Instead of fancy dinner dates or watching cheesy flicks, the folks over at Hennessey Performance Engineering spent this year’s Valentine’s Day by setting an unofficial speed record with their prized Venom GT, which reached a record-breaking top speed of 270.49 mph (435.31 kph) over the course of a 3.2-mile-long runway.
HPE gained permission from NASA to use the Kennedy Space Center for their shot at stripping the title away from the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport (269.86mph).
Here’s a clip showing Brian Smith as he floored the Venom GT’s gas pedal on his way to set new but debatable, record for the World’s Fastest Production Car.
But despite of the HPE team’s noble efforts, there was no cigar. The team didn’t get a nod from the Guiness Book of World Records which disqualified the Venom GT from the record.
Here’s why:
• In order for a car to contend for the title, it must complete two runs, once on each direction. The panel will then average the top speed based on the two runs.
• To be qualified as production car, there must be at least 30 units of the contending vehicle.
The second stipulation automatically disqualifies the Venom GT for two reasons; first the company has only sold 11 units and only plans to make 17 more (which only adds up to 29), and second it’s technically a beefed up Lotus Exige rather than a real production car.
As for the first rule, NASA only allowed the HPE team to run the course once.
Guiness’ rules aside though, the Hennessey Venom GT is a legit speed demon and kudos for the HPE team and Brian Smith for giving the title-holder a good run for its money.
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I disagree with the opinion that the Venom is a beefed up Exige. Most of its parts are custom built, it’s as much a Lotus with an LS9 V8 swapped into it any more than a modern Jeepney in EDSA is a modified Willys MB from WW2.
Guinness’s disqualification of the car not being “production” doesn’t mean SHIT. This car can PERFORM, with a superlative emphasis on the word. Volkswagen AG (Bugatti’s parent company) knows it. Ferrari, McLaren, Porsche and other boutique luxury car makers vying for the crown know it. Most of all, the gearheads and the non-enthusiasts who happen to read this article in Yugatech now know it. And that’s all those crazy Texans in HPE want. Most humans don’t have the skill to tame this monster and this car isn’t cheap in any way. But it keeps the fire burning.
The race to conquer speed is alive and well motherfuckers.
Up next on stage will be the Koenigsegg One:1 with a 1 horsepower-per-pound ratio. In-fucking-sane.
…I really should try to find time and swap in that spare Pratt & Whitney engine I have lying around on my garage on a Sarao.
koenigsegg One:1 FTW hahaha inintay ko lng talaga ang koenigsegg na maglabas ng supercar na tatalo sa veyron in terms of top speed =)
Pansin ko lng yung title mali. It should be km/h or kph…
android ba to?
pag nabangga ka nyan sa langit talaga punta mo.
Faster than a Formula 1 car o.O
But ima bet this beast handles like shyt on tight corners and hairpins
Huwag na kasi magcomment ang mga walang alam. Stick with your mobile device sir 🙂
common sense…bobo gumawa nito kung palpak naman to sa mga paliko. xempre ginamitan nila yan ng magagandang brakes,ex. carbon-ceramic brakes, good power to weight distribution,good tires,etc.
The heck you know about corners and hairpins car handling. I bet you’ve never drove on any race track. Stick on your bezel bashing!
On the contrary Mr. Abuzalzal, it’s actually pointed at the Nurburgring now. That and if you saw how they managed to brake the thing in a short runway(Relative to VWs runway), you can see the power of the Venom’s brakes. That and it was really really stable at very very high speed.(G Meter in the video)
I don’t think this will suffer the SSC Ultimate Aero’s drawback of not being a good track car.
The only problem with this car is that it requires the proper driver.
shyt all you like in the corners and hairpins.. you still can’t own one.. no one will..
aww so sa bugatti veyron p rin ang halakhak.hahaha dapat ginawa na lng nilang 18 para saktong 30,tas dapat tinularan nila ung ssc ultimate aero na sa public highway nila ginawa para makaulit ng test run.
Hah! Veyron wannabes!
huwaaaawww! only in my dreams haha