Now THAT'S top gear: Hennessey's Venom GT becomes the world's fastest car after reaching a top speed of 270mph

By: Unknown on 14:26

• The supercar has become the world's fastest production model after reaching a top speed of 270.49mph on a Nasa runway
• The £800,000 Hennessey Venom GT is powered by a twin-turbocharged, seven-litre V8 engine which develops an incredible 1,244bhp
• Pilot Brian Smith claims he could get another 5-10mph out of the car, but the runway in Florida was just 3.22 miles long

A supercar has become the world's fastest production model after reaching a top speed of 270mph. 
American firm Hennessey has claimed for some time that its Venom GT is the fastest thing on four wheels.
But until now the firm hadn't been able to attempt beating the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport's record-breaking 269mph because it was on VW's private test track.

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The need for speed: American firm Hennessey has claimed for some time that its Venom GT (pictured)is the fastest thing on four wheels, but now they have managed to prove it

WORLD'S TOP TEN FASTEST CARS

1. Hennessey Venom GT: 270 mph (434 km/h)
2. Bugatti Veyron Super Sport: 269 mph (431 km/h)
3. Koenigsegg Agera R: 260 mph (418 km/h)
4. SSC Ultimate Aero: 257 mph (413 km/h)  and the 9ff GT9-R: 257 mph (413 km/h)
5. Saleen S7 Twin-Turbo: 248 mph (399 km/h)
6. Koenigsegg CCX: 245 mph (394 km/h)
7. McLaren F1: 240 mph (386 km/h)
8. Zenvo ST1: 233 mph (374 km/h),
9. Pagani Huayra: 230 mph (370 km/h)
10.Gumpert Apollo and Noble M600: both at 225 mph (362 km/h)

However, it emerged today that the Texan manufacturer was given access to Nasa's space shuttle landing runway in Florida for a one-off blitz in the 1,200bhp machine.
The Venom GT managed to reach 270.49mph compared to the average top speed of 200mph in a Formula 1 car.
The speed makes it slightly quicker than the 269.86mph achieved by Bugatti in 2010. 

 

The record was revealed to TopGear.com, with test pilot Brian Smith telling the website that the car was capable of going even faster.
He said: 'At the very top end, there was a little wandering, but hey, we're going 270mph.

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Full throttle: The Texan manufacturer was given access to Nasa's space shuttle landing runway in Florida for a one-off blitz in the 1,200bhp machine (pictured)

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Pilot Brian Smith said he could get another 5-10mph out of the Venom GT (pictured), but the runway in Florida was just 3.22 miles long

VENOM GT: THE VITAL STATISTICS

The £800,000 Hennessey Venom GT is powered by a twin-turbocharged, 7-litre V8 engine which develops a whopping 1,244bhp.
This gives it a 0-62mph time of just 2.7 seconds. In Florida, it went from 20mph to 120mph in 7.71 seconds.
Since its launch in 2011, it has been praised by the motoring press while Steve Tyler, from Aerosmith, is among the 11 people to take delivery so far.
The car reached 270.49mph - making it slightly quicker than the 269.86 achieved by Bugatti in 2010.
Pilot Brian Smith claims he could have got another 5-10mph out of the car, but the runway in Florida was just 3.22 miles long.

'It was still pulling. If we could run on an eight-mile oval, we could go faster than that.'
Smith claims he could get another 5-10mph out of the Venom GT, but the runway in Florida was just 3.22 miles long.
Bugatti, meanwhile, can make use of Volkswagen's Ehra-Lessien test track which has a straight of 5.5 miles.
Despite the jaw-dropping top speed - which is almost four times the UK motorway and three times the highest US highway speed limit - the Venom GT won't be entering next year's Guinness World Record book.
They only took the car on one run, and for a record to stand, the driver must perform two runs.
Nasa would only allow the one run so, for now, the Veyron Super Sport retains the official top spot. 
The £800,000 Hennessey Venom GT is powered by a twin-turbocharged, 7-litre V8 engine which develops a whopping 1,244bhp.

Venom GT becomes the world's fastest car reaching 270mph

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Competitor: Until now Hennessey hadn't been able to attempt beating the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport's (pictured) record-breaking 269mph because it was on VW's private test track

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Despite the jaw-dropping top speed, which is almost four times the UK motorway speed limit, the Venom GT won't be entering next year's Guinness World Record book. Hennessey only took the car on one run, and for a record to stand, the driver has to drive in two directions. Nasa would only allow the one run.

This gives it a 0-62mph time of just 2.7 seconds. In Florida, it went from 20mph to 120mph in 7.71 seconds.
Since its launch in 2011, it has been praised by the motoring press while Steve Tyler, from Aerosmith, is among the 11 people to take delivery so far. 
Romans International, the high end sports car dealership in Surrey, sold the UK's only Venom GT last year.