Perhaps Hennessey Performance Engineering is best known for their twin turbo Hyper-Vipers. Indeed, nobody can make the Dodge Viper more more potent then the boys over at Hennessy, but the company is about to show you they are more than a one trick pony. They are preparing a mid-engined supercar of their own, called the Venom GT.

Built from lightweight composite materials, Hennessy hopes to shoehorn their 1000hp twin turbo Dodge Viper V10 engine into a package that tips the scales at no more than 2700lbs.We’re pretty bad at math, but fortunately someone else figured it out for us. The weight/power ratio is an astounding 2.7 lbs/horse. Figures like that translate to a 0-60 time of roughly 2.5 seconds, and a top speed that could make a bullet weep from inadequacy.

Now, if you’re looking at the concept photo shown here, and thinking “Hmm, that looks like a Lotus” you’re not alone. That sketch was penned by a British auto designer named Steve Everitt. Evidently, Steve was inspired by the Lotus Elise/Exige, but probably figured he could butch it up a bit.

Hennessy plans on creating 2 different concept cars by 2009 to gauge public interest in the vehicles. Their plan is to begin production at their factory in Houston shorty after, and are hoping that existing Hennessy Viper owners will make up the beginning of their customer base.

Now, I honestly did want to remain professional here, but then I remembered that I don’t actually make any money from this site so screw it. HOLY CRAP, This car is wild!

What are your thoughts on it? Love it or hate it, please leave a comment.

[Source: Autoblog]

(Make the jump for the press release)

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There’s no way to tell if these pictures are legitimate, or just very high quality forgeries, but we don’t really care either. Just look at these photos! Its a beautiful vision!

We expect the car to use the same basic underpinnings of the hard top, with the same 4.2L v8 powerplant producing 414 rampaging horses. Audi ultimately plans on equipping the R8 with a Lamborghini sourced V10 engine which will make over 500hp.

[Source: 4Wheelsblog.com]

Our friends over at Winding Road got a chance to take the BMW X6 for a spin not too long ago.
BMW execs are calling it a “Sports Activity Coupe” because not only will it be very ballsy, but because it will still be very utilitarian. With a steeply raked windshield, wide, sporting, and aggressive stance, and sporty profile, the X6 supposedly behaves quite well on a track.
We won’t go into too much more detail. Instead, go to Winding Road and read their review on the X6, which should hit sales floors in mid 2008.

Ladies and gentlemen! Introducing, the 2009 Hyundai Genesis Coupe! Finally we catch a glimpse of the real deal, thanks to anthony718, a member of the New Tiburon Forum, who claims he got the pictures from a “friend.” Rrriiiight… whatever you say, buddy! Wink Wink. The photos allegedly came from a market research event back in June.

Hyundai is pegging the new RWD Coupe as a Mustang fighter. Perhaps that is why it is seen parked next to a mustang in these pictures. If the specs we have are accurate, then they could ultimately be right. According to our source, the Coupe will initially come with two engine options, a 2.0L turbo with 215HP and 217 ft-lbs of torque, or a 3.8LV6 with 300HP and 280 ft-lbs. Prices are suggested to begin at $19,900 for the 4 banger, and $25,900 for the V6. We’ve got reason to believe that the Coupe may even one day come with Hyundai’s newly developed Tau V8 engine.

There’s an open Photobucket account with some more pictures here.

We couldn’t be more stoked to see this car, and want to know what you think of it. Leave your thoughts in the comments section!

[Source: Autoblog]

The bugs are still being worked out of Audi’s 580hp RS 6 sedan, caught testing in Germany on the infamous Nurburgring. Fitted with a twin turbo V10 engine, and a permanent quattro 4 wheel drive suspension, the RS 6 is fast enough to keep up with many supercars, yet the company claims its ride quality is also extremely tame, making the vehicle good for daily driving and long journeys.

[Source: Motor Authority]

Feast your eyes on the latest mystery Hyundai. At first glance, you might think this is just the Genesis sedan that was revealed in the spring. The Genesis was to be Hyundai’s first RWD v8 powered vehicle that was thought to be the company’s top of the range E-segment model. You’d be wrong. The vehicle that was spied here was seen testing alongside the Genesis sedan, and apparently, this thing is even bigger. It appears to be an F-segment luxury sedan, which was not only benchmark testing with the Genesis, but also with vehicles from Cadillac and Lexus.

According to sources, the even more prestigious luxury sedan should me made available on all major world markets, and will officially debut some time in 2009. It is said to have a user interface much like BMW’s iDrive (Though hopefully much more easy to use) and will be powered by V6 and V8 engines with power output in the range of 250 - 350 horses.

Seems like Hyundai is on a bigger role than we thought, and we’re glad to see it. You may recall our report earlier of Hyundai’s official Genesis Coupe Renderings.

[Source: World Car Fans]

Those Europeans sure are a lucky bunch. Did you ever think you’d see the day where Ford would offer a competitor to a Mitsubishi Evo X or Subaru Impreza WRX STI? Check out the new Ford Focus RS test mule seen making its rounds on the Nurburgring. Rally inspired, the RS trim is the successor to the outgoing Ford Focus ST that topped the Focus range in Europe. The pocket rocket RS makes use of an inline 6 cyl engine sourced by Volvo which produces 300hp, and is likely to send power to all four wheels via an AWD system based off of an existing Volvo architecture.

As you can see in these photos, the front air dams are massive and the trunk lid sports a pretty sizable wing. We’re not sure if these stylings will make it to production, but I guess we’ll find out some time in March after the 2008 Geneva Motorshow, when the Ford Focus RS is expected to go on sale.

[Source: World Car Fans]

Hawkeyed photographer types have spied Audi engineers taking a TT-S prototype making its rounds at the Nürburgring. At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be much of an aesthetic difference between the prototype and current production TT’s, but if you look closely, you’ll see that the TT-S has a much more aggressive appearance. The facia remains relatively unchanged, showcasing Audi’s signature grille, however there are deeper front air-dams and larger front air-intakes. Body lines have been sharpened as well, and there is now a quad exhaust system.

There have been no details released about the powertrain, although it has been widely speculated that the TT-S will produce upwards of 300 horses. Some people have suggested Audi will use a tweaked version of their turbocharged 2.0L fourbanger found in the S3.

Sounds pretty awesome if you ask us. A high powered variant of the TT convertible could be exactly what Audi needs to compete with other German players like BMW’s Z4 and the Porsche Boxter S in the cabriolet market.

(Update! Our friends over at Left Lane News have the exclusive spy photos of the car)

Lets all play the speculation game for a moment, shall we? Motor Authority just revealed spy photos of a BMW X5 without any badging whatsoever on a transport truck. But this ain’t no ordinary X5. The test mule seen in these snapshots indicate a few things have changed, namely the quad exhausts on the rear. This suggests that the displacement has been bumped up. Inside the vehicle, there was a handwritten message reminding the driver that running the engine for more than 30 minutes will cause damage to the engine. Could that mean BMW is developing a new powertrain? Isn’t the speculation game fun? Make the jump for 3 more pictures and some additional information.

[Source: Motor Authority]
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Last week in Las Vegas, Chrysler revealed the production version of the Dodge Challenger to their dealers. As most corporate first-reveals usually go, there was likely a camera ban in effect. This obviously didn’t seem to stop one overly zealous attendee from snapping a couple of shots off with his phone cam.
The images are quite blurry and pixelated, no doubt due to the poor lighting, and low pixel count of the phone camera, but they should be enough to make your mouth water in anticipation for one of the hottest cars to come from Dodge since… well, their latest Viper… which pretty much just came out.

As you can tell by the pictures, Dodge did add a B pillar, which deviates from the original concept. The rumor is that Chevrolet will also be doing this to their Camaro, in order to make the chassis more rigid. It will ultimately make the car safer anyway.

[Image Source: OntarioStreetCar]