Car Moon

There’s nothing faster, short of a Formula 1 car, than a Bugatti Veyron, right? In particular, a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport boasting a 1,200HP quad-turbocharged 16-cylinder engine, four-wheel drive tech and a 258 mph (415 km/h) top speed. Whoever is behind its wheel must feel invincible, right?

Well, actually, no. A few days ago, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, a Veyron Super Sport that was ready to begin its climb up the hill pulled over and let another car start first. What car was that?

The tuners over at Hennessey Performance have always had a thing for boosting anything that rides on four wheels. More recently, the Texas-based tuning firm applied its technical wizardry on the Ram Truck. The result is the Hennessey HPE500 Supercharged Ram, which as implied by its name, features a supercharged version of the Chrysler Group’s 5.7-liter Hemi V8 producing 505-horsepower at 5,400 rpm.

The tune include numerous standard upgrades such as a sport exhaust and Hennessey embroidered seats, along with various optional parts like different alloy wheel and tire combos and suspension systems. While we’re waiting for Hennessey to pit the HPE500 Supercharged Ram against a stock Nissan GT-R or a Porsche 911 Turbo, you can watch the powerful pickup truck in some tire shredding action in the video after the break.

The concept of turning SUVs into pavement-pounding, drag-racing, supercar-shredding monster rods never ceases to amaze me, and by that I mean my jaw is on the floor and I'm completely boggled. I love me some automobiles (and vehicular transportation in general), but there's something about a nigh-three ton box on wheels and oodles of GO that seems...weird.

However, if monster rods - or high performance in general - are your cup of Starbucks soy latte, then Hennessey has got you covered (as if you didn't know that already, what with their cray-cray 1,000+ horsepower Vipers from way back when). Below, for your viewing pleasure, is video of a 2011 Cadillac Escalade drag racing a 2011 R35 GT-R and beating it.

Remember Hennessey’s barnstorming, 1,200 hp (895 kW) Venom GT? Well its back and the journalistic titans at Road & Track have driven it. And there’s a video, to boot. Weighing in at a lithe 2,685 lbs (1,218 kg), the phenomenal Venom GT builds on Hennessey’s experience with tuning the Viper, 5th generation Camaro and various Cadillacs, among many others. It’s a simple formula, really. Big power + light weight = big fun. Read more »

Hennessey Performance has released another performance upgrade for Chevy's new Camaro SS, called the HPE600, based on 2010-2011 LS3 or L99 powered versions. It encompasses, among other things, a TVS2300 Supercharger System, which raises output to 602 hp and 595 lb-ft (807 Nm) of torque.

The Texas-based tuner claims that the HPE600 is capable of completing the 0-60mph (96km/h) sprint in the mid 3-second range and run the quarter mile (~400 meters) in 11 seconds.

Some say you can't make a Lotus any better. Well, maybe they haven't head of Hennessey and its SEMA Show-bound Venom GT. The American firm's new toy is based on the Lotus Elise and, in its flagship version, comes equipped with an out-of-this-world 1,200 hp (895 kW) twin turbocharged V8 engine sourced from the Corvette. Power is sent to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox.

The Hyundai Genesis Coupe appears to be gathering the attention of tuners at this year's SEMA Show. For this particular proposal, Hyundai Motor America teamed up with Hennessey Performance Engineering (HPE) and the firm's Tuner School. Aside from the matte black, carbon fiber-wrap, the rear-wheel drive coupe has also been upgraded with a heavily modified turbocharged engine (Hennessey didn't say which one) producing 500HP at 6,000 rpm and 465 lb-ft of torque, for an estimated 0-60mph (96km/h) time of 3.9 seconds and a quarter mile time of 12.5 seconds.

Eager to satisfy those who believe that too much horsepower is never enough, Hennessey Performance Engineering has introduced an uber-Corvette in the form of the 2010 ZR1-based Z700. The American tuner claims that the track-orientated Z700 is to the Corvette what the GT3 RS is to the Porsche 911 and the ACR to the Viper. To be produced in a limited run of 24 units for the 2010MY, the Z700 features an array of performance enhancements including an upgraded version of the ZR1's LS9 V8 engine.