SEALY, TEXAS - Texan hypercar builder Hennessey calls this engine the “FURY” and after strapping it to a dyno, no one can doubt that this is one of the most FURIOUS motors ever built.
In fact, the figures even took founder and CEO John Hennessey by surprise. His team had targeted 1600 horsepower (1193kW) for the 6.6-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine that will power the Venom F5 hypercar.
“But we blew our target number out the water by delivering over 1800 horsepower,” Hennessey enthused after the test. More specifically, the V8 was found to produce 1817 horses (or 1355kW in metric speak) at a wholesome 8000rpm. The team were also impressed by the F5 engine’s flat torque curve, with over 1355Nm of twisting force (of the 1167Nm total) being available from just 2000rpm.
“This is a very important milestone in the building of our all new Venom F5,” Hennessey added.
“With over 1800 bhp and a curb weight of less than 3000 lbs (1360kg), the Venom F5 will offer the best power to weight ratio on the market. We plan to begin testing our first car later this year.”
The company will no doubt also be chasing some Bugatti and Koenigsegg records once things are up and running.
Watch the dyno test below:
Closer look at the engine
The 'FURY' engine is based around the classic American LS V8 architecture, but employs a combination of lightweight engine components, including crankshaft, pistons, conrods and the custom engine block.
It also has a unique intake manifold design that places the intercooler between the plenum and cylinder heads - this design allowing the inlet air temperatures coming out of the turbos to be greatly reduced before the charge air goes into the combustion chamber, resulting in greater air density.
Behind the scenes video:
These are some of the engine's key features:
• Billet aluminum intake manifold with integrated air to water intercooler system
• Forged aluminum pistons (10.0:1 compression ratio) with steel extreme duty wrist pins
• Forged steel light weight H-bean connecting rods
• Extreme duty forged steel connecting rod bolts
• Light weight extreme duty billet steel crankshaft
• Forged steel V8 engine block with billet main caps, increased cylinder wall & deck thickness & 6 bolts per cylinder
• High-flow aluminum cylinder heads with canted titanium intake valves
• Inconel exhaust valves with dual valve springs
• Extreme duty billet steel hydraulic roller camshaft
• Extreme duty hydraulic roller lifters
• Extreme duty billet steel pushrods
• Extreme duty stainless steel shaft mounted rocker arms
• Precision ball bearing twin turbochargers (76 mm billet aluminum compressor wheels) rated at 1007kW per turbo, making 23 psi boost pressure at 1355kW.
• High-flow twin turbo wastegates
• High-flow fuel injectors, 2 per cylinder
• High-flow stainless steel 3.0 in. twin turbo downpipes
• High-flow catalytic converters
• High-flow 3.5 titanium exhaust system