NewsBot
06-08-2010, 12:26 PM
Twenty years ago, a 1,000 rear-wheel horsepower street-legal vehicle seemed like fantasy. Sure, 1,000 horsepower on the drag strip was a common sight, but that kind of power could only be sustained for a few seconds at most, guzzling gallons of fuel as the cars flew down the drag strip and being very dangerous for the driver.
These days though, 1,000 horsepower is becoming a more common sight in street cars. Hennessey (http://www.hennesseyperformance.com/venomgt.html) recently unveiled its Venom GT to the world, and we now have a video of this monster car on the dyno. How does 933 rear-wheel horsepower in a 2,700 pound car sound?
933 horsepower at the wheels? That is even more than the famed (and much more expensive) Bugatti Veyron. The power is provided by a heavily massaged Corvette ZR-1-sourced LS9 engine. The LS9’s supercharger though has been swapped out for twin turbochargers. Originally slated to get a twin-turbo Viper V10 engine, the LS9 motor makes as much horsepower as the V10 was supposed to make.
Figuring a 15% drivetrain loss, with 933 horsepower at the wheels this means the engine is making around 1,070 horsepower. The power-to-weight ratio of the Venom GT is one horsepower for every 2.7 pounds. Few cars have ever achieved this kind of ratio, and we imagine this car should easily break into the single digits in the quarter mile. And then there is the handling, having been based on one of the best “driver’s cars” ever, the Lotus Elise. Hennessey will only be making a handful of these cars though, so if you’re lucky enough to ever see one, make sure you get your camera out quick; it won’t hang around for long!
More... (http://www.streetlegaltv.com/forum/video-hennessey-venom-gt-dynos-over-5657.html)
These days though, 1,000 horsepower is becoming a more common sight in street cars. Hennessey (http://www.hennesseyperformance.com/venomgt.html) recently unveiled its Venom GT to the world, and we now have a video of this monster car on the dyno. How does 933 rear-wheel horsepower in a 2,700 pound car sound?
933 horsepower at the wheels? That is even more than the famed (and much more expensive) Bugatti Veyron. The power is provided by a heavily massaged Corvette ZR-1-sourced LS9 engine. The LS9’s supercharger though has been swapped out for twin turbochargers. Originally slated to get a twin-turbo Viper V10 engine, the LS9 motor makes as much horsepower as the V10 was supposed to make.
Figuring a 15% drivetrain loss, with 933 horsepower at the wheels this means the engine is making around 1,070 horsepower. The power-to-weight ratio of the Venom GT is one horsepower for every 2.7 pounds. Few cars have ever achieved this kind of ratio, and we imagine this car should easily break into the single digits in the quarter mile. And then there is the handling, having been based on one of the best “driver’s cars” ever, the Lotus Elise. Hennessey will only be making a handful of these cars though, so if you’re lucky enough to ever see one, make sure you get your camera out quick; it won’t hang around for long!
More... (http://www.streetlegaltv.com/forum/video-hennessey-venom-gt-dynos-over-5657.html)