 Audi Updates Its Popular Q5 And we take a closer look at John Hennessey's hypercar. BY WES RAYNAL When we saw John Hennessey's hypercar last week and heard the outlandish claims, we had to investigate further. So we did. And here's what else is happening in the car world: FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK Earlier this week in the U.K., tuner-turned-carmaker John Hennessey revealed his latest "production" hypercar, the Venom F5. Mike Duff, our man in Europe, saw the car and saw it move under its own power. "It definitely isn't vaporware," he told us. For a quick recap, Hennessey says the Venom F5 — unlike his last production hypercar, the Venom GT — is a new design with a unique carbon-fiber tub and a unique twin-turbo 6.6-liter pushrod V8 of his own design. He says it makes 1,817 hp and 1,193 lb-ft of torque, numbers we cannot verify. He also claims the goal with this car is to go 311 mph. A few questions arise, to put it mildly. For instance, what exactly constitutes a "production" car? "I don't think there is a recognized definition for a 'production car' (e.g., such as a volume requirement)," Hennessey spokesman Jon Visscher told Autoweek. "I know that some manufacturers of high-end hypercars make special editions of their production cars that can be counted on one hand. Hennessey will produce 24 of its F5 hypercars." Hennessey himself told Duff earlier he might make 100 cars a year. So "production" volume isn't clear. Hennessey did deliver 12 Venom GTs to customers, one of them famously sold to Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler. We also had a few questions about the new car's safety. Visscher told us Hennessey has conducted all the required FEA simulations for crashworthiness and that the F5 will meet the "required safety standards" in every market where it's sold. He also claimed the F5's carbon-fiber monocoque is "one of the most rigid produced by any automotive manufacturer." "The intrinsic strength of carbon fiber enhances occupant safety in the event of an accident," he told us. "The carbon-fiber body joins an aluminum subframe where engine and suspension components connect. The subframe components are engineered to deform in the event of an accident to absorb the energy of an impact and protect the passenger cell." Nonetheless, the Venom F5 won't meet the same safety standards as other production passenger cars from major manufacturers in the U.S. It has no airbags, for instance. The plan now is that customers will register their Venoms under NHTSA's special "Show & Display" rule. It's also possible Hennessey could register his company under the Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act, part of the FAST Act, from 2015. Then there's the question of tires. If Hennessey hopes to go 311 mph in this thing, consider that your average street tire would disintegrate at that speed. "The team has worked closely with Michelin's engineers from the beginning," Visscher assured us. "The Hennessey engineering team, led by John Heinricy (former General Motors Performance Division director), will monitor countless data sets as the car continues its development — including its Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires — and will always work within the safety parameters set forth by Michelin's engineers." Nonetheless the commercially available Pilot Sport Cup 2's are good for only 186 mph. "For Hennessey, Michelin is providing its Pilot Sport Cup 2 tire," said Visscher. "As part of the development process for the F5, Michelin will evaluate the tire on its aircraft test rig that can test tires at up to 400 mph. This test, along with data gathered throughout the vehicle's development phase, will ensure the tires are tested to perform at the speeds the F5 is capable of. If at any stage the Hennessey or Michelin engineers feel that limits are within sight, the performance level of the vehicle will be capped before customer deliveries are made. However, this is only a prudent precaution put in place by the Hennessey team. At this stage, the experts at Michelin are confident of the performance capabilities of their tire." We tracked down Heinricy and he laid out for us the work he and the team did on the car: "I looked in detail at all the requirements for the F5," said Heinricy. "From styling to unsprung and sprung mass, adjustability, powertrain packaging, chassis stiffness, tire and wheel sizes, aerodynamics and all the performance requirements, i.e., agile handling, top speed, acceleration, to track packs, and then the team worked out the suspension layout, geometries, compliances, etc., to best meet all the requirements. I based this on my experience with engineering many GM road cars, as well as race cars, that I have been involved with throughout my career. Designing a completely bespoke car made this possible." Heinricy was particularly proud of the car's hydraulics. "The hydraulic lift is an important enabler for handling response and agility because we can run a lower ride height and then lift the car for obstacles," he told us. "And secondly, the Penske four-way adjustable shocks, with low- and high-frequency adjustability in both jounce and rebound, gives great control bandwidth without harshness." Sounds like the F5 will be a well-sorted car when it goes into production. This car and the Venom GT have moved Hennessey far away from his early days as a tuner. Back then he made a number of ethical mistakes, resulting in multiple lawsuits filed against him alleging work delays and parts misappropriation. Ultimately the Venom GT did work, apparently, though we were never offered a drive. And from what we can tell now there's no specific reason the Venom F5 won't do all that Hennessey says it will.
CAR NEWS AND NOTES Audi has updated its popular Q5 midsize crossover for the '21 model year. The new car comes with three powertrains and there is now only one nonhybrid model in the lineup. The base model uses a 2.0-liter turbo-four with a mild hybrid system. Next up is the Q5 55, also using the 2.0-liter four but with the aid of a separate electric motor. The SQ5 uses a 3.0-liter V6 no electronics help. Prices start at $44,395. It's no secret that auto shows were in retreat — automakers were pulling out in droves even before the pandemic hit, leaving show halls sparse and quiet. The culprits include changing automakers' publicity strategies and a decline in foot traffic. But one auto show is bucking the trend: The British motor show is set to return in August next year after a 10-plus-year absence. To try to get people in the door the show includes a stunt drive exhibition, the Caterham Experience and under-17 driving lessons. The show plans to run Aug. 19-22 at the Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre. Amazon's Zoox unveiled its self-driving robotaxi and it looks similar to several other room-on-wheels robotaxi concepts we've seen. In other words it looks quite futuristic with a carriage-style layout, two bench seats facing each other, and bus-style doors on both sides. There are no controls for a human driver (yikes!). The taxi is an EV, natch, using a 133-kWh battery to give it about 16 hours of self-driving time up to 75 mph (double yikes!). The prototype can also move from side to side, featuring four turning wheels that can allow it to maneuver in tight spaces. We'll definitely be watching these very carefully. RACING LINES NASCAR's next-gen race car turned its first laps on a superspeedway, and the sanctioning body said it uncovered "nothing surprising." So that's good, right? The car ran at Daytona in a test designed to provide data for superspeedway races there and at Talladega. NASCAR's senior vice president of racing innovation John Probst said the session could pay dividends elsewhere as well. "I think some of the stuff we found in the car is very promising for some of the other tracks we're going to take it to," Probst said. "So, if anything, we may try to get on a local track up in the Charlotte area for a couple hours to verify what we found here translates to some other track types." He said NASCAR is working with automakers and teams to establish what the testing schedule might look like next year. The sanctioning body is also working with Goodyear on more testing. Roush-Fenway Racing's Chris Buescher did the driving. Porsche prototypes are returning to American road and street courses in 2023 as the automaker announced its plan to develop a Le Mans Daytona hybrid prototype to race in the top classes of both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship. Porsche is the first manufacturer to commit to the LMDh class, which features cost-contained cars patterned after the next generation of LMP2 prototypes. Four chassis manufacturers have already been approved, including Dallara, Ligier, Multimatic and ORECA. The automakers will develop their own engines and stylized bodywork. Doug Fehan, an old friend and one of racing's good guys, is stepping down after running Corvette Racing since 1996. Not only is Fehan a lot of fun to be around, he's also accomplished a great deal, including leading Corvette Racing to 14 team championships, 13 manufacturers' and drivers' titles, and 113 (!) race wins. He also led the group to Corvette Racing's eight class wins at Le Mans. A replacement hasn't been named. Fehan will be sorely missed.
MOSTLY ODDS, SOME ENDS Check out our gallery on the fascinating history of the men and women trying to break the time record from London to Cape Town, South Africa. It started with smaller attempts before becoming London to Cape Town, or as the case may be, Cape Town to London. Historic cars include a 1907 Rover 8, 1924 Crosley and my personal favorite, a 1939 Wolseley.
LISTEN UP This week's Quick Spin victim, er, test car, is the 2020 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS 4.0. Robin Warner takes you along for a ride in the sports car, gives a walk-around and highlights its features. Next he takes you along for a live drive review. Peppered between these segments, Warner elaborates on his experiences with host Wesley Wren. Closing the show, the two get to what makes this Porsche special. Tune in here, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever podcasts are played. QUOTE OF THE WEEK "In general, I hope that everyone can have a better season next year. It has been a very tough and tiring one for the obvious reasons. So I hope next year you will see us smile, see us angry and sad, and that it's not all hidden behind a mask. That's the main wish I have. I look forward to starting a new journey, but for now I'm happy to be going back home and recharging."
WHAT'S AHEAD That's it for this week. As always we're on the case this weekend, monitoring and reporting on automakers' and sanctioning bodies' latest happenings . We'll continually update the site of course—you'll know what's happening when we do. Check back often! Thanks for reading Autoweek, and please stay safe.
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