Hennessey Performance Venom GT Spyder: World’s Fastest Convertible
By now, we should all be aware of the Hennessey Performance Venom GT Spyder’s new world record: the world’s fastest production convertible. Passing the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse’s 254 mph record not just by a couple miles per hour, but by more than 11.5 to 265.6 mph is very impressive. It didn’t come without drama, however.
March 25th, 2016, Hennessey Performance brings its Venom GT Spyder to Navel Air Station Lemoore in California. Engineers, mechanics, and John Hennessey himself are confident in their 1,451-hp land-rocket. They’ve been scrupulous and meticulous in their preparation before making the journey from Sealy, Texas. The car dynoed well and showed no signs of problems in its testing. Nothing was more evident on how quickly things can change than it was in the car’s first pas down the Navel runway.
Built-in safety precautions in the Venom’s ECU wouldn’t let the car get much past 250-mph – a still blistering speed. Searching for the problem, mechanics found the fuel pump had gone bad on-site. The car also was having oil pressure issues. Fixing the problems by pulling back on boost, and subsequently the horsepower, they were able to have a completely successful run reaching the VBOX verified speed of 265.6 mph.
This 9 minute 36 second video below was filmed and posted to YouTube by Hennessey Performance. It does an excellent job drawing you into the excitement of reaching for a world record. Be sure to watch it in its entirety and with your volume up – the Venom GT Spyder makes glorious sounds.
