Let’s Explore Hennessey Performance Engineering, The American Hypercar-Maker

Hennessey Performance Engineering is a popular name when it comes to crazy-quick acceleration times and ridiculous top-speed numbers. Based out of Texas, USA, Hennessey was among the few to challenge Bugatti and beat the Veyron in its own game. Starting with the Veyron-beating Venom GT, Hennessey has added several high-performance cars and trucks to its portfolio since.

The founder, John Hennessey, laid the brand’s foundation back in 1991 and offered an incredible upgrade package for the equally-iconic Dodge Viper GTS. Other than its full-fledged tuning services, Hennessey offers classroom courses to individuals interested in tuning cars through Hennessey Tuner School as well.

What are some of the modified vehicles built by BRABUS?

While Hennessey started off its business with the mighty Venom 650R, the Venom GT is the vehicle that put it in the spotlight. After beating the Veyron in its own game, the brand introduced the Venom F5 with an incredibly powerful and in-house developed motor, making it quicker than the Chiron.

However, both the speed demons are limited production units though. Not only cars, but Hennessey also tunes some popular SUVs and trucks too such as the Bronco, the Escalade, and the F-150. Let’s take a look at the brand’s portfolio below:

5. Hennessey Venom 650R

Back in 1999, the Hennessey Venom 650R had enough guts to look into the face of the fastest sports cars and call them out on a drag race. The Venom 560R is based on the already impressive Dodge Viper GTS. As mentioned prior, Hennessey focuses more on the mechanical upgrades.

Hence, the ludicrously-huge powertrain of the Viper got some magical touches from the brand. On the inside, the car remained stock unless the shoppers opted for the racing seats and the roll cage upgrades. For handling those ballistic levels of performance, the car also received some suspension upgrades which improved the otherwise tail-happy handling of the car.

The Viper’s stock 8.0-liter V10 was rebored with longer strokes, increasing the displacement to 8.4-liter. The power output figures shot up to 650 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque, which is serious even by today’s standards. Additionally, the motor allowed the car to zip to 60 mph from a standstill in under 3.3 seconds while hitting a top speed of 215 mph.

4. Hennessey Venom GT

The Hennessey Venom GT has been the turning point for the brand since it beat both the Veyron and the Agera R back in 2014. Hennessey took the Lotus Elise and redesigned it extensively, making it wider and longer to fit that mammoth motor.

The body was constructed out of a hybrid between carbon fiber and composite aluminum. The interior of the car was kept minimal but with the necessary features in place. Both the seats and the steering wheel were aftermarket and Hennessey also offered an optional premium audio system designed exclusively by Steven Tyler from Aerosmith.

GM’s 7.0-liter LS7 V8 received a powerful twin-turbo induction system and allowed Hennessey to extract a whopping 1,244 hp and 1,155 lb-ft of torque from the unit. With these figures, the car went from stationary to flying within 2.7 seconds and has an estimated top speed of 278 mph. To put down all those power and torque, Hennessey opted for a 6-speed manual gearbox and an RWD layout.

3. Trackhawk HPE1000

The Jeep Grand Cherokee is still a popular choice in its segment, especially for its practicality and classy Jeep styling. However, FCA gave the SUV the same powertrain as the Charger Hellcat and branded it as Trackhawk.

It made the SUV keep its nose level with some smaller and lighter sportscars out there in a straight line. For Hennessey though, it wasn’t enough and they gave it its special treatment. While the brand did not touch the interior of the vehicle much, the powertrain was tuned to make driving both manageable at low speeds and ballistic at high speeds.

The outlandish 6.2-liter supercharged V8 of the Trackhawk gets crazier with an upgraded supercharger system that boosts the power output to 1,000 hp and 969 lb-ft of torque. The upgrades include a smaller pulley to make the supercharger spin faster and develop a higher boost. The result is a sports car -destroying 0-60 mph sprint time of 2.7 seconds flat. But the top speed is capped at around 133 mph since one doesn’t want to see a flying Trackhawk.

2. CTS-V HPE 1000

The Cadillac CTS-V used to strike fear into the hearts of its German counterparts out in the wild while being priced aggressively. Even though the sedan was discontinued back in 2019, it is still a loved machine by enthusiasts.

As is the norm with Hennessy, they took the ludicrous performance of the CTS-V to a whole new level while keeping the sedan as luxurious as it was in its stock form. However, the car is loud, really loud, and while you wait at the stop lights, you might see people sitting inside snug and comfy cars rolling up their windows.

The CTS-V has the iconic 6.2-liter supercharged V8 with a serious grunt on offer. With Hennessey’s touch, it delivers a heart-stopping 1,000 hp and 966 lb-ft of torque. Those numbers take the car to 60 mph from a standstill in under 2.7 seconds only, and that is some supercar-shaming sprint time.

1. Velociraptor 700

Hennessey tried its hands on pickup trucks too after making hypercars. With them too, the brand stands out due to its outlandish upgrades and raw performance. The Velociraptor 700 is a tuned Ford F-250 in terms of both powertrains as well as cosmetic upgrades.

On the outside, the truck gets bigger off-roading tires with a lifted suspension setup. Along with that, it gets blacked-out exterior trims and dark paintwork. On the inside too, the truck receives some aesthetic upgrades in dark themes as well.

Hennessey skipped the base motor of the truck and went ahead with the optional and much bigger 7.3-liter V8 motor. With the upgrades, the motor delivers a hefty 700 hp and 722 lb-ft of torque. The 10-speed automatic transmission remains in place but with tuned gear ratios. On a straight line, the truck sprints to 60 mph within a matter of 4.7 seconds.