See It: Hennessey Venom F5 Hits 222 MPH In Half-Mile Sprint

By Gary Gastelu |

Jul 31, 2024

Hennessey Venom F5 219 mph run — Credit: Hennessey

The Hennessey Venom F5 is quicker than expected.

John Hennessey piloted one of his company’s 1,817 hp coupes down the Shuttle Landing Facility runway at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in early July during testing and may have set a record on the way.

Hennessey was performing a half-mile acceleration test and hit 219.07 mph before it was over.

Hennessey said the company’s test driver, professional racer David Donohue, reached 221.92 mph in a subsequent run.

“This was my first opportunity to pilot our Venom F5 beyond 200 mph while testing. I did not intend to go so fast, but I was not surprised as our hypercar’s power and acceleration cannot be described in words” Hennessey said.

“Our test driver, David Donahue, may even have achieved a World Record speed for the distance, I’m not aware of any other production car going that speed. We will go back to NASA later this year when it’s cooler as I expect F5 to be even faster.”

Hennessey noted that in a recent race between a Bugatti Chiron and Rimac Nevera posted to YouTube, the Chiron reached 193.67 mph over the distance and the Nevera 206.77 mph.

Hennessey is planning to see if the car can break the 300 mph barrier with a run on a closed public highway, possibly later this year. It’s been designed for a theoretical 328 mph top speed, but one goal is to hit 311 mph, which is 500 kilometers per hour. The $3 million Venom F5 was offered as a coupe or roadster with production limited to 24 and 12 cars, respectively.

Rick Hendrick's Hennessey Venom F5 Revolution Roadster — Credit: Hennessey

NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick recently took delivery of one that he’d purchased to celebrate his 75th birthday, with John Hennessey himself traveling to North Carolina to hand over the keys.

Hendrick’s is a roadster and has been customized with his company’s logo and a commemorative plaque that notes it is the second of the 12 cars.