Introducing: Hennessey Venom F5

The battle for top speed superiority is set to continue as Texas-based tuners Hennessey let slip about its plans for a new hyper-car, the Venom F5. Due to be built as the successor to the current top speed record holder, the Hennessey Venom GT, the company is boldly claiming that speeds of up around 290mph are a possibility – care to comment, Bugatti?

While eye-watering top speeds make for excellent headlines and brochure bumf, the time will come when Hennessey will have to prove such a claim; and here’s how it plans to achieve it. The F5 will benefit from what Hennessey learnt during its previous record grab when the Venom GT achieved a staggering 270.49mph in February 2014 and, as a result, the F5 will boast a slippery 0.40 drag coefficient and a twin-turbo V8.

Of course, power is all well and good but at speeds of nearly 300mph you need Mother Nature firmly on your side. Aerodynamically, the F5 relies on its aggressive nose-down profile, underbody tomfoolery, rear lower diffuser and retractable rear spoiler to keep it planted and stable during high speeds. To aid its record breaking potential further, Hennessey will equip the F5 with a carbonfibre body weighing 1300kg – that’s just 200kg heavier than a Fiat 500 Abarth if you’re looking for some perspective.

Hennessey will release the full story on the Venom F5 in 2015 when the car makes its debut. In true Texan style, the company has come out all guns blazing with the mind-numbing figures behind the F5, which promises to out-perform every performance car on the market. In light of this, expect to pay more than the Venom GT’s $1.2m price tag for the F5 when deliveries start in late 2016.

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