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• Hennessey Venom GT costs equivalent of R14.2m
• Twin-turbocharged, seven-litre V8
• 928kW
• Driver Brian Smith claims car 'could go faster'
LONDON, England - A tuned Venom GT has become the world's fastest production car - 435km/h, according to reports.
American tuning company Hennessey has claimed for some time that its Venom GT was the fastest thing on four wheels but never had the opportunity to prove it. The official title belongs to the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport's 434km/h.
VIDEO: Watch the Hennessey Venom GT's 435km/h run
That changed on Feb 14, according to the London Daily Mail, when the Texan automaker was given access to Nasa's space shuttle runway in Florida for a once-off power run in the 928kW beast. The Venom GT managed 435.3km/h. The speed makes it slightly quicker than the 434km/h achieved by Bugatti in 2010.
Test driver Brian Smith told TopGear.com that the car was capable of going even faster. Smith said: "At the very top end, there was a little wandering, but hey, we're going 435km/h.”
The Hennessey Venom GT, which costs the equivalent of R14.2-million, is powered by a twin-turbo, seven-litre V8 and reaches 100km/h in 2.7sec, says the Daily Mail. The website also said only 11 people own one, including Aerosmith singer Steve Tyler.
Smith claimed he could have got another 17km/h, but the Florida runway was only 5.2km long. He said: “It was still pulling. If we could run on a 13km oval, we could go faster than that.”
Bugatti has the Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessien test track in Germany as its playground which includes a 9km straight.
The Venom GT won't enter the 2015 Guinness Book of World Records. For an official record two runs must be done and Nasa rained on Hennessey’s parade by only allowing one – keeping the Veyron as the world’s official fastest car .
World's top 10 fastest cars
1 Hennessey Venom GT: 435.3km/h (unofficial)
2 Bugatti Veyron Super Sport: 434km/h
3 Koenigsegg Agera R: 418km/h
4 SSC Ultimate Aero: 413 km/h and the 9ff GT9-R: 413km/h
5 Saleen S7 Twin-Turbo: 399km/h
6 Koenigsegg CCX: 394km/h
7 McLaren F1: 386km/
8 Zenvo ST1: 374 km/h
9 Pagani Huayra: 370 km/h
10 Gumpert Apollo and Noble M600: both at 362km/h
• Twin-turbocharged, seven-litre V8
• 928kW
• Driver Brian Smith claims car 'could go faster'
LONDON, England - A tuned Venom GT has become the world's fastest production car - 435km/h, according to reports.
American tuning company Hennessey has claimed for some time that its Venom GT was the fastest thing on four wheels but never had the opportunity to prove it. The official title belongs to the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport's 434km/h.
VIDEO: Watch the Hennessey Venom GT's 435km/h run
That changed on Feb 14, according to the London Daily Mail, when the Texan automaker was given access to Nasa's space shuttle runway in Florida for a once-off power run in the 928kW beast. The Venom GT managed 435.3km/h. The speed makes it slightly quicker than the 434km/h achieved by Bugatti in 2010.
Test driver Brian Smith told TopGear.com that the car was capable of going even faster. Smith said: "At the very top end, there was a little wandering, but hey, we're going 435km/h.”
The Hennessey Venom GT, which costs the equivalent of R14.2-million, is powered by a twin-turbo, seven-litre V8 and reaches 100km/h in 2.7sec, says the Daily Mail. The website also said only 11 people own one, including Aerosmith singer Steve Tyler.
Smith claimed he could have got another 17km/h, but the Florida runway was only 5.2km long. He said: “It was still pulling. If we could run on a 13km oval, we could go faster than that.”
Bugatti has the Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessien test track in Germany as its playground which includes a 9km straight.
The Venom GT won't enter the 2015 Guinness Book of World Records. For an official record two runs must be done and Nasa rained on Hennessey’s parade by only allowing one – keeping the Veyron as the world’s official fastest car .
World's top 10 fastest cars
1 Hennessey Venom GT: 435.3km/h (unofficial)
2 Bugatti Veyron Super Sport: 434km/h
3 Koenigsegg Agera R: 418km/h
4 SSC Ultimate Aero: 413 km/h and the 9ff GT9-R: 413km/h
5 Saleen S7 Twin-Turbo: 399km/h
6 Koenigsegg CCX: 394km/h
7 McLaren F1: 386km/
8 Zenvo ST1: 374 km/h
9 Pagani Huayra: 370 km/h
10 Gumpert Apollo and Noble M600: both at 362km/h
