Updated Venom F5 Evolution gets 2031hp

Are you one of the lucky few umming and ahhing about which multi-million-pound hypercar to order? We feel your pain. There are so many to choose from that the temptation for procrastination must be excruciating. There’s more bad news, we’re afraid. Muddying the waters still further is now an upgraded Hennessy Venom: the F5 Evolution. 

It’s actually more of a package than a new model, though. You can tick the Evolution box when you order a new circa-£1.5m Venom F5 Coupé (or the pricier Roadster and Revolution versions) or have the upgrades fitted to your existing car – if you’re one of the reputed 30 people to have one already parked in your dehumidified garage. The Evolution package costs $285k, or around £215k depending on the conversion rate. Makes you realise the gulf between ‘us and them’ these days, when the thems can tick an option pack that’s as much as a whole Ferrari 296 GTB. Jeez!

Still, if you’re feeling hard done by, rest assured that the uber-rich are never happy. Company big boss, John Hennessey, said: “Some of our owners requested even more power, which led us to develop the new Hennessey Venom F5 Evolution – the world’s most powerful internal combustion-powered hypercar.” Who does that? Who runs in their new Venom F5 before finally letting loose with the loud pedal and comes away thinking: Meh, 1,817hp just isn’t enough?

The Evolution package certainly makes the ‘Fury’ V8 more furious. It bumps up the 6.6-litre twin-turbo V8’s peak power (by 231hp) to 2,031hp at 8,000rpm. As Hennessey says, that makes it the world’s most powerful internal combustion engine in a hypercar. Peak torque is also up, as you might expect, reaching a dizzying 1,445lb ft at 5,200rpm. All that is delivered while running on ‘environmentally friendly’ Shell E85 pump fuel. Speaking of which, the engine upgrades are a team effort that included Shell Pennzoil, Roger Penske and the mighty Ilmor Engineering company. 

Their work included new Precision 76/80 Next Gen turbochargers, which, searching the internet, cost around £3,000 plus VAT each – so that’s around three per cent of the total cost accounted for. We’re told these are ‘the largest mirror-image turbos in the world’. Ilmor’s also fettled new oval-shaped billet aluminium pistons, and connected them to ‘extreme duty’ billet aluminium con rods. Plus, there are lightweight titanium exhaust valves and larger, high-flow injectors. Oh, and some lightweight valve covers, although they seem merely the cherry on top of what appears to be the equivalent of Naga chilli soufflé. One that’s so volatile that mere 0-62 or 0-100 times are irrelevant. The only acceleration time quoted is 0-200mph, which takes 10.3 seconds. Woof! 

There’s more to it than just more power, though. And some of it, rather surprisingly, is about making this more extreme version more friendly. There’s a new adaptive suspension that changes its behaviour as you toggle through the F5’s power modes on the steering wheel. Each click modifies characteristics such as the ride, handling, roll, pitch, and steering response, ‘enabling the driver to alter the hypercar’s set-up for anything from high-performance track driving to comfortable cruising.’ Hennessey says this makes the F5 more accurate on track, more confidence-inspiring to push on bumpy public roads, as well as more supple when you feel like just ambling along in your 2,000hp hypercar. 

On the aero side, Hennessey has worked with ex-Lola aerodynamicist Dr. Mark Handford, whose additions include a very pokey-out front splitter, louvres above the front wheels and dive planes ahead of them. He’s also added a Gurney flap on the rear spoiler to improve high-speed stability and braking. Most of the work you can’t see, though. That’s because it’s been centred on improving the performance of the underfloor. 

Complimenting the F5 Evolution’s improved ride, Hennessey’s design and engineering team has produced a set of ‘Touring’ options, which are an extra cost on top of the extra-cost Evolution package. These have been added because, apparently, Hennessey’s customers wished ‘to take their F5 on longer road trips and rallies’. So, instead of the standard lightweight carbon bucket seats, they can opt for ‘Touring Carbon Seats’. These still have an exposed carbon back but feature more leather-trimmed padding. There’s even a carbon-fibre drinks holder, would you believe – you might want to make sure the lid is on tightly before ‘giving it some’, though.

The Evolution package offers a wide spectrum of enhancements, then. Maybe so much so that a more descriptive name could’ve been the Hennessy Venom F5 Have-Your-Cake-And-Eat-It. Admittedly, that doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily, though, so Evolution it is. And best of luck with your procrastinating.