Hennessey Drops 1200 Horsepower Venom GT H-bomb

selwyn

Hennessey Drops 1200 Horsepower Venom GT H-bomb
First Venom GT Delivered to Customer

Chassis Number 01 Venom GT left Hennessey Performance’ UK production facility last week for the UAE, the company’s Middle East distributor, DiMora Motorcar.




2011 Hennessey Venom GT
“This is the fulfillment of a dream that I have had since I was a kid,” says company founder, John Hennessey. “But it is also just the beginning as we begin to demonstrate the performance capabilities of the Venom GT in the near future.”
The first Venom GT, like all that will follow, was built in Silverstone, England, its powerplants sourced from HPE’s home facility in Sealy, Texas. The company follows a classic formula that made Shelby’s AC Cobra one of the most legendary racing cars of all time, using an agile British chassis to house a powerful American V8 under the hood.
British underpinning in mind, if you think the Venom GT looks anything like Lotus’ fabulous little Exige coupe, there’s a reason. Hennessey, the Sealy, TX based sports car maker has created what might be the ultimate automotive Frankenstein, combining the lightweight architecture of the Lotus Exige with the outrageous power of Chevrolet’s LS9 V8, a 6.2-litre beast that normally thunders beneath the long hood of the Corvette ZR1.
2011 Hennessey Venom GT transforms the diminutive Lotus into a fully blown supercar, literally. The supercharged engine produces a gut wrenching 725 horsepower and 741 pound-feet of torque, and that’s the base mill. A choice of two twin-turbocharged LS9s are available as well, the first with only 1,000 horsepower and the latter pumped up to 1,200 horsepower! Big block 427 AC Cobra fighter? Whatever! Shifting duties come by way of six-speed manual transmission by Ricardo, the same supplier to Ford’s brilliant GT… RIP.
While heavier than the featherweight Exige, the Hennessey cars weight a scant (2,548 lbs) dry and (2,685 lbs) laden with premium unleaded, or about the curb weight of a base Honda Civic.
Hennessey normally doesn’t do such extensive revisions, this one so completely modified from its Exige roots it can only be considered an all-new model. Rather, the company began and continues today as a tuner of many brands from Ford to Ferrari, but just like Saleen ventured out from its line up ultra-tweaked Mustangs to a supercar of its own, Hennessey is doing in a most aggressive manner.
The Venom GT boasts a widened rear body structure to make way for the much larger V8 mill and all the associated plumbing, plus a widened front end so as to wrap over its much larger wheels and tires. Some wild and woolly venting joins already daring Exige aero-enhancing ducts, while a tall rear wing combines with fat twin tailpipes poking out of the upper vent and a radical diffuser finishing off the car’s aft end.
The base Venom GT supercharged model goes for a mere $600,000, or thereabouts, with prices climbing for Bugatti Veyron-like power.
Zero to 100 km/h and top-speed? You can pencil “insanity” in where the numbers usually go, or strap yourself in for a 2.9 second dash to 100 km/h before reaching 200 km/h in only 4.1 seconds more and 300 km/h in a total of 14.9 seconds!
Breathtaking is an understatement.
2011 Hennessey Venom GT Specifications:
Engine: Chevrolet LS V8
Block: Aluminum
Size: 376 CID (6.2-litre)
Position: Mid Longitudinal
Compression: 8.8:1
Redline: 7,200 rpm
Forced Induction: Twin Ball Bearing Turbochargers
Oiling System: Dry Sump
Valvetrain: OHV, 2 Valves per Cylinder
Fuel System: Sequential Multi-Port Electronic Fuel Injection
Power
Horsepower: 1,030 bhp @ 6,500 rpm (933 rear wheel hp)
Torque: 972 lb-ft @ 4,200 rpm (874 rear wheel lb-ft)
Specific Output: 166 bhp / Liter
BHP / Weight: 767.23 hp per ton (2.61 lbs / hp)
Boost: 16 psi (1.1 bar)
Fuel: 93 octane
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:
Speed by Gear
Redline: 7,200 rpm
1st: 68 mph
2nd: 104
3rd: 145
4th: 190
5th: 232
6th: 260 (6,600 rpm)
Performance
0 – 100 km/h: 2.9 sec
0 – 200 km/h: 7.0 sec
0 – 300 km/h: 14.9 sec
Aerodynamics
Drag Coefficient: 0.36 (rear wing down); 0.43 (wing raised)
Downforce: 1,492 lbs @ 150 mph
Brakes
Calipers: Brembo 6-piston (all 4 corners)
Rotors: 15.0 x 1.34 in Carbon Ceramic (all 4 corners)
Suspension
Type: KW Variant 3 Adjustable Coilover (all 4 corners)
Ride Height: Adjustable by 2.4 inches (60 mm)
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)
Weight & Measurements
Curb Weight: 2,685 lbs (1,220 kilo)
Dry Weight: 2,524 lbs (1,147 kilo)
F/R Balance: 37/63 (empty); 44/56 (with driver & passenger)
Fuel Capacity: 18.5 gal (70 liter)
Wheels & Tires
Tire – Front: 235/30/20 Michelin PS2
Tire – Rear: 335/30/20 Michelin PS2
Wheel – Front: 8.5 x 20 in
Wheel – Rear: 12.5 x 20 in

gc63hk

sure it is quick, but it lacks a sense of occasion here.