The Hennessey Venom GT is a limited-production high performance sports car manufactured by US manufacturer Hennessey Performance Engineering. The Venom GT is based on the Lotus Elise/Exige.

Speed records

On January 21, 2013, the Venom GT set a Guinness World Record for the fastest road legal car from 0 – with an average acceleration time of 13.63 seconds. In addition, the car set an unofficial record for 0 - 200 mph acceleration at 14.51 seconds, beating the Koenigsegg Agera R's time of 17.68 seconds, making it the unofficial fastest accelerating road legal car in the world. On April 3, 2013, the Hennessey Venom GT reached 265.7 mph over 2 mi during testing at United States Naval Air Station Lemoore California. Hennessey used two VBOX 3i data logging systems to document the run and had VBOX officials on hand to certify the numbers. On February 14, 2014, on the Kennedy Space Center's 3.22 mi shuttle landing strip in Florida, the Hennessey team recorded a top speed of 270.49 mph in a limited distance of 2.3 miles with the Director of Miller Motorsport Park, Brian Smith, driving. As the run was in a single direction, and only 29 cars were produced (to qualify for Guinness World Records a minimum of 30 cars are required to be produced), it does not qualify as the world's fastest production car in the Guinness Book of Records. On March 25, 2016 the Hennessey Venom GT Spyder recorded a top speed of 265.57 mph at Naval Air Station Lemoore, celebrating Hennessey's 25th anniversary. As with previous speed tests, the run was independently verified by Racelogic as World Fastest road legal open-top sports car. In May, 2016, the Hennessey Team revealed that the car was about 300 hp down on power due to issues with one of the car's three high capacity fuel pumps. Normally, the forced induction 7.0-liter V8 engine in the Venom GT Spyder generates 1451 hp and 1287 lbft of torque.

Specifications

Chassis

The Venom GT has a heavily modified Lotus Elise/Exige chassis. The Venom GT retains many Elise components including the roof, doors, side glass, windscreen, cockpit, floorpan, HVAC system, wiper and head lamps, although the manufacturer is not associated with Lotus Cars. For road use the car is registered as a Lotus Exige (modified) and is not a series production car. The Venom GT has a curb weight of 2743 lb aided by carbon fiber bodywork and carbon fiber wheels. The brakes have Brembo 6-piston calipers at the front and 4-piston calipers at the rear. The rotors are 15 in carbon ceramic units provided by Surface Transforms.

Drivetrain

The Venom GT is powered by a twin-turbocharged 427 cuin GM LS7 V8 engine. The LS9 architecture incorporates specific design features such as reinforced internal components and additional head bolts with aluminum heads including twin Precision dual ball bearing turbochargers. The engine has a power output of 1244 hp at 6,600 rpm and 1155 lbft of torque at 4,400 rpm. Engine power output is adjustable by three settings: 800 hp, 1000 hp and 1200 hp. The engine has a redline of 7,200 rpm. The mid-mounted engine is connected to the rear wheels by a Ricardo 6-speed manual transmission, as used in the Ford GT. A programmable traction control system manages power output. Computational fluid dynamics tested bodywork and downforce also help keep the car stable. Under varying conditions on both the road and racetrack, an active aero system with adjustable rear wing will deploy. An adjustable suspension system allows ride height adjustments by 2.4 in according to speed and driving conditions. The car is fitted with Michelin Pilot Sport 2 tires.

Venom GT Spyder

The Venom GT Spyder is an open top version of the Venom GT. Having decided to order a Venom GT, Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler approached Hennessey in mid-late 2011 and asked if an open-top version could be created. This involved structural changes which added 30 lb to the curb weight. Tyler's was the first of five cars scheduled for the 2013 model year. The car was later put up for auction on January 20, 2017 and was sold by Barrett-Jackson in Scottsdale, Arizona for US$800,000. For the 2016 model year, the Spyder gained 207 hp for a total of 1451 hp. The production of the Spyder was limited to five units with a one-off Spyder being produced as the "Final edition" model bringing the total to 6 units.

Venom GT "World's Fastest Edition" (2014)

The Venom GT "World's Fastest Edition" is a version of the Venom GT coupe limited to 3 units. The model commemorates the Venom GT coupe's 0–300 km/h Guinness World Record. The vehicle went on sale for US$1.25 million. All three units were sold to customers shortly after their production was announced by the manufacturer.

Venom GT "Final Edition" (2017)

A single unit of the Venom GT Spyder, called the Final Edition, was produced to commemorate the car's six year production run and to mark an end to the production of the Venom GT. The engine output is the same but the curb weight has been decreased by 9 lb. The car is painted "Glacier Blue" with double narrow white stripes. The vehicle was pre-sold for US$1.2 million before its public debut.

Successor

The Hennessey Venom GT is succeeded by the Hennessey Venom F5, which was unveiled in November 2017; unlike its predecessor, it is a series production car built completely from the ground up, including chassis and engine.