Hennessey goes behind the scenes of its 205-mph top speed run

Hennessey Performance made a big splash last week, becoming the first on record to exceed 200 miles per hour in a C8 Corvette. While the car they used is much less modified than any of their planned future mid-engine Corvette creations will be, the test demonstrated just how capable the new ‘vette is out of the box. And with a little help from some nitrous oxide.

In this behind the scenes video, Hennessey shows some of what it took to get the C8 over the speed threshold, including the aero modifications and extra power. The car doing the run is equipped with the Z51 aero package, which actually brings the C8’s top speed down from 194 mph to 184 mph, due to the excess downforce and increased drag. 

See the run here:

⠀ See 2020 Chevy Corvette with nitrous go beyond 200 mph

The famed tuner shop remedied this issue by ripping the spoiler off the car entirely, which made things much more slippery. But as the driver notes in the video, it also made the Corvette a handful at top speed. It wasn’t just aero needed to get the 495-bhp (369 Kilowatts) car over 200, either. Some extra power was needed to do the trick. Hennessey shoved a huge bottle of nitrous in the car’s generous-sized boot, injecting a claimed additional 155 bhp. With a total of 650 (485 kW) bhp from the LT2 V8, the Corvette surged past 200, hitting 205.1 on a single pass.

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The rest of the six-minute video is filled with behind the scenes moments like employees guessing how fast the car would go down the straightaway at the Continental Tyre proving grounds in Uvalde, Texas. All things considered, it seems like Hennessey didn’t change too much to get the Corvette over 200 mph, which is a great reminder of what crazy speeds are to come – both from GM and from Hennessey.