Autoblog

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As if 1000 horsepower, 0-60 mph in 2.25 seconds and the huge rear wing didn't attract enough attention. It just had to be in Snake Skin Green. According to Hennessey, this is the first and only Venom Twin-Turbo in this color, and it's listed for sale on HennesseyPerformance.com. It comes with the 1200-horsepower upgrade option, VenomAero body kit, KW adjustable coilover suspension, Brembo brakes, lightweight wheels, and more. The car's new owner will also be able to make Bugatti Veyron owners green with envy as they see this Viper's taillights fading into the distance. Click away in the full-res gallery below.

BONUS: Video of said Venom Viper spinning out while racing a Porsche 911 added after the jump.

[Source: Hennessey Performance]

Click above to view Hennessey's Viper ACR upon delivery

Gearheads across the country are crossing off days on the calendar until May 2 when One Lap of America returns. The annual event, for those unfamiliar, takes participants across the country on a Cannonball-style rally competing on racetracks and road courses scattered along the way. Dodge always makes a strong showing at One Lap, and the team at the company's SRT workshop planned on entering two vehicles this year: a Challenger and a Viper. Time and resources being limited however, Dodge SRT turned to noted Viper tuner John Hennessey to help prepare a brand spankin' new Viper ACR – unveiled just this past November in LA – for the event. To that end, Dodge sent the first Viper ACR off the assembly line to Hennessey, who is now undertaking the task of preparing the car for the race next week. With SRT chief Erich Heuschle driving the Challenger, multiple SCCA national champion and SRT engineer Chris Winkler will be piloting the Viper. Considering that, as John H. points out, Hennessey Vipers came in second place the past two years running, the new ACR promises to put up a good snake fight for the honors this time around.

[Source: Viper Alley]

From the Mustang to the Viper and Veyron, Hennessey Performance has spread its abilities across the performance car spectrum. And with hi-po vehicles like the IS F, ZR1, and GT-R on their way to buyers' garages, John Hennessey says he is working on packages to make all of those cars even higher-po.

The IS F looks to be the first in line, with the experiment subject arriving at Hennessey's shop next week. The car will be a test bed for "headers, exhaust and air induction systems first. Then maybe a blower." He's also got his eye on the baddest boy Corvette ZR1, for which his website advertises "700+ HP coming soon!" The physics-defying GT-R is in the crosshairs as well, and if he can make it better than it already is, that would be among the best testaments for his services.

Coming down just a notch -- but still up there -- the Cadillac CTS-V and Camaro will get their chances for glory as well. While all of this sounds great, what we really hope is that none of this extra work causes Hennessey not to give us the Venom. That's the package we are truly dying to see.

[Source: Inside Line]

Click above for high-res gallery of the 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT8

It's been less than a month since Dodge officially took the wraps off the Challenger SRT8, and horsepower fanatic John Hennessey already has a performance package available called the SRT700 that will have muscle car fans tingling with excitement. Since there's no replacement for displacement, Hennessey adds extra cubes to the 6.1-liter V8 with a stroker crankshaft, pushing it out to 426ci. For good measure, a 67mm turbocharger system is added as well, complete with an air-to-air intercooler. Forged aluminum pistons, forged steel connecting rods, high-flow cylinder heads, and a 3-inch exhaust system are also added, among other upgrades. The result is a tire-shredding horsepower increase of nearly 75% – 725 bhp @ 5200 rpm and 750 lb-ft @ 4000 rpm. Hennessey claims it's good enough for the Challenger SRT8 to hit 60 mph in 3.5 seconds (with the optional drag radial tire upgrade) and top out at 190 mph. Yep, sounds like pretty typical Hennessey stuff.

[Source: Hennessey Performance via Motor Authority]

click above for more images of the Hennessey Venom GT

We showed you an initial concept sketch of the Hennessey Venom GT last month, and the tuner best known for building ridiculously powerful Dodge Vipers has released another pair of pics, this time showing the mid-engine concept's rear with its retractable spoiler both up and down. In our previous post, we mentioned the undeniable likeness that the Venom GT shares with the Lotus Elise, which is also on display from this angle. We can also see just how extreme the car's design is, with a carbon fiber rear diffuser that we're sure isn't just for show and twin tail pipes that exit up high between the taillights. Carbon fiber skirts also peek out the sides below the massive air intake for the mid-mounted twin-turbo Viper engine and the extra-wide air extractor vents behind the front wheels. It seems clear to us that Hennessey intends to make a go of building its own exotic, just like Saleen did with the S7, and we hear two cars will be built to show potential customers in 2009. With a power-to-weight ratio of 2.7 lbs. per horsepower, a 2,700 lbs. curb weight, and an estimated 0-62 time of 2.5 seconds, we don't expect the Venom GT will be a tough sell.

[Source: Hennessey]

Evidently not satisfied with having trounced the Bugatti Veyron in Road & Track's 0-200 mph showdown with its twin-turbo Viper, those tuners on speed over at Hennessey Performance Engineering are preparing a mid-engined supercar of their own. We brought you initial news, coupled with a teaser image, back at this year's SEMA show, but the company has now released additional information and the conceptual sketch you see above, which was penned by British auto designer Steve Everitt, who evidently likes the Lotus Elise/Exige, but thought it could use more oomph.

Built around the company's thousand-horsepower twin-turbocharged Dodge Viper V10 engine, the Venom GT would benefit from the immense power in a lighter-weight package weighing in around 2700 lbs. Carry the zeros and we're looking at 2.7 lbs per hp, giving the special Hennessey a 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) time estimated at less than 2.5 seconds, en route to an anticipated 300 km/h in about 14 seconds.

If it built the Venom GT, Hennessey would follow along the path of Saleen, who built the S7 supercar after years of tuning Mustangs. According to John Hennessey, existing owners of the firm's tuned Vipers would give the company a customer base to draw upon. Hennessey plans to have a pair of concept cars to show in 2009, which will help them gauge interest in potentially building the Venom GT at their factory in Houston. We're looking forward to it already. Press release after the jump.

[Source: Hennessey Performance Engineering]

Hennessey has a long history of making big horsepower, usually involving turbochargers. This in-car video from a breathed-on Viper shows off just how quickly Hennessey's mods can make the scenery blur. We really hate the sound of the fuel pump at the beginning of the clip - it's loud and obtrusive, and covers up a lopey idle from the V10. We're going to go out on a limb here and state that the cam isn't stock, and that's where the bumpy idle comes from. The fuel pump is quickly forgotten when the run starts. After a soft-shoe launch to maintain traction, the driver lays into it. The twin huffers sing their banshee song, things get real fast in a hurry, and ultimately 220 MPH is achieved in 24.1 seconds. Thanks to our friends over at Streetfire for yet another clip to giggle like schoolgirls over instead of working.

Video after the jump

[Source: Streetfire]

Hennessey Performance seems to have a knack for producing modified supercars that are as intoxicating as its namesake Cognac. Hennessey specializes in top-level American muscle, having earned its street cred by strapping twin turbochargers to the Dodge Viper to crank power up to 1000 horsepower. Now Hennessey has turned its attention over to the Viper's main rival in the battle for American supercar dominance: the Ford GT.

The Ford GT was, of course, created as rolling homage to the Le Mans-winning GT40 of yore, and the modern retro-mobile lives up to the legend by challenging Ferraris just as it did in the sixties. But cavallino-trouncing performance just wasn't enough to John Hennessey and his crew, so they went to work. Two Garret turbochargers, an intercooler, a new exhaust system, a custom intake manifold, a revised engine management system and a whole slew of other modifications later, the Hennessey Ford GT Twin Turbo puts out Koenigsegg-like levels of power: 850 horsepower and a matching 850 lb-ft of torque. That's enough to propel the throwback sportscar to sixty in a claimed 2.6 seconds, covering the quarter-mile in 10.6 seconds on its way to a very Veyron-like top speed of 240 mph.

The price, of course, is not specified, but for that kind of performance, if you have to ask... But for a customer bent on American domination of even the performance supercar world, price is no object.

[Source: Hennessey]

Updated with Frank's live pics

Why worry about superchargers and turbochargers when you've got good old-fashioned cubic inches? After all, bigger is better right?

Living up to its VenomAero and Daytona spoiler-equipped body kit, the Hennessey Viper Venom 800R packs an amazing 585 naturally aspirated cubic inches under the bright yellow bonnet. After 12 weeks of Hennessey Performance Engineering (HPE) mojo, the nearly 10-liter monster belches out 810 bhp and 810 lb/ft of torque. Gulping air and fuel at a rate sure to satisfy an F16 in full afterburner, the 800R is capable of 0-60 in 2.9 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 10.88 @135 mph on its way up to a reported top speed of over 230 mph.

How fitting is it that this monster will officially debut on the Dupont stand at 10AM on Halloween as a part of the SEMA show in Las Vegas?

(Press release after the jump)

[Source: supercars.net]

Enormous sums of money went into the development of the epically fast and extraordinarily powerful Bugatti Veyron. The engineers managed to squeeze out a thousand horses from eight liters, sixteen cylinders, sixty-four valves and four turbochargers. But someone out there thinks there's still more power to be tapped, and that someone is Hennessey.

Hennessey Performance is the monster tuning house that specializes in giving more venom to the Dodge Viper, a car with an engine displacement slightly larger than the Bugatti's, but in stock form, only manages to produce half as much power. So while the Viper is a monstrously fast car, there was plenty more power to be massaged out of its enormous V10, and Hennessey has managed to crank it up past 900 horsepower. But the Bugatti's powerplant is a different story entirely, already the most powerful engine in production.

The company's head honcho, John Hennessey, in correspondence with Autoblog, tells us an American client approached him with the daunting task of improving on his Veyron with a custom exhaust system "to improve the power and sound along with possibly saving some weight". That's a pretty tall order, but Hennessey reckons they're up for the task.

The customer's Bugatti is scheduled to arrive in the workshop this winter, with the new exhaust completed by the spring. At that point Hennessey says they'll have all the numbers along with some multimedia clips for our enjoyment. And we can hardly wait.

[Source: Hennessey Performance]