Hennessey building 1000+ HP Veyron-slayer
Photo provided by StreetFire.net and used with permission
Hennessey has announced that it's working on a new supercar that will pack over 1,000 HP behind the seats in a package that weighs 800 lbs. less than its Venom 1000 Viper. It will also be less aerodynamically challenged than the Venom Vipers, though the final form has yet to be unveiled. Instead, our friends over at StreetFire.net managed to snag an exclusive partially-covered image of the concept supercar at the SEMA Show in Las Vegas. They also managed to nab an exclusive interview with the company's namesake, John Hennessey, that you can view here. While there's no official name for the car yet, it sounds like we'll be seeing it debuted in the very near future. The Detroit Auto Show in January would be a perfect venue for this builder of american muscle exotics to unveil its opus. culpa.
[Source: StreetFire.net]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
testa di cazzo 12:33PM (11/01/2007)
the problem with these cars who just make super-high horse power ratings so they can say "i'm faster than the veyron" is that they don't understand anything about what the veyron is. the veyron is the ultimate ALL AROUND supercar. It is luxurious, comfortable, fast, quick, agile, and does everything a car can do better than any other car. So if one car decides "i just want to beat th veyron on top speed so i can say i'm better", good for them, but they're missing the point. the point is that nobody can engineer a car as well as the veyron was engineered - the sheer cost of it would put any of these small companies out of business. VWAG is losing something on the order of $2-3 million PER CAR that they sell... you think hennessey can make a better car than VWAG can? hah!
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T. Munday 1:05PM (11/01/2007)
I couldn't have said it better myself.
It's isn't terribly difficult to get a car to break 200, 250, or even 300 mph. I think it was in the 1920's that the 250mph mark was first eclipsed. Hanging your entire car's existence on being as fast as a car was in the 1920's is not much to be really proud about.
Reminds of the Ultimate Aero. Fast, sure, but it's not Veyron beater, it's just another fast car.
zach 1:22PM (11/01/2007)
x3 - it's amazing how many people STILL don't understand why a Veyron is so different than all these other fast cars.
FThorn 1:52PM (11/01/2007)
Yeah, they probably have no capacity whatsoever to think of a Veyron in terms like you do. It's amazing they can walk.
zach 2:33PM (11/01/2007)
FThorn - Thank you for you insightful remarks. I'm sure your trolling is appreciated by all. Please be sure to offer your useful critiques to the others who have made the same observation that I did. Have a nice day.
John P. 3:09PM (11/01/2007)
The key to what you said is the "losing $2-$3 million PER CAR" part. That makes the Veyron possibly a $4.5 million dollar rolling lab experiment. We GET IT already about the beloved Veyron.
I think the Veyron's cool technologically, a bit ugly, but the fanboys coming out every time saying how great it is to drive 180 one handed while tuning the stereo and talking to your gf on the phone and eating a big mac is getting a bit old.
Losing money is great if you are spending someone else's, or are getting it back in good press for your other products, but it doesn't make much business sense in this case I believe. Especially considering the quality levels found in your run of the mill VW these days. Aren't they somewhere down around Land Rover? How many of you have run out and bought a VW because the veyron is so cool?
rooster 3:31PM (11/01/2007)
Too bad it is a fugly as it is fast.
cwcentral 2:56AM (11/02/2007)
who would've have known that if profit wasn't a priority, you'd end up with the best product (and long term value--think of the R&D knowledge those engineering teams got). Funny thing is that this paradigm has been proven many times over.
And to the small car builders, profit is their livelihood. Veryon FTW....
John Palermo 2:06AM (10/31/2008)
If you read any of the reviews, the Veyron is not comfortable and definitely not agile. It is a straight line heavy boat, with some luxury touches. Nothing more. It is not a real sports car by any means.
Dan Parmelee 12:41PM (11/01/2007)
I thought he went out of business after getting sued for not filling customer orders quickly enough?
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John R 12:55PM (11/01/2007)
Yeah, I heard about that.
Andrew Tanasescu 12:43PM (11/01/2007)
I think people forget what kind of engine is in a veyron...
quad-turbocharged w16...
If bugatti was really worried, they could easily pump out more power to surpass any competitors...
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Joe 2:04PM (11/01/2007)
For sure. The Veyron's torque is limited by its transmission. If they ditch the DSG and put a reliable, beefed up transmission in its place, they can easily increase boost. But the DSG is one of the great parts of the veyron.
hokiebird 12:47PM (11/01/2007)
The man runs a chop shop. The only difference is before he takes your car and strips it for parts you pay him.
Don't give him any press AB.
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joe 2:06PM (11/01/2007)
Yup.
Hennessey is notorious for his unscrupulous business practices: http://www.forzacentral.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17015
The following is a quote from a friend of mine who owns a Gen 3 SRT-10:
"Hennessey has a very bad reputation in the Viper community.
There are a lot of folks with horror stories about him.
(Work not done, money not returned, parts from one customer's car being put in another car, etc. etc. etc.)
I've never had any experience with him, and I never will."
JD 3:25PM (11/01/2007)
Amen to that. He promises Venom, but just sells snake oil.
policyvote 3:43PM (11/01/2007)
JD--
Sharp comment. I voted you up for that one!
Peace
policy
ALEXDB9 12:47PM (11/01/2007)
I thought they only made liquor :)
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eurolover18 1:51PM (11/01/2007)
Keep in mind like any major automaker (since Porsche/Vw is the parent company and main supplier of tech, parts, etc) the Veyron has to incorporate a warranty, pass emissions, safety, etc. Opposed to all these aftermarket tuners throwing their hats in the ring thinking they're trumping the big automakers when really like its mentioned before the Veyron has a Quad Turbo W16 engine....if you look at the street scene (like Nopi sanctioned) cars, people can turn out well over 400hp out of 4-bangers....if they can, I'm sure the big guns can do it better if they wanted too.
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SYN 2:34PM (11/01/2007)
the veyron has a 8 liter W16, the viper has an 8.3 liter v10
in terms of maximum output, i doubt they would be far off.
we don't really know exactly what the SSC or this car for that matter can do in terms of turning, as they don't get the publicity or road tests the veyron does. on paper, the SSC should be able to beat the veyron in basically ever category. its 700lbs lighter, does a faster quarter mile, and can pull more later Gs on a skidpad. the only number i can find for the veyron for 60-0 breaking is 111 feet, while the official number for the SSC is 103 feet.
assuming its worse because there aren't millions of dollars poured into or because it is built in the states is just stupid.
and like Bugatti, SSC is a manufacturer, their cars are considered production cars