type of project.
 
To clear up on what I said earlier, I do stick with the theory that too much power from an engine that weighs as much as this one would, is a stupid idea for a lightweight sportscar. In a midengine car, you have to get the balance right, or the rear end becomes too heavy and the front end too light. See Lamborghini Miura as an example. :p The only way to cure that, is to make the front have more downforce, which does work but only at higher speed.

This car goes against the very principle of having a lightweight car, which is just to simply enjoy flinging it around twisty roads. Sure, it would be very exciting and extremely quick on a track, but not really safe or fun on the roads.

I really think they've bitten off more than they can chew with this one, it would be nearly impossible to get the delicate midengine balance right on this one.
 
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