Hennessey Performance do the impossible to the 12C and 458

Our good friends in Texas, Hennessey Performance engineering have completed what many would consider the impossible: improving the already incredible McLaren 12C and Ferrari 458 Italia supercars. A firm famous for pushing the performances of some of the world’s finest cars including the record-breaking Venom GT to their absolute limits, Hennessey’s passion for automotive engineering has been expressed through a multitude of muscle cars which have been finely tuned to pack astronomical levels of power.

The firm was recently given column inches worldwide for revamping the Ferrari 458, giving the prancing horse an extra spring in its step by adding a further 35BHP to the conventional 562BHP model – which is by no means a slouch!

The McLaren HPE700 represents a similar story, fine tuning every aspect of the elegant vehicle, as well as bringing in a host of additions to increase the output from 616 to 704BHP. The results on the road are out of this world, with the supercar taking just 2.8 seconds to reach 60mph from standstill. While there isn’t news yet on the top speed of the beefier McLaren, expect it to hammer its previous top pace of 207mph. The added punch is thanks to a long list of improvements, among those being an ECU software update, new air filters and a new exhaust system. As with all Hennessey performance packages, each model will be given idiosyncratic exterior badging, as well as serial-numbered engine and dash plates.

However, the raft of changes can’t match the performance of the 458, and while the 0-60 speeds are identical, the 458 – or the HPE700 Twin Turbo as it is officially known – reaches the ¼ mile post 0.2 seconds quicker; it is also worth nothing that the models can both reach a peak 137mph in that distance. The added pace of the 458 comes largely from its enhanced power under the hood, with its 738BHP slightly superior to the aforementioned 704BHP of the 12C.

With both vehicles offering beauty, style and raw power in abundance, it’s no surprise that they have already become celebrated as among the hottest properties in the exclusive world of the supercar.