Ferrari LaFerrari vs Mclaren P1 vs Porsche 918

Plus its the only 3-pedal hypercar that I know of.

 

I'm surprised by some of the negative comments I read about the Hennessey Venom. If it had the Shelby name attached to it I'm sure it would be universally praised. I suppose there are some accusations that follow John and for that some will not give the car it's due. It is very well put together and I think quite good looking. If it had come out of Maranello and sported a shield I would wager it would make many a Tifosi drool. The Lotus chassis is absolutely ideal for a coachbuild from both a certification and practicality standpoint.

 

Too bad that Alan Shepard is not around to drive this thing. But then again, the car is massively more complex than that bucket of bolts he drove 250,000 miles and back.

Really cool that the crash sensors were tripped by the G forces.

 

+1 He's a tuner and this is a kit car. A very good and gifted tuner but a manufacturer builds a car, it doesn't simply assemble one.

 

I have seen a similar statement made many times about different cars over the years and always find it pretty funny. It seems to reinforce the argument that people have such blind love for Ferrari that they'll tolerate and worship anything they make. Not really a ringing endorsement for the Venom anyway which has some impressive numbers, but you are kidding yourself if you think the badge that is the only thing holding it back from being a resounding success.

Absolutely - the Venom doesn't meet the criteria of a production car in my eyes but I may have higher standards than other people.

>8^)
ER

 

Production car : My understanding was 25 units in a 12 month period which would make that record null in void

 

How many Venoms have actually been sold...?

 

Hennessey plans to establish a network of Venom GT dealers and distributors in the Middle East, Europe, Russia, Australia, and Asia. Production is limited to just 10 vehicles per year. The 750 hp Hennessey Venom GT price starts at 600,000 USD while the 1,200 hp version starts at 1,000,000 USD. If you want the car in Europe, the Hennessey Venom GT price goes up by just under 25,000 USD. As of October 21, 2011, 4 Venom GTs have been manufactured[7]

 

"Production" in a very liberal interpretation of the word. In automotive production, many consider this to be an industrial process of turning raw materials into engineered & finished products. That's not what the Venom is, the Venom is a modified assemblage of components with fabrication as required to meet a specific purpose. Nothing wrong with that.

I don't think it's negative, what Hennessey has done is pretty cool, just not on par with a manufacturer. And staging a pony show with the Guinness Book of World Records is to take a little too much credit for the "production/manufacturer" classification. Good point regarding Shelby, but those are kit cars as well. I have an all original car from Shelby, a 1967 GT500. Build sheets are interesting, chassis ordered from Ford to go by rail to LA, badge delete, trunk, hood delete. Would still say it's a kit car A really cool kit car from an amazing tuner.
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^^^^^^ yummy

 

That is a perfect Shelby. They ruined the look in 68 with the revised headlights...

 

The negativity associated with Hennessey has to do with the way he treated many of his customers years ago. He left many with a sour taste in their mouths and they will never go back to him no matter he has moved onto nowadays. His reputation is less than reputable in the tuner community because of those shenanigans (and other things) but hopefully he has put that all behind him and turned over a new leaf.

 

So, too, Don Goldman. Good team.

 

AutoWeek published an article about 10 years ago covering a lot of the drama. It has been posted at the start of this thread:

Has anyone had any problems with Hennessey Performance?

At the time the article was written there were several forums churning through it with more than one high profile complaint as I recall.

>8^)
ER

 

The Enzo has a push-rod suspension. LaFerrari can't use it because of the double clutch.

I have 2 questions :

1.If LaFerrari could have used a push-rod system, would it have been faster ?

2.What about the suspension system on the P1 ??? Will it be better (in performance terms, not comfort) than the one used on LaFerrari ???

 

Do you know of any good articles going in to some depth about the technicalities of the cars? Much more interesting to me than 0-60 and 0-186 times

 

I think those 'bad times' are well in Hennessey's rear view mirror. He built a car for me about ~2 years ago ... LS9 engine (from the ZR1) in a late-model Camaro. Expensive, yes ... but the whole experience was pretty positive.

 

There's a lot of very interesting information on Porsche's site on the 918.

 

Unfortunately for him, the Internet has a long memory for the negative.

>8^)
ER

 

Absolutely agree. I was initially a bit concerned, so I did a fair amount of research before I pulled the trigger.

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8388/8579754807_db7203f661_b.jpg


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8088/8580854446_a0699a9758_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8388/8580854578_a16b9d4f75_b.jpg

If this is not gorgeous...what is?

 

Why oh why did Ferrari not properly consider where a number plate was going to go before they designed the rear of the LF? That central spine just looks like it has had a chunk cut out of it which is a real shame.

The early teaser photo's showed the central spine in one piece and I asked the question at the time where the plate would go. Also the front of the car has no obvious place to put a plate as well.

I hate number plates, especially front ones as they can ruin the look of a car, but we have to legally run them in the UK. At least the P1 is designed to carry them with out ruining the look