Hennessey Venom F5 Proves It's A Real Car By Setting COTA Lap Record

Even if you have your (very valid!) concerns about sending John Hennessey your money, there’s no denying that the Venom F5 Revolution has plenty of power. With a mid-mounted twin-turbocharged V8, it makes more than 1,800 horsepower and can allegedly top 300 mph. It’s also now officially the quickest production car to ever lap Texas’s famed Circuit of the Americas, CarScoops reports.

The Venom F5 Revolution is the track-focused version of the F5, adding a number of aero and chassis tweaks to make it even quicker through the turns. And it’s definitely quick. Riding on a set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires, it lapped COTA in 2:10.90. That time is 0.43 seconds quicker than the record that was previously held by the Czinger C21 with a time of 2:11.33. As CarScoops points out, the Venom F5 Revolution’s lap time as also almost seven seconds quicker than the McLaren P1's previous time of 2:17.12.

With that record broken, Hennessey now has its eyes set on obtaining another record — world’s fastest production car. Back in 2019, a modified Bugatti Chiron on special tires hit a top speed of 304.773 mph, but Hennessey thinks it can beat that record. Finding a runway or road that is long and straight enough to safely make a top-speed run is reportedly proving to be an issue, but assuming they can find a spot, it’s only a matter of time before the Texas tuner makes a run at Bugatti.

Whether or not Hennessey will succeed or not still remains to be seen. Previously, a Venom F5 topped 270 mph during development testing at what used to be NASA’s Shuttle Landing Facility in Cape Canaveral. That’s nothing to turn your nose up at, but it’s still far from the 305 mph it will likely need to hit in order to set a new record.