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The experience of driving the Hennessey Venom GT is, in a word, breathtaking. And I use that word specifcally because not only is it breathtaking in the etherial sense, the ridiculous theater of it all, but when you mat the gas you literally can’t breathe because of the G-forces pressing on your chest. Don’t believe me? Just watch my face the first time I lay on the go pedal in this video. I’ll wait.
The last thing that would ever come out of my mouth after driving a car like that is, “You know what this thing needs? More power.”
But I know John Hennessey all too well, and his brain is fully incapable of processing the words “too much horsepower.” And now that the Venom GT has traction control, that’ just what he’s doing. After ten Venom GT’s have been built (#10 is nearly finished), Mr. Hennessey tells The Smoking Tire exclusively that some updates are in order. See what they are after the jump.
The new Venom GT, so far referred to a Venom GT2 though we don’t know if that’s the official name yet, will get a bump to “over 1,500 horsepower,” from the twin-turbo LSX based (bespoke cast) 7.0L V8, giving the Venom GT2 a power to ratio of more than 1 horsepower per kilogram. It will also get a new, optional 7-speed paddle shift transmission, which we suspect is the same unit found in the Koenigsegg Agera R. I’ll still take mine in stick, thank you very much. For taller drivers, the roof panel is redesigned with double Gurney bubbles, for a couple extra inches of headroom. And the doors will be redesigned and open butterfly-style, a-la McLaren MP4-12C or Mercedes SLR. I’m still not completely sold on the doors, but everything else seems mighty tasty, and we can’t wait to try it.
The Smoking Tire
The Smoking Tire’s YouTube Channel
2012-12-04 11:03:13