1,817-HP Hennessey Venom F5 Revolution Looks a Handful While Setting COTA Lap Record
It can’t be easy to put all that power and torque down on street-legal tires.
According to John Hennessey, his namesake company wasn't trying to break any records with its Venom F5 Revolution when it sent racing driver David Donohue around the Circuit of the Americas. If that's true, then Hennessey just experienced the happiest of accidents, as the Venom F5 Revolution broke the Texas Formula 1 track's production car lap record.
Using Racelogic Vbox satellite telemetry, the Hennessey Venom F5 Revolution did a 2:10.90 lap around COTA on road-legal Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires, Shell pump ethanol, and standard Pennzoil fluids. Even on road tires and pump ethanol, the Venom F5 hit 193 mph on the back straight and pulled up to 1.6 lateral g through corners.
However, despite its immense capability, you can tell the Venom is a handful through those corners, as Donohue looked to be babying it through the twisties. That isn't surprising, though, given the $2.5 million hypercar makes an astonishing 1,817 horsepower and 1,193 lb-ft of torque from its 6.6-liter twin-turbocharged V8, all of which is sent to just the rear wheels. Deploying nearly 1,200 lb-ft of torque through corners will overwhelm even the stickiest of Michelins.
Its single-clutch automated manual also kicks like a mule, judging by the footage. So it's easy to understand Donohue's hesitance to push it harder through COTA's trickier bits. However, if it could grip better—from either all-wheel drive, better downforce, or even track tires—the Venom would set an even more impressive lap time since it's an absolute rocket ship in a straight line.
Although, with its struggles in the corners, it doesn't exactly fit John Hennessey's "Decathlete of Hypercars" label, as it really only excels at two things—accelerating and braking—at least on road tires. Still, it's a mighty impressive achievement for the Hennessey team, especially since it broke the record in its home state of Texas.
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