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Hennessey Venom F5 Evolution: Most powerful ICE road car

[All images courtesy of Hennessey Special Vehicles]

 

 

Surprise! The world's most powerful internal combustion engine road car is built in ... Texas. The mid-engine Hennessey Venom F5 Evolution sports a 2,031-hp, 6.6-liter twin-turbo V8 capable of rocketing from 0 to 200 mph in 10.3 sec. Whew!

Following an extensive development program, the next generation of "America's Hypercar" features a comprehensive set of updates that boosts overall performance, handling, and comfort. The developers recently finalized testing of the vehicle, evaluating its increased power and torque, updated aerodynamics for improved downforce, its new mode-adaptive suspension for enhanced handling and ride quality, and its optional touring exhaust system and touring seats.

"During the past three years, we've delivered nearly 30 F5s to clients all around the world," said John Hennessey, company founder and CEO. "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."

To work on the car's power plant, Hennessey relied on its long-standing relationship with Shell Pennzoil and Roger Penske, and a partnership with high-performance engineering specialists Ilmor Engineering to further develop Hennessey's twin-turbo V8 engine, code named "Fury."

VIDEO: The Sound of Freedom: Hennessey Venom F5. [Credit: Hennessey Performance]

The result is a powerful new engine design with extreme durability, while also being capable of client endurance racing. Ilmor's refinements brought an additional 214 hp compared to the "standard" F5 Revolution (the F5 is also available in Coupe and Roadster versions). The end result was a supercar that delivers 2,031 hp at 8,000 rpm and 1,445 lb-ft torque at 5,200 rpm on environmentally friendly Shell E85 pump fuel.

Additional refinements came in the form of:

• Precision 76/80 Next Gen turbochargers -- 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
• Larger high-flow fuel injectors

The F5 Evolution's new adaptive suspension enables the driver to transform 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 are automatically set, enabling the driver to alter the hypercar's setup for anything from high-performance track driving to comfortable cruising.

On everyday roads, Hennessey says the system delivers greater confidence when pushing hard on inconsistent surfaces while also absorbing bumps and compressions, all in a bid to make touring more relaxed. On the track, performance is enhanced markedly, making it possible to hold racing lines even more consistently and ride curves harder, while benefitting from increased grip and turn-in precision. 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.

The car's aero development drew heavily from a wealth of road, track, runway, and wind-tunnel test data. Working with renowned Formula One 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.

Hennesey's design and engineering team also developed a set of Touring options. 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.

There were no new images of the Venom F5 Evolution's new interior options available from Hennessey, but you can get a great idea of what it could look like in the Designfax article on the F5 Roadster here.

The cost for the Evolution package is $285,000. That's, just for the upgrade package. Interested parties still need to buy an F5 -- base price $1.8 million -- to get the ball rolling. Touring upgrades are available at an additional cost.

Learn more at hennesseyspecialvehicles.com/.

Source: Hennessey Special Vehicles

Published April 2025

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