2008 HENNESSEY VENOM 1000 TWIN TURBO

NEWS & REVIEWS Utimate. There is simply no other word to describe the mind-blowing performance of John Hennessey’s Venom 1000 Twin Turbo Viper Coupe. At least one that’s printable. The zero-to-60 time of 2.9 seconds is largely irrelevant. Veyron fast, but irrelevant. That’s because it’s impossible to contain the wheel spin. Hit the right pedal hard and you can get wheel spin in … fourth. No, it’s the 10.9 seconds it takes to blast from rest to 150 mph. Or the 19.6 seconds it takes to go from parked to 200 mph. And that Venom 1000 tag is a little misleading. It really should be Venom 1100 because the 8.5-liter V-10 actually cranks out a massive 1,100 hp—99 more than the quad-turbo, $1.38-million Bugatti. This is a magnificent piece of engineering: to make the car tractable in everyday driving, Hennessey fits a special speed-related boost control. So up to 60 mph, you’re “limited” to a mere 800 bhp. Only above 120 mph, when the rear tires have finally hooked up, can you summon all 1,100 horses. For $225,000, it’s a performance bargain. www.hennesseyperformance.com PHOTOS: click photos to enlarge