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301 mph, 1,600 hp: Hennessey Venom F5 details emerge https://www.autoblog.com/2017/11/01/301-mph-1-600-hp-hennessey-venom-f5-details-emerge/ Hennessy Special Vehicles is unveiling its much-awaited Venom F5 hypercar today at the SEMA Show (along with a cool new video that fans of early Aerosmith will dig, below), and the beast dubbed "America's Hypercar" is making big promises. Hennesseyteased the stunner a couple weeks ago, saying its intent was to take on the Bugatti Chiron for the title of world's fastest car. Now we have more details to go on for the F5. Its twin-turbo, 7.4-liter aluminum V8 produces an astounding 1,600 horsepower and 1,300 pound-feet of torque, giving it a top speed of 301 miles per hour. Acceleration will be quick: from 0 to 186 mph in less than 10 seconds and 0 to 249 and back to rest in less than 30 seconds, though independent performance tests of course will have to bear out those claims. The engine is mated to a seven-speed single-clutch paddle-shift transmission that drives the rear wheels. Unlike the car it replaces, the Venom GT, which was built atop a Lotus Elise platform, the Venom F5 gets an all-new, lightweight chassis and carbon-fiber body, giving it a curb weight of just 2,950 pounds. "We've designed F5 to be timeless so that in 25 years it will still have a level of performance and design that will be unmatched," CEO John Hennessey said in a statement. "The F5 is an all new car, designed and built from the ground up, from the engine to the chassis. We expect the Venom F5, named for the most powerful tornado speed winds on the Fujita scale, to be the first road car capable of achieving more than 300 mph and have worked closely with Pennzoil to get us across the finish line." The Venom GT, which had a 1,451-horsepower twin-turbo 7.0-liter V8, was unofficially dubbed the world's fastest car in 2014,having hit 270.49 mph, though Bugatti plans to challenge that next year in the Chiron. Base price will be a cool $1.6 million, with just 24 units to be built. And according to "Top Gear," John Hennessey himself will hand-pick its recipients, with first deliveries starting in 2019. More images:

More details have emerged, courtesy of our colleagues over at Autocar, on the Mercedes-Benz CLS shooting brake. Taking aim directly at the upcoming Audi A7 and the BMW 5-Series GT, the CLS wagon features the same design as the CLS saloon/sedan model (previewed as the F800 Concept) up to the B-pillar, where, from then on, it will have its own unique styling. The CLS is based on the E-Class platform but comes with a longer wheelbase (by 20 mm) and a design blend part SLS (nose), part F800 Style Concept, and includes a high shoulder-line and frameless doors with short windows as in the current CLS model. But before this CLS wagon arrives on the scene, there will be a new CLS. The upcoming next-generation of the model will come with a choice of four engines, with the two gasoline/petrols featuring substantial improvements in fuel economy. The 3.5 liter V6 (CLS 350) will be good for 306 bhp / 228 kW and the 4.6 liter V8 (CLS 500) for 435 bhp / 324 kW. The two diesels are the 2.2 liter with 204 bhp / 152 kW (CLS 250 CDI) and the 3.0 liter (CLS 350 CDI) with 231 bhp / 172 kW. The CLS will also be offered as an all-wheel drive variant with certain engines. An AMG version may also be in the cards, featuring a 5.5 liter turbocharged V8 with 537 bhp / 400 kW, replacing the old naturally-aspirated 6.2 liter V8. A performance upgrade on that AMG CLS will also be available for a bump up to 563 bhp / 420 kW. The AMG CLS will come with a 7-speed MCT gearbox (multi-clutch) as seen in the E63 AMG as opposed to the standard 7-speed automatic box on offer in the regular CLS range. The new CLS is set to debut the Paris motor show later this year. A launch date for the model will likely be announced then.

This weekend EPL (Sunday, 21/12/08) will see Liverpool playing away to Arsenal....... Who will eventually emerge the winner ? My prediction is another disappointment draw for Liverpool ..... Arsenal currently having takeover speculation as reported at ESPN. ESPN Soccernet reports: The departure of major shareholder Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith from the company board was announced last night, along with Richard Carr, a director for 27 years. Arsenal are the last remaining member of the Premier League 'big four' to be in British ownership, and the board all signed up to a lockdown agreement meaning the first option on any sale of shares must be given to existing board members until 2012, so as to stave off any potential hostile bid from outside. However, Hill-Wood could offer no guarantees of where Lady Bracewell-Smith's holding may eventually now end up. American sports tycoon Stan Kroenke, who holds around a 12% stake in the Gunners parent company, accepted the offer to become a non-executive director on the Arsenal board in September as ties with his Kroenke Sports Enterprises group were strengthened, and he could be tempted to invest further. However, Uzbekistan metals magnate Alisher Usmanov - who bought into Arsenal when he paid former vice-chairman David Dein around