Hennessey Venom F5 will hit 290mph!

Hennessey may have unofficially set a new record for the world’s fastest street legal car with its Venom GT, but it appears the Texas-based tuning house doesn’t want to deal in half measures.

Meet the F5, the next-generation Venom that Hennessey hopes will break 290mph, and so shatter the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport’s Guinness World Record by over 20mph.

Named after the Fujita scale’s strongest tornado rating – which suitably covers speeds of 261 to 318mph – the F5 is both more powerful and aerodynamic than its predecessor.

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This is partly down to the addition of larger twin-turbochargers for the longitudinally mounted 7.0-litre V8, plus an upgraded fuel system and improved intercooler capacity to help handle the extra boost. Hennessey doesn’t yet know exactly what this’ll mean in terms of output, but an official statement claims power from the F5’s engine “could exceed 1400bhp.”

The Lotus Elise-based chassis now supports a revised clean-sheet carbon fibre body, too, which sees the drag coefficient drop from 0.44 to below 0.4 – roughly the same as the Ariel Atom. There’s still ample downforce though, thanks to the combination of a rear diffuser, retractable rear wing, and the Venom’s sculpted roofline.

Despite these changes, further carbon fibre and aluminium will be used to keep the weight down, allowing the F5 to weigh in only slightly heavier than the 1244kg GT. 

"We are very excited about this next chapter of the Venom, which brings forth an all-new design that is not only a powerful and unique statement that our clients are looking for, but a vehicle that will achieve even higher performance through improved aerodynamics," said company president and founder John Hennessey.

"We learned a great deal during the development of the Venom GT in breaking the 270-mph barrier, and we bring that experience to this new design as we look toward raising the performance bar even higher."

Included in these changes is a new single clutch paddle-shift transmission, available alongside the traditional manual gearbox and designed to offer sharper shifts for quicker acceleration. A GPS-based traction control system has been fitted as well, which is intended to help channel the F5’s power and increase safety. 

Set for an official debut at some point next year, Hennessey is expecting deliveries of the Venom F5 to take place late in 2016. The American manufacturer has also confirmed at least 30 will be made, and will start from above the GT’s current £712,000 ($1.2m) asking price.

Hennessey is making some bold claims of its Venom F5. Do you think the car really will hit 290mph? Let us know in the comments section below.