Hennessey Smashes Half-Mile Speed Record with Venom F5 Coupe, Surpassing 219 mph
John Hennessey, the Founder and CEO of Hennessey Special Vehicles, has driven the Venom F5 Coupe to a stunning half-mile speed of 219.07 mph, solidifying its place as a hypercar powerhouse. Recorded using Racelogic VBOX satellite telemetry and verified by Dragy performance data, the Venom F5’s capabilities were further highlighted by test driver David Donohue, who achieved an impressive 221.92 mph in the same test.
As part of Hennessey’s ongoing engineering development programme, John Hennessey personally drove the Venom F5 Coupe during one of the half-mile runs, achieving an astonishing acceleration from 100 to 200 mph in just 6.81 seconds. Engineers were surprised when they later reviewed the VBOX data, having not initially set out to reach such high speeds.
John Hennessey, the company founder and CEO, remarked, “This was my first chance to take the Venom F5 beyond 200 mph during testing. While I didn’t aim to reach this speed, I wasn’t surprised—our hypercar’s power and acceleration are indescribable. Our test driver, David Donohue, may have even set a world record for this distance; I’m unaware of any other production car hitting such speeds. We plan to return to NASA later this year when it’s cooler, as I believe the F5 will be even faster.”
This update from Hennessey comes just days after YouTube creator Steve Hamilton raced a Rimac Nevera and Bugatti Chiron Super Sport in a drag race. The Venom F5 outperformed both, surpassing the Nevera’s 206.77 mph by 15 mph and the Chiron’s 193.67 mph by a staggering 28 mph over the same distance.
The Venom F5’s achievement is even more remarkable given the less-than-ideal conditions. The unprepped, dusty surface hindered traction, and the 27-32°C (80-90°F) temperatures were far from optimal. The Venom F5 Coupe runs on a 6.6L twin-turbo V8 engine, aptly named ‘Fury,’ which produces 1,817 bhp on E85 biofuel. Power is delivered to the road via street-legal Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2R tyres.
When the F5 launched in 2021, Hennessey aimed to deliver the ‘decathlete of hypercars,’ a vehicle capable of elite-level performance on the road, straight-line speed, and the racetrack. Earlier this year, the Venom F5 Revolution set a new production car lap record of 2:10.90 at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA), further proving its track capability. The company’s engineering focus now shifts towards pushing the car’s top speed past its previous best of 271.6 mph.
With the fastest production car lap record at COTA and the fastest production car half-mile record now secured, the Hennessey team is set to continue breaking speed and performance boundaries. The company has already built and delivered 23 Venom F5 Coupes, Roadsters, and Revolution models to customers globally, with another 17 orders filling production slots through 2024 and 2025.
While all Coupe and Revolution Roadster models are sold, prospective buyers can still apply for a Venom F5 or Revolution Coupe variant at HennesseySpecialVehicles.com. Interested parties can also call Hennessey at +1 979 885 1300 or contact the company’s U.S. and international retailers network.
