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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: