Hennessey Venom GT Super Snake
Hennessey Venom GT is a car that will make you sweat. No matter how many hot rods you’ve driven, this one has so much thrust in a snake-fast chassis that after 20 minutes we felt as wound up as a garage-door spring. We doubt we would have relaxed after 20 hours, or maybe even 20 years. And we loved it.
Our date with Hennessey took place in Lake Forest, California, at his new parts installation outpost. Chaperoned by Douglas Kott, Hennessey’s man behind the media coverage, the Venom in question is one of 12 built so far and is fittingly owned by Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler. While Tyler has absolutely no issues standing out even when visiting Southern California (he keeps his Venom GT at Hennessey’s shop) he also has no worries about seeing himself coming the other way. That’s because the Venom GT production run is slated to never exceed 29 a number Hennessey purposefully selected to remain at least one car more exclusive than its top-speed sparring partner, the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.
Additionally, Tyler’s car is fi rst in an even more exclusive run of Venom GT Spyders, so instead of something as prosaic as the standard Venom GT’s air scooped roof, a padded “X” of roll bar bracing defi nes the Spyder cockpit’s upper terminus.
It’s California; we don’t ask if there’s a targa-type roof panel, and we’d be disappointed if there was. Despite all the pit-rail chatter that it looks too much like its Lotus underpinnings, the Venom GT’s visual presence is unique and exciting. Unlike most mid engine hyper cars it isn’t huge, but rather thigh-high with just enough length to telegraph the seriousness contained in the amidships engine room. Indeed, the doors and cockpit are almost purely unmolested Exige bits, and the front design remains unashamedly Lotus-like even after being re-rendered over a foot wider. So while the Venom GT does look Chapman-esque in photos, in person, the unmistakable rear mass coupled with the dramatically wider stance instantly stand the Venom GT apart.
So although it does all begin with a Lotus, once all the abbreviations are accomplished, the Exige donates little more than its cockpit, climate control and a few body parts to the final product. Behind the cockpit is all Hennessy. The wheelbase is lengthened 19.7 in., better to accept a Chevrolet LSX-based engine and Ford GT transaxle drivetrain. The suspension is custom from Hennessey, as is the twin-turbo dressing the small block receives.
Fittingly, the 7.0-liter pushrod engine is built in Texas at the Hennessey shop. It’s full of high-strength forged-steel pieces, but as a turbo mill it doesn’t need some of the more involved treatments that a high compression, naturally aspirated engine would. Instead, the emphasis is on strength to keep the huge cylinder pressures from sweating out, plus keeping the highly tasked block square and the cylinders round. Most tellingly, the aluminum block is sleeved with Darton’s iron dry-sleeve kit before being buttoned up with Cometic’s best gaskets, CNC ported aluminum cylinder heads and diamond hard ARP fasteners. For ground clearance and durability, the engine is dry sumped to allow a shallow, ground-hugging oil pan and a greater supply of lubricant. Hennessey rates it at 1244 hp at 6600 rpm and 1155 lb.ft. of torque at 4400 rpm. Adequate for any need, as the man from Rolls-Royce used to say.
Considerably more visible are a pair of art-deco aluminum Zeppelins masquerading as air-to-water charge coolers. Plus, there’s a symmetric maze of plumbing associated with the twin turbo chargers and bits of artfully rendered tube-frame structure as it rises from the sea of mechanical hardware. It can’t help but look very sports racer, as if Hennessey had set out to build something for Sebring or Le Mans [not so] but decided to put it on the street instead.
Finally, there is nothing left to do but climb in and see how good you are. The steering wheel detaches in race-car fashion but even with our 6-ft. 2-in. height and expense-accounted diet, it’s not necessary. If you’ve had the pleasure of driving an Elise or Exige, the minimalist cockpit is definitely familiar. There’s an engaging openness compliments of the unobstructed, center console-less footwell and large windshield. Surely, a Venom GT coupe would be more chicken-house than we’d like, our preferences run toward open cockpits and formula cars, so the sky-bright overhead and breezy feel are naturals.
Exactly as in a Lotus, the instrument cluster is somewhat out of sight, with too-small instruments mounted a bit too low for easy reading. The steering wheel does its best to stay out of the visual path to the instruments and is a proper racer piece with a solid aluminum frame and no airbag. Clad in plush Alcantara, it promises an honest, feedback-rich report on what the front tires are up to.
Start the engine and there’s a big, loud thump from the exhaust, highlighted by turbo whir even at idle. Underway, the noise level is elevated, the exhaust blare is always with you, punctuated by a sometimes cacophonous and other times motivating mix of turbo zoom, pop-off valve whoosh and drag cam stutter. You won’t sneak this one home at night, but you will have fun making noise as the open top really lets in the details.
Maneuver number one is getting the Venom out the driveway. It’s crazy low, so an angled approach is mandatory and still we get a solid scrape from the front bodywork. Not to worry, advises Kott, it’s designed to take it. Later, we recall the car’s electrically adjustable ride height designed precisely for such crawling-speed clearance issues, but not in time to see how much it would help.
Underway the steering is heavy, with the same muscular effort from center to the locks. It’s quite race-car-like, and weighted enough to make us question just how fast we could even snap in opposite lock should it be necessary. Turns out the steering is electrically assisted, with a 6-position rotary knob that goes unseen and unused during our quick drive. Some at Hennessey prefer the extra feel from the no-assist position, explaining how we came to sample that effort. Dialing the knob gives rather noticeable in creases in assist, says Kott.
And there is plenty to feel through the Lotus steering. The front tires lightly nibble, every undulation on the pavement reaching your hands, giving endless feedback on all but billiard table smooth highways. It’s all part of the steamroller tire and sports car suspension geometry combination. It’s a big player in the Venom GT’s amped personality.
In contrast, shifting is Lotus-light and a pleasure. A well weight ed steel ball atop the spindle column gives inertia through the gates, and the throws are perfectly short. Like any good hot rod, the Venom gearbox crunched into 2nd gear when cold, but proved unwaveringly slick once warmed.
Finally, the road straightens and is four lanes wide. We ease the Venom through 1st gear, then squeeze the right pedal.
Well, it certainly has some power.
More precisely, the Venom has a 3-step power knob that toggles the tune from 800 hp to 1000 hp, ultimately claiming 1244 hp. The first notch is enough, we assure you, and perhaps even more sacrilegiously, the rig’s drag racing derived traction control is a godsend. It allows tire boiling wheelspin if that’s your thing, but more realistically, it makes launching hot, straight and reasonably low effort, something it most assuredly would not be without the undetectable-to-the-driver electronic aid. In fact, the toughest part of starting out is the short, slightly high-effort clutch coupled
with a quick-on-the-draw throttle. It takes some technique to get it just right, and just as realistically, is something Hennessey tuners can address so your experience may vary.
We hit it again. Sweet.
And again, a few minutes later. You can’t help it, really. The sound and rush are intense but over far too soon. Heck, it hits 100 mph in 5.6 sec., and in less than that from a roll. Hardly long enough to enjoy it. Even a quarter mile is over in 9.9 sec. at 163 mph. You could get in trouble with this on the street, but until then it just makes you giggle.
What sticks is how hard it accelerates long after any normally over-powered car would be feeling the wind. But we’re only reaching half of the Venom’s 271 mph demonstrated top speed and it’s still charging toward escape velocity like it really intends to get there. And yes, in daily driving, just a whiff of throttle puts the rabble satisfyingly astern.
We mainly coast down from speed but the brakes are definitely there for you. Wonderfully, the pedal is straight out of a Trans Am race car: rock hard and it moves maybe a millimeter. It demands effort from the driver, a conviction to slow, and then the carbon-ceramic Brembos do their thing with authority. The effort is like typical power brakes without the power in other words, like 1965 performance brakes in effort, but with a much better pedal feel and way better results. Impressively, the binders take little warm up, and best of all, the pedals are perfectly set for heel and toe operation.
Knowing we wouldn't dare try too hard, we sought out a twisty canyon to sense what left-right-left zippiness this longer wheel base had maintained. Plenty more than we were willing to risk with this much power under foot and no stability control. Call us a bit chicken, but please understand the cornering remains kart quick way quicker than any normal human’s ability.
So we hit it again on a straight, but this time the clutch slipped at the torque peak, so we motored back to the shop. A shame, but it’s probably why we’re still not scraping together bail instead of writing this review.
Such operational challenges have always been the nature of hot rods such as the Venom GT. Although much of the car comes from established production engineering, plenty also speaks of late nights in the garage and a strong personality focused on a go-fast goal. Tuned for glory, this Hennessey exudes an undomesticated pheromone that makes you want to crawl into your No mex, sneak outside at 3 a.m., fi re up the Venom GT and go. That right there is the attraction. It’s the Venom’s deviant mission and its sharply hewn edges that gouge at the brain, not the slick bits. It’s the short, moderately heavy clutch. The light shifter. A brake pedal that barely moves but responds to heavy pressure. A mere suggestion of any useful rear vision. And Hand of God power.
In the end, these are the gears in the Venom GT’s adrenaline pump, the stuff that keeps you alive. It’s easy to see why Tyler has one.
Hennessey History
2014 Hennessey Venom GT Performance
Our date with Hennessey took place in Lake Forest, California, at his new parts installation outpost. Chaperoned by Douglas Kott, Hennessey’s man behind the media coverage, the Venom in question is one of 12 built so far and is fittingly owned by Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler. While Tyler has absolutely no issues standing out even when visiting Southern California (he keeps his Venom GT at Hennessey’s shop) he also has no worries about seeing himself coming the other way. That’s because the Venom GT production run is slated to never exceed 29 a number Hennessey purposefully selected to remain at least one car more exclusive than its top-speed sparring partner, the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.
Additionally, Tyler’s car is fi rst in an even more exclusive run of Venom GT Spyders, so instead of something as prosaic as the standard Venom GT’s air scooped roof, a padded “X” of roll bar bracing defi nes the Spyder cockpit’s upper terminus.
It’s California; we don’t ask if there’s a targa-type roof panel, and we’d be disappointed if there was. Despite all the pit-rail chatter that it looks too much like its Lotus underpinnings, the Venom GT’s visual presence is unique and exciting. Unlike most mid engine hyper cars it isn’t huge, but rather thigh-high with just enough length to telegraph the seriousness contained in the amidships engine room. Indeed, the doors and cockpit are almost purely unmolested Exige bits, and the front design remains unashamedly Lotus-like even after being re-rendered over a foot wider. So while the Venom GT does look Chapman-esque in photos, in person, the unmistakable rear mass coupled with the dramatically wider stance instantly stand the Venom GT apart.
So although it does all begin with a Lotus, once all the abbreviations are accomplished, the Exige donates little more than its cockpit, climate control and a few body parts to the final product. Behind the cockpit is all Hennessy. The wheelbase is lengthened 19.7 in., better to accept a Chevrolet LSX-based engine and Ford GT transaxle drivetrain. The suspension is custom from Hennessey, as is the twin-turbo dressing the small block receives.
Fittingly, the 7.0-liter pushrod engine is built in Texas at the Hennessey shop. It’s full of high-strength forged-steel pieces, but as a turbo mill it doesn’t need some of the more involved treatments that a high compression, naturally aspirated engine would. Instead, the emphasis is on strength to keep the huge cylinder pressures from sweating out, plus keeping the highly tasked block square and the cylinders round. Most tellingly, the aluminum block is sleeved with Darton’s iron dry-sleeve kit before being buttoned up with Cometic’s best gaskets, CNC ported aluminum cylinder heads and diamond hard ARP fasteners. For ground clearance and durability, the engine is dry sumped to allow a shallow, ground-hugging oil pan and a greater supply of lubricant. Hennessey rates it at 1244 hp at 6600 rpm and 1155 lb.ft. of torque at 4400 rpm. Adequate for any need, as the man from Rolls-Royce used to say.
The neatly executed layout at the Venom GT’s business end evokes GT racers with lusty metal braces and a big V-8. Gold foil heat shielding adds a bit of useful spacecraft tech, while a distinct lack of plastic vanity panels or other mainstream cosmetics sets a hot-rod chic tone.Behind the engine is a Ricardo 6-speed manual transaxle lifted from the Ford GT. Given the Ford’s similar road speed and engine rpm range, it’s no surprise that not a single gear ratio was changed for Venom duty.
Considerably more visible are a pair of art-deco aluminum Zeppelins masquerading as air-to-water charge coolers. Plus, there’s a symmetric maze of plumbing associated with the twin turbo chargers and bits of artfully rendered tube-frame structure as it rises from the sea of mechanical hardware. It can’t help but look very sports racer, as if Hennessey had set out to build something for Sebring or Le Mans [not so] but decided to put it on the street instead.
Finally, there is nothing left to do but climb in and see how good you are. The steering wheel detaches in race-car fashion but even with our 6-ft. 2-in. height and expense-accounted diet, it’s not necessary. If you’ve had the pleasure of driving an Elise or Exige, the minimalist cockpit is definitely familiar. There’s an engaging openness compliments of the unobstructed, center console-less footwell and large windshield. Surely, a Venom GT coupe would be more chicken-house than we’d like, our preferences run toward open cockpits and formula cars, so the sky-bright overhead and breezy feel are naturals.
Even at speed the open-topped Venom GT Spyder’s cockpit is relatively turbulence-free unlike the driver! The crossed overhead roll-bar tubes pose little trouble during ingress and egress, and are scarcely noticed while driving. Steven Tyler’s star-eyed personal logo lives between the seats, and a subwoofer lurks in the passenger footwell.Hennessey has eschewed racing harness seatbelts, sticking with the easily donned 3-point belts from the Lotus cockpit. We’re soon strapped in for our ride. The equally tall Kott is not so well accommodated. Apparently, a career of rock concerts has predisposed Tyler toward a concussion on demand sound system, and the passenger foot well is impeded by a large subwoofer. Granted, there is nowhere else for it, but given the Venom’s live entertainment behind your head, the stereo seems just too much weight.
Exactly as in a Lotus, the instrument cluster is somewhat out of sight, with too-small instruments mounted a bit too low for easy reading. The steering wheel does its best to stay out of the visual path to the instruments and is a proper racer piece with a solid aluminum frame and no airbag. Clad in plush Alcantara, it promises an honest, feedback-rich report on what the front tires are up to.
Start the engine and there’s a big, loud thump from the exhaust, highlighted by turbo whir even at idle. Underway, the noise level is elevated, the exhaust blare is always with you, punctuated by a sometimes cacophonous and other times motivating mix of turbo zoom, pop-off valve whoosh and drag cam stutter. You won’t sneak this one home at night, but you will have fun making noise as the open top really lets in the details.
Maneuver number one is getting the Venom out the driveway. It’s crazy low, so an angled approach is mandatory and still we get a solid scrape from the front bodywork. Not to worry, advises Kott, it’s designed to take it. Later, we recall the car’s electrically adjustable ride height designed precisely for such crawling-speed clearance issues, but not in time to see how much it would help.
Underway the steering is heavy, with the same muscular effort from center to the locks. It’s quite race-car-like, and weighted enough to make us question just how fast we could even snap in opposite lock should it be necessary. Turns out the steering is electrically assisted, with a 6-position rotary knob that goes unseen and unused during our quick drive. Some at Hennessey prefer the extra feel from the no-assist position, explaining how we came to sample that effort. Dialing the knob gives rather noticeable in creases in assist, says Kott.
And there is plenty to feel through the Lotus steering. The front tires lightly nibble, every undulation on the pavement reaching your hands, giving endless feedback on all but billiard table smooth highways. It’s all part of the steamroller tire and sports car suspension geometry combination. It’s a big player in the Venom GT’s amped personality.
In contrast, shifting is Lotus-light and a pleasure. A well weight ed steel ball atop the spindle column gives inertia through the gates, and the throws are perfectly short. Like any good hot rod, the Venom gearbox crunched into 2nd gear when cold, but proved unwaveringly slick once warmed.
The Venom GT sports a Porsche-esque deployable wing as part of its aero package, but we’ll attest the driver is too busy holding on to notice when it deploys. Every bit of down force is desirable if one should attempt to sample the Venom coupe’s stated 271-mph top speed.So we trundle through the usual 35-mph compulsories between stop lights, getting to know just how feral this beast is. The forward view is good, save for the windshield header blocking nearby objects such as traffic signals; rear vision is near nil. The fenders block the view for the outside mirrors and the fastback’s mesh grilles make visual hash out of whatever is going on behind. Another minor distraction is the turn-indicator stalk is a long way from the steering wheel.
Finally, the road straightens and is four lanes wide. We ease the Venom through 1st gear, then squeeze the right pedal.
Well, it certainly has some power.
More precisely, the Venom has a 3-step power knob that toggles the tune from 800 hp to 1000 hp, ultimately claiming 1244 hp. The first notch is enough, we assure you, and perhaps even more sacrilegiously, the rig’s drag racing derived traction control is a godsend. It allows tire boiling wheelspin if that’s your thing, but more realistically, it makes launching hot, straight and reasonably low effort, something it most assuredly would not be without the undetectable-to-the-driver electronic aid. In fact, the toughest part of starting out is the short, slightly high-effort clutch coupled
with a quick-on-the-draw throttle. It takes some technique to get it just right, and just as realistically, is something Hennessey tuners can address so your experience may vary.
We hit it again. Sweet.
And again, a few minutes later. You can’t help it, really. The sound and rush are intense but over far too soon. Heck, it hits 100 mph in 5.6 sec., and in less than that from a roll. Hardly long enough to enjoy it. Even a quarter mile is over in 9.9 sec. at 163 mph. You could get in trouble with this on the street, but until then it just makes you giggle.
What sticks is how hard it accelerates long after any normally over-powered car would be feeling the wind. But we’re only reaching half of the Venom’s 271 mph demonstrated top speed and it’s still charging toward escape velocity like it really intends to get there. And yes, in daily driving, just a whiff of throttle puts the rabble satisfyingly astern.
We mainly coast down from speed but the brakes are definitely there for you. Wonderfully, the pedal is straight out of a Trans Am race car: rock hard and it moves maybe a millimeter. It demands effort from the driver, a conviction to slow, and then the carbon-ceramic Brembos do their thing with authority. The effort is like typical power brakes without the power in other words, like 1965 performance brakes in effort, but with a much better pedal feel and way better results. Impressively, the binders take little warm up, and best of all, the pedals are perfectly set for heel and toe operation.
Knowing we wouldn't dare try too hard, we sought out a twisty canyon to sense what left-right-left zippiness this longer wheel base had maintained. Plenty more than we were willing to risk with this much power under foot and no stability control. Call us a bit chicken, but please understand the cornering remains kart quick way quicker than any normal human’s ability.
So we hit it again on a straight, but this time the clutch slipped at the torque peak, so we motored back to the shop. A shame, but it’s probably why we’re still not scraping together bail instead of writing this review.
Such operational challenges have always been the nature of hot rods such as the Venom GT. Although much of the car comes from established production engineering, plenty also speaks of late nights in the garage and a strong personality focused on a go-fast goal. Tuned for glory, this Hennessey exudes an undomesticated pheromone that makes you want to crawl into your No mex, sneak outside at 3 a.m., fi re up the Venom GT and go. That right there is the attraction. It’s the Venom’s deviant mission and its sharply hewn edges that gouge at the brain, not the slick bits. It’s the short, moderately heavy clutch. The light shifter. A brake pedal that barely moves but responds to heavy pressure. A mere suggestion of any useful rear vision. And Hand of God power.
In the end, these are the gears in the Venom GT’s adrenaline pump, the stuff that keeps you alive. It’s easy to see why Tyler has one.
Hennessey History
2014 Hennessey Venom GT Performance
Hennessey Venom GT Super Snake
Reviewed by Unknown
on
3:11 AM
Rating:
Reviewed by Unknown
on
3:11 AM
Rating:
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