Ford calls the 5.2-liter supercharged V8 powering the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 the ‘Predator’ and for good reason.
From the factory, this engine produces 760 hp and 625 lb-ft of torque, figures that would be hard to wrap your head around if we weren’t living in an era of electric vehicles with almost 2,000 hp. Make no mistake, however, 760 hp is an insane number and not far off legitimate supercars like the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ and even the Pagani Huayra. But, for Hennessey Performance, not even 760 hp is enough.
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Eager to give the Predator even more grunt, the Texas tuner has fitted a new supercharger pulley, hub assembly, and belt, while also fitting a new intercooler. In addition, Hennessey has gifted the V8 upgraded fuel lines and fittings, an air/oil separator, a heavy-duty tensioner, and anodized billet fuel rails. There’s also a new exhaust.
These changes result in no less than 1,000 hp and 850 lb-ft (1,152 Nm) when the car is running E85 fuel. To support these boosted figures, Hennessey has also beefed up the car’s dual-clutch transmission.
This video shows the car, fittingly dubbed the Venom, being put through its paces at Hennessey’s test circuit. It builds speed at a rate usually only seen from legitimate hypercars and for the vast majority of Mustang drivers, offers far too much performance. However, for those that can actually drive and handle the power, it results in a car that can out-perform most other performance cars on the street.
