Hennessey Venom GT is the world’s first 300mph road car

Weathermen and weatherladies sometimes use the Fujita scale to describe storm levels. The highest point on the Fujita scale is F5, which refers to wind speeds of between 261mph and 318mph.

Why do you need to know this? Because it explains the Venom F5 name chosen by American fast car specialists Hennessey for their latest madness machine.

How mad is it? Well, it has a claimed top speed of 300mph-plus. All this from a road-legal car with number plates and indicators.

Reaching speeds of 300mph sounds like a task requiring a length of Tarmac normally used by returning space shuttles, but that’s not quite the case here.

Texan firm Hennessey claims that this latest creation will blaze from zero to 186mph in under 10 seconds.

Launched at the SEMA show that’s presently running in Las Vegas, the Venom F5 has been three years in the making after being teased in 2014. 

Back then Hennessey was only claiming that it would exceed the frankly feeble 270mph that had already been achieved by its then-current GT.

So, how is the F5 now good for 300mph? 

Well, as you might expect, it’s down to power (as much as possible) and weight (as little as possible). 

Hennessey, based in Texas, says the new model will cost around £1.2 million

Just 24 examples of the car will be built, making it a very limited production run

The carbonfibre body weighs 1,338kg – that’s around the same as a Ford Fiesta supermini

In this case, the power comes from a twin-turbocharged V8 generating more than 1600bhp. Don’t doubt that number either. This company has a long history of hitting its claimed power figures.

That thunderous powerplant sits in an in-house-developed carbonfibre low-drag body weighing in at a Ford Fiesta-rivalling 1338kg. 

A paddle-shift, single-clutch seven-speed transmission puts all the power through the rear wheels – let’s hope it’s a strong gearbox to rein that incredible grunt, and it will need fairly special tyres to plant all those horses into the road, too.

The current record holder as the fastest production car of all time is the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, which clocked an official speed of 267.9mph in 2010

Power is produced by a twin-turbocharged V8 generating more than 1600bhp

At £1.2million, it’s not cheap. That said, it’s half the price of Bugattis Veyron replacement, the Chiron

Who owns the fastest car crown?

Bugatti stakes the claim to the fastest production car in the world, the Veyron Super Sport (left) clocking 267.9mph. However, Swedish brand Koenigsegg claims its hypecar – the One:1 (right) – can hit 280mph

Which brand produces the current fastest production car on record is a murky discussion. 

The Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, which used a 1,200bhp quad-turbo W16 engine, clocked a top speed of 267.9mph in 2010 to claim the official title of World’s fastest car. 

However, this timed run was met with plenty of controversy. 

Bugatti made 5 Veyrons named the ‘World Record Edition’ out of the initial production run of 30 Super Sports

Hennessey said that because the Veyron had completed the timed sprint with a ‘deactivated speed limiter’, it shouldn’t be given the crown as the fastest production model – instead handing the title to the US firm’s Venom GT.

Guinness World Records initially agreed, stripping the Veyron of its title.

But that was short lived, and after some deliberation it handed the award back to Bugatti stating that the car could still hit that speed, even though a limiter would prevent it from doing so.

And the battle of the fastest hasn’t just been a tug of war between the two megacar makers. Swedish brand Koenigsegg says its Agera R has a top speed of 273mph and the later One:1 model could topple 280mph.

With a top speed of 300mph, the Venom F5 should secure the title. 

Hennessey hasn’t flagged up a 0-62mph time yet, but given the claimed 0-186mph time and the company’s confidence in its ability to smash the 0-to-400-to-0kph record briefly held by Bugatti’s Chiron (under 42 seconds) and now by Koenigsegg at 36.44 seconds, it’s going to be a very small number.

Hennessey is talking about under 30 seconds for the standstill-to-400kph-to-standstill time, which would be eyeball-looseningly quick.

Hennessey says the Venom F5 will be able to accelerate from zero to 400kph (249mph) and back to zero again in less than 30 seconds

The F5 name comes from highest point of the Fujita scale – F5 – which refers to wind speeds of between 261mph and 318mph

The new car has been launched at the SEMA show that’s presently running in Las Vegas

Get your order in just as quickly as only 24 F5s will be made, at £1.2 million each before extras. 

Considering the new Bugatti Chiron costs twice that, this Hennessey looks like a performance bargain in comparison. 

World’s fastest SUV also launched 

Alfa’s Stelvio Quadrifoglio has reportedly lapped the Nürburgring in 7 minutes 51 seconds

It wasn’t just Hennessey that has been making noises about producing a ‘fastest ever’ car.

Alfa Romeo has also stated its case for producing the quickest of all SUVs with the arrival of the Stelvio Quadrifoglio.

Powered by a turbo-assisted V6 engine producing 410mph, it can sprint to 62mph in 3.8 seconds – that’s faster than a V8 Aston Martin DB11 and Audi RS6 Avant.

The jacked-up SUV can accelerate from 0-62mph in less time than an Aston Martin DB11

The top speed is a formidable 176mph – not made for a jacked-up hatchback with acres of rear legroom and a boot full of shopping.

As with any performance model, Alfa sent the steroided-SUV around the Nürburgring circuit in Germany where it clocked a lap of 7 minutes 51 seconds, demoting the Range Rover Sport SVR from the top spot.

Prices haven’t been confirmed yet, but if Alfa’s Giulia Quadrifoglio pricing is anything to go by it will cost around twice as much as the cheapest standard Stelvio – so around £70,000.

It won’t be available in the UK until summer 2018.

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