Hennessey Special Vehicles, the Texas-based hypercar manufacturer, has revealed the Venom F5 Evolution. Following an extensive development program, the next-generation American Hypercar features a comprehensive set of updates that boost overall performance, handling and comfort, as it aims to be the world’s most powerful internal combustion road car.
In partnership with world-renowned performance and aerodynamic specialists, and driven by customer demand, Hennessey’s team of engineers conducted an extensive development program to further enhance the hypercar’s capabilities. The new Venom F5 Evolution has increased power and torque, updated aerodynamics for improved downforce, new mode-adaptive suspension for enhanced handling and ride quality, plus an optional touring exhaust system and touring seats.
Engine and powertrain
Hennessey’s long-standing relationship with Shell Pennzoil and Roger Penske led to a partnership with high-performance engineering specialists Ilmor Engineering to further develop Hennessey’s 6.6-liter twin-turbo V8 engine, code-named Fury. To take the Hennessey V8 powerplant to the next level, the Ilmor and Hennessey’s engineering teams significantly enhanced key elements of the engine and powertrain, including: precision 76/80 Next Gen turbochargers, aiming for the largest mirror image turbos in the world; Ilmor-designed oval-shaped billet aluminum pistons with optimized profile geometry; extreme-duty billet aluminum connecting rods; lightweight titanium exhaust valves; lightweight valve covers; and larger high-flow fuel injectors.
The result is a powerful new engine design with extreme durability that enables a 0-200mph time of just 10.3 seconds, while also being capable of client endurance racing. Ilmor’s refinements also brought the welcome by-product of an additional 214bhp, aiming for the world’s most powerful road car combustion engine by delivering 2,031bhp at 8,000rpm and 1,960Nm torque at 5,200rpm on environmentally friendly Shell E85 pump fuel.
John Hennessey, company founder and CEO, said, “During the past three years we’ve delivered nearly 30 F5s to clients all around the world. Some of our owners requested even more power, which led us to develop the new Hennessey Venom F5 Evolution – the world’s most powerful internal combustion powered hypercar.”
Suspension
The F5 Evolution’s new adaptive suspension enables the driver to change the car’s character by selecting each of the F5’s power modes via the steering-wheel-mounted toggle. Ride, handling, roll, pitch and steering responsiveness is automatically set, enabling the driver to alter the hypercar’s setup for anything from high-performance track driving to comfortable cruising.
On the road, the system delivers greater confidence when pushing hard on inconsistent surfaces and also absorbs bumps and compressions to make touring more relaxed. The new suspension is individually tuned to the Venom F5’s five selectable modes – Sport, Road Race, Drag, Wet and the full-power F5 Mode.
Aerodynamics
Aero development drew heavily from a wealth of road, track, runway and wind-tunnel test data. Working with renowned F1 and Indycar aerodynamicist Dr Mark Handford, the team studied the whole car’s aerodynamics in new levels of detail.
The results saw a complete redesign of the front splitter, with the most significant changes made to the underside of the car. The Hennessey team also added single dive planes ahead of each front wheel, tire wake deflectors to the underside of the car and a louvre above each front wheel arch. Working in partnership with the new suspension, a new Gurney lip at the trailing edge of the rear deck spoiler enhances high-speed stability under acceleration and braking.
Comfort and design
Hennessey’s design and engineering team developed a set of Touring options, acknowledging the desire expressed by several Hennessey customers to take their F5 on longer road trips and rallies. The optional enhancements include alternatives to the lightweight carbon bucket seats and sports exhaust, even extending to the addition of a carbon-fiber drinks holder. Following anthropometric studies, additional bolstering was added to the optional Touring carbon seats for longer distance driving. Retaining an exposed carbon back, the new leather-wrapped Touring seats also feature a laser cut ‘blast-off’ design to accentuate the aerospace-inspired interior.
The Evolution package (enhanced engine, suspension, aerodynamics) is available for both newly ordered F5 models and to all existing Venom F5 owners across the Coupe, Roadster and Revolution models.
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