Hennessey Venom GT

[Tyler]

My new favourite car!

http://www.netcarshow.com/hennessey/2011-venom_gt/

What a beaut!!!!
It's based on a highly modified Lotus Exige chassis - which is a beautiful car as it is, however this is even more beautiful as it's longer and doesn't have the short ass of the Exige.
Bodywork has been replaced extensively with carbon fibre and the wheels are carbon fibre too so it's incredibly light weight (only 1100kg!)
It comes in 2 versions - a 750hp version (USD600 000) and a 1200hp version!! (USD1 mil) - price goes up USD25 000 if you want it anywhere in Europe - I'm not sure how many pounds or euros that is.
Here it is on Jay Leno's garage:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc20HLCVDGQ

Here are all the specs:

Performance
0 – 60 mph 2.5 sec.
0 – 200 mph 15.3 sec. (Bugatti Veyron = 24.2 sec.)
Top Speed 275 mph
Power
Horsepower Adjustable with 3 settings: 800 bhp, 1,000 bhp & 1,200 bhp
Torque 1155 lb-ft (when set at 1200 bhp)
Engine
Type V8
Block Aluminum
Size 376 CID (6.2 Liter)
Position Mid Longitudinal
Compression 8.8:1
Redline 7,200 rpm
Forced Induction Twin Precision Ball Bearing Turbochargers
Oiling System Dry Sump Lubrication
Fuel System Sequential Multi-Port Electronic Fuel Injection
Transmission
Type Ricardo 6-speed Manual
Gear Ratios 2.61:1, 1.71:1, 1.23:1, 0.94:1, 0.77:1, 0.63:1
Final Drive 3.36:1
Speed by Gear
Redline 7,200 rpm
I 68 mph
II 104 mph
III 145 mph
IV 190 mph
V 232 mph
VI 275 mph (7,200 rpm)
Brakes
Calipers Brembo 6-piston (all 4 corners)
Rotors 15.0 x 1.34 in. Carbon Ceramic (all 4 corners)
Suspension
Type Penske Double Adjustable Coilover (all 4 corners) with adjustable ride
height control.
Dimensions
Length 15.27 ft. (4,655 mm)
Width 6.43 ft. (1,960 mm)
Wheelbase 110.24 in. (2,800 mm)
Track – Front 63.46 in. (1,612 mm)
Track – Rear 63.15 in. (1,604 mm)Hennessey Venom GT Specifications – Page 2
Body
Material Carbon fiber composite except doors & roof
Type 2-door
Weight & Measurements
Curb Weight 2,733 lbs (1,220 kilo)
F / R Balance 37 / 63 (empty); 44 / 56 (with driver & passenger)
Fuel Capacity 18.5 gal. (70 Liter)
Wheels & Tires
Tire – Front 265/30/19 Michelin Pilot Super Sport
Tire – Rear 345/25/20 Michelin Pilot Super Sport
Wheel- Front 9.5 x 19 in.
Wheel – Rear 12.5 x 20 in.
Warranty
3 Years / 36,000 Miles
Availability & Exclusivity
Only a total of 5 units will be produced for each model year. 2012 production is sold out.
2013 models will begin being delivered to clients in May, 2012.

2013 Hennessey Venom GT Cost $1 million USD
Options & Personalization
Sport Exhaust System $14,500
Right-Hand Drive $28,225
Custom paint Call
Center Locking Hubs / Wheels Call
Dry “Naked” Carbon Fiber Exterior Call
Stereo System Upgrad Call

[Belatti]

So.... it weights 1100Kg or 1220Kg?

[Tyler]

Sorry - don't know where I got the 1100kg from , it is 1220kg

[MadMatt]

Except the fact that it must be quite undrivable and we know nothing about its cornering abilities, the most "shocking" part of the car is this :

- Material Carbon fiber composite except doors & roof

How can you have a car as "performant" as this and ignoring the disadvantage of having a non-carbon roof on the gravity center ?

Also I cannot see any intercooler, only some sort of heat exchanger (the bottles on the top of the engine). How effective is this, does anybody know? ?

Quality of the car looks nice, but honestly its not worth 1 million $ !

Just my 2 cents...

[Tim.Wright]

What makes you think its undriveable? With 265 and 345 wide tyres and a wheelbase increased to something longer than the Ferrari 458, there shouldn't be any "inherent" cornering or high speed instability problems.

I'm not saying the suspension tuning will be perfect, but you've made a few baseless claims there.

Also I think you would find that, while there would be a CGh difference between the carbon and ally roof, it would be far from "shocking".

Tim

[MadMatt]

Putting 1200bhp in a chassis made for 200 is somehow a bit too much, don't you think ? The torque is just too big. You will smoke tyres even in 3rd or 4th gear, which makes you wonder how safe it is to open the throttle at the exist of a corner. Oh but there are no corners in the USA, stupid me

To get back here (I sometimes go off the topic, sorry), we don't know the downforce values for the car. As you said, and that's a good argument, the wheelbase is longer than the 458, but again, in a chassis made of "chocolate" or at least not strong enough for 1200bhp, again, IN MY OPINION.

Of course the difference of weight is not MUCH, but that's the idea behind it. Why not making a carbon roof ? It is far easier than the modifications they did from the Lotus Exige !

Again, it looks like a good car, but definitely not worth 1m$ !

[Tim.Wright]

With that amount of power, its not badly priced considering its opposition

Veyron $1,700,000
SSC Aero $650,000
Koenigsegg CCXR speculated to be between $1-2mill

Though I also wonder about the chassis. With the amount of modification required, surely it would have been easier to design one from scratch.

Tim

[Tyler]

Also I cannot see any intercooler, only some sort of heat exchanger (the bottles on the top of the engine). How effective is this, does anybody know? ?

Quality of the car looks nice, but honestly its not worth 1 million $ !

Just my 2 cents...

It does have an intercooler.
This video discusses the cooling quite a lot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH5ZmBtw97k
If I was a multi millionaire and money wasn't a concern for me, I'd definitely add this to my collection of supercars.
Now I just have to decide if I'll take the one in yellow or the one in matte black.
Screw it I'll take them both!!!
Incidently the Lotus Exige only costs around $72 500 or £44,000.

[MadMatt]

Also I cannot see any intercooler, only some sort of heat exchanger (the bottles on the top of the engine). How effective is this, does anybody know? ?

Quality of the car looks nice, but honestly its not worth 1 million $ !

Just my 2 cents...

It does have an intercooler.
This video discusses the cooling quite a lot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH5ZmBtw97k

No I'm sorry it doesn't. If you look at the picture from the engine, you can see that after the turbos, the air is going through "heat exchangers" and then goes directly to the engine. I think what is refered to here is the cooler for the liquid of the heat exchanger. I think they did that because they had not the space to mount proper intercoolers in the engine bay (which is strange but still).

What I am interested to know is the efficiency of such air-cooling system, as you don't see this often !

Don't misunderstand me, the car is nice, I'm not criticizing it for fun, but I don't know like how it is presented (typical US style). And comparing a Veyron with this car is nearly an insult. The Veyron is capable of much more speed and acceleration (until the Venom has proved me wrong), it has much more class, warranty is of course better, building quality of a Veyron is just second to none, while this is more like a racecar build for the road, although it is nicely made !

Same goes for the Koenigsegg. You cannot compare these cars which are BRAND NEW cars, not taken from an existing basis, and compare them with a highly upgraded Lotus.

[F1PuertoRico]

Mad Matt... what's the difference between heat exchanger and intercooler???

[countersteer]

http://www.caranddriver.com/news/2011-h ... d-car-news

They back halved the car... everything behind the firewall is new. 34 inches longer, 9 inches wider. edit... wheelbase is 19.7 inches longer.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/tests/car/h ... y-venom-gt

write up from a few laps at the track....

[thisisatest]

Mad Matt... what's the difference between heat exchanger and intercooler???

they are both intercoolers, this one is a water-to-air, conventional is an air-to-air. hennessey had to use a water-to-air (sometimes called a charge cooler i think) probably for packaging purposes. it's a "remote" intercooler.

doors and roof are stock exige parts, doors prob for side impact protection, roof because it's structural, probably harder than it looks in that particular shape, integrates a bunch of stuff.

[MadMatt]

You are right, an air/water cooler is not an intercooler but a chargecooler (the escort cosworth road car used a chargecooler AND an intercooler) ! But on the escort cossie, the water is taken from the engine so its not that efficient, that's why they added a proper intercooler. I am sure they have a separate water circuit on the Venom tho.

[Tyler]

Don't misunderstand me, the car is nice, I'm not criticizing it for fun, but I don't know like how it is presented (typical US style). And comparing a Veyron with this car is nearly an insult. The Veyron is capable of much more speed and acceleration (until the Venom has proved me wrong), it has much more class, warranty is of course better, building quality of a Veyron is just second to none, while this is more like a racecar build for the road, although it is nicely made !

Same goes for the Koenigsegg. You cannot compare these cars which are BRAND NEW cars, not taken from an existing basis, and compare them with a highly upgraded Lotus.

I get what you're saying and I agree with you 100 percent.
The Bugatti is in a different class to the Koenigsegg which is in a different class to the Hennessey.
Millions have been spent on the development of the Veyron and it's an engineering marvel.
When James May tested it he couldn't believe how stable and quiet it was at top speed.
Volkswagen spent years developing the Veyron and the build quality is incomparible to the Hennessey.
When you look at it that way it does seem very pricey at 1mil dollars, seeing as though it is as you say, a highly modified Lotus, which as far as sportscars go, is relatively cheap.
You're dead right, it does not deserve such a steep price tag, not by a long margin.
If I had money for only one million dollar plus supercar, it would be spent on a Bugatti or a Koenigsegg, however if I was rich enough that the price tag meant absolutely nothing to me, I'd get one for sure -it's just so damn sexy!
As wonderfully built as the Veyron is, I have to admit, I don't really like the look of it, in fact I find it quite ugly.
The Koenigsegg, on the other hand, I think is a beautiful car.

[Pierce89]

If you choose the Veyron or Koenigsegg, then DO NOT try to race a Venom GT. you'll get embarrassed. Seen one of Hennessey's 1200 hp Vipers on track once, but the driver was showing off sideways everywhere, the sound the Viper made was not particularly pleasant but it did sound EVIL. Almost like a turbine engine.