Baron
Enthusiast
Contrary to the urging of a few disgruntled posters, I went to Larry Macedo's place in Orlando this past weekend to check out Hennessey's Venom 1000TT installation on a GTS. Actually, the car was not Hennessey's but a customer's car that was about 98% done (The twin turbo and NOS work was done, as was a full upgraded leather interior, but I think the car just needed the stock bumpers replaced with venom aero bumpers). I've learned from past experiences that a shop will often do things to their own car that they wouldn't necessarily do on a customer's car, so it was encouraging to see that the car was owned by a real customer instead of it just being the shop's experimental vehicle. Hennessey also brought the parts with him for Larry to complete another twin turbo install, so I'll probably check in at some point to see how it turned out.
We all hung out for a while in Larry's shop, which was really nice (and big)by the way, until it was time to ride in Hennessey's car. My impression was consistent with the other's who took a ride: The car is awesome!
I particularly liked two things:
1) The Sound. When John took another person for a ride, he passed by the shop going probably 100 MPH, and I kid you not, the car sounded like a freakin' Boeing 747. The exhaust note was just nuts. It wasn't overly loud at all, like some of the supercharged cars I've heard, but instead was about the same loudness as a stock GTS with an aftermarket 3" exhaust. The only difference of course, was the subdued whistling of the turbos when the throttle was pressed, which made the whole thing sound freaky in a good way. Inside the car, there was nowhere near as much "turbo sound" as you would expect. I suspect that's because the turbos are under the car. My friend has a mustang with an Incon twin turbo kit and the turbo sound is way more pronounced.
2) The smoothness of the power. Obviously it would be stupid for me to sit here an go on and on about the amount of power the car made. It's a twin turbo viper for cryin out loud. You know it's going to be a beast! What I liked about the setup was how smooth it felt. It didn't have a big burly idle or that raw, muscle car feel. It basically felt like a stock viper, until the gas pedal was hit, and then all hell broke loose. There was no discernable turbo lag, so when the throttle was buried, the thing just accelerated instantly and smoothly, and it never stopped. We always ran out of road before the car ran out of acceleration.
One thing I should make clear. I have never been a customer of HMS, or Larry Macedo, so my opinion is not biased one way or the other. My experience is with the car, and that's it. Anybody could have brought that car and my opinion of it would have been the same. However, the fact that Hennessey built the car does reenforce the fact that the guy can make Vipers go unbelievably fast, no matter what negativity there may be floating around out there.
After we all took rides in the car, we headed down to the local chicken wing joint. I tried to race Tom Welch on the way over there, but he wouldn't bite. Of course, that may have had something to do with the fact that he was driving a dualie with a trailer attached.
We had a good time and it got even better when Bill, the guy who's getting the next twin turbo setup, bought us all lunch. Thanks Bill !! 
I look forward to the next get-together!
PS. Larry, it was a pleasure meeting you and I wish you the best with your new shop!
We all hung out for a while in Larry's shop, which was really nice (and big)by the way, until it was time to ride in Hennessey's car. My impression was consistent with the other's who took a ride: The car is awesome!
I particularly liked two things:
1) The Sound. When John took another person for a ride, he passed by the shop going probably 100 MPH, and I kid you not, the car sounded like a freakin' Boeing 747. The exhaust note was just nuts. It wasn't overly loud at all, like some of the supercharged cars I've heard, but instead was about the same loudness as a stock GTS with an aftermarket 3" exhaust. The only difference of course, was the subdued whistling of the turbos when the throttle was pressed, which made the whole thing sound freaky in a good way. Inside the car, there was nowhere near as much "turbo sound" as you would expect. I suspect that's because the turbos are under the car. My friend has a mustang with an Incon twin turbo kit and the turbo sound is way more pronounced.
2) The smoothness of the power. Obviously it would be stupid for me to sit here an go on and on about the amount of power the car made. It's a twin turbo viper for cryin out loud. You know it's going to be a beast! What I liked about the setup was how smooth it felt. It didn't have a big burly idle or that raw, muscle car feel. It basically felt like a stock viper, until the gas pedal was hit, and then all hell broke loose. There was no discernable turbo lag, so when the throttle was buried, the thing just accelerated instantly and smoothly, and it never stopped. We always ran out of road before the car ran out of acceleration.
One thing I should make clear. I have never been a customer of HMS, or Larry Macedo, so my opinion is not biased one way or the other. My experience is with the car, and that's it. Anybody could have brought that car and my opinion of it would have been the same. However, the fact that Hennessey built the car does reenforce the fact that the guy can make Vipers go unbelievably fast, no matter what negativity there may be floating around out there.
After we all took rides in the car, we headed down to the local chicken wing joint. I tried to race Tom Welch on the way over there, but he wouldn't bite. Of course, that may have had something to do with the fact that he was driving a dualie with a trailer attached.
We had a good time and it got even better when Bill, the guy who's getting the next twin turbo setup, bought us all lunch. Thanks Bill !! I look forward to the next get-together!PS. Larry, it was a pleasure meeting you and I wish you the best with your new shop!
