With 300 MPH In Its Sights, The Fastest Car In The World Just Got A Lot Faster

The crew at Hennessey Performance stunned the automotive world earlier this year when its Venom GT reached an amazing 270.49 mph, a production-car top-speed record.

In doing so, the small Houston-based company dethroned Volkswagen Group's multimillion-dollar Bugatti 16.4 Veyron Super Sports as the fastest car in the world.

This week, the company announced plans to up the ante by the releasing the more powerful Venom F5, named after the strongest category of tornadoes - twisters whose winds can reach more than 300 mph.

While the Venom F5 may not hit the 300-mph mark, the company expects it to get close. The Venom F5 is aiming for 290 mph. Hennessey doesn't just want to win. It wants to run up the score.

"We learned a great deal during the development of the Venom GT in breaking the 270-mph barrier, and we bring that experience to this new design as we look toward raising the performance bar even higher," said company founder John Hennessey.

Built on the same modified Lotus Exige chassis used for the original Venom, the F5 will keep the hypercar's highly potent 7.0 liter twin-turbo V8. This time, power output is expected to jump from 1,244 hp to north of 1,400. The newest Hennessey will also be more aerodynamic, with a lower coefficient of friction.

Even more thrilling, the company expects the F5 to top the Venom's already blistering acceleration times of 0-186 mph (300kph) in just 13.63 seconds and 0-200 mph in 14.51 seconds. Not only will the new new car be quicker, it will also be civilized, thanks to an upgraded technology package, including GPS-based stability and traction control.

The Venom F5 is expected to debut next year, with deliveries to customers set to commence in late 2016.

Better performance comes with a bigger price tag. Hennessey plans to sell the F5 for more than the Venom GT's $1.2 million asking price. That's still a performance bargain when compared to the fancier, more tech-laden - and slower! - offerings from European competitors.