Can the Hennessey Venom F5 Evolution crack 300mph? – car pictures of the week

Going fast in a straight line is normally a crude, primal thrill. But going 300mph? That’s mind altering, and exactly what Hennessey is aiming to do with its Venom F5 Evolution. In issue 333 of evo, we paid the Texan hypercar maker a visit for an inside look at the F5 Evo’s development, and to sample it for ourselves. To read the full feature, pick up a copy of evo 333 in-store or online via the evo shop. 

Hennessey is a brand built on big speed. It made its name tuning production cars to phenomenal levels of power, but took a turning point when it unveiled its first standalone model in 2010 – the Venom GT. Loosely based on a Lotus Exige, the long, sinewey supercar was analogue in every sense, weighing just 1244kg and having a manual transmission. But the performance was from another world, with a 7-litre twin-turbo V8 packing 1244bhp, and propelling it to 270mph. 

Fifteen years later, Hennessey’s newest hypercar – the Venom F5 Evolution – is a different animal altogether. More bespoke, more ambitious, more powerful and a good bit faster. Just how fast? evo’s Dickie Meaden had a taste by getting behind the wheel of the 2034bhp F5 himself, and looking behind the scenes at the company’s bid to reach 300mph with it. 

‘Big speeds demand small inputs, so you have to calm yourself down even as your adrenal glands start pumping like they’re feeding a Top Fuel dragster. There really is no adequate way to describe how the F5 feels at full throttle in a low gear. Nor the way it devours successive ratios with unabated intensity. It’s brain-scramblingly explosive, but not in the manner of an EV hypercar. That’s largely to do with the soundtrack, but also the delivery. Colossal though the F5’s power and torque figures are, it still builds to a series of peaks in fine internal combustion fashion.’ 

To read the full feature, pick up a copy of evo 333 in-store or online.