Hennessey Has Given The Ford F-150 800bhp, Because Texas

Aimed at those who couldn’t get their hands on a Ford F-150 Raptor R, the Venom 800 F-150 could only have emerged from the Lone Star State

Mike Bartholomew

24 Sep 2024

If there’s one thing more American than America, it’s Texas. The largest of the lower 48 states, then, could really only be the place from which this hails: the Hennessey Venom 800 F-150.

Hennessey, of course, is no stranger to taking an already potent American car and pumping it full of even more power. The Venom 800, though, is designed specifically to sate those who missed out on the chance to get hold of an F-150 Raptor R, the in-demand top version of Ford’s desert-pummelling off-road truck that packs a 720bhp, supercharged 5.2-litre V8.

To make those people feel better, Hennessey has taken a regular F-150, equipped with a naturally aspirated 5.0-litre V8, and thrown the works at it. It’s been fitted with a supercharger which itself displaces 3.0 litres, and it’s backed up by a beefier intercooler, uprated fuel injection, a new induction system and a tweaked engine calibration.

The result is 800bhp, and 757lb of torque, blowing the regular Raptor R into the long Texan grass. It’ll run a quarter-mile in 11.7 seconds, and 60mph comes up in a faintly astonishing 3.4 seconds.

To ensure it’s just as happy being launched off a gigantic sand dune as its OEM rival, the Venom 800 also has a six-inch suspension lift, Fox Racing off-road coilovers, and 20-inch wheels shrouded in knobbly 35-inch off-road tyres. It also gets chunky steel bumpers front and rear to make damn sure that whatever shrubbery/rock/medium-sized desert-dwelling mammal you hit comes off worse, and a set of huge six-piston Brembo brakes so that hopefully you don’t hit anything in the first place.

Other tweaks include a massive carbon fibre grille, illuminated ‘Venom 800’ badges on the flanks, and electronic fold-out side steps to make getting in slightly less like a mountaineering expedition. Once you are inside, you’ll find Hennessey embroidered headrests, all-weather floor mats and inserts bearing the stars and stripes. Of course.

You’ll also find a numbered plaque, signifying that you’ve got one of only 250 Venom 800s that are being produced for 2024. Presumably, if Hennessey made any more, even a state as vast as Texas would start running out of space for them.

The first full sentence spoken by an infant Mike was a review of the ride quality of a Volvo 850. It was “Daddy’s car goes bumpy-bump on a bumpy road,” so would probably need proofreading a bit, but it was a start.