1,817 HP Stick-Shift Hennessey Venom F5-M Is The World’s Most Powerful Manual
The world’s most powerful manual-shift production car is based on the existing Venom F5 Roadster, but swaps that car’s seven-speed automated manual for a true six-speed manual with a billet aluminum shift gate. That’s hooked up to the same 6.6-liter twin-turbo V8 and makes the same power and 1,193 lb-ft (1,618 Nm) of torque. It sounds like an insane idea, and that makes it a great one in our book.
Hennessey doesn’t provide any performance figures, though it’s inevitable that the $2.65 million F5-M won’t be as quick as its paddle-shift brother in a drag race. Not that the buyers of the 12 cars being built will care, because driving a manual is about the feel not just going fast. And besides, the M is still going to be quicker than just about any other car on the road.
Though the transmission swap is the big news here, it’s not the only feature differentiating the F5-M from a regular F5 Roadster. The three-pedal car also gains a huge 55-inch (1,400 mm) dorsal fin that stretches from behind the seats where the roof-mounted air scoop is located and out to the trailing edge of the rear deck.