
At the Quail Motorsports Gathering in Monterey, CA we happened to run into a Mr. John Hennessey admiring the same Lamborghini LP670-4 SV we were drooling over. With the Venom GT set to debut at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, we asked how the project was going. He promptly produced an iPhone and gave us a sneak preview of dozens of CFD (computational fluid dynamics) renderings. At the time, we had no way to show you the photos, but John was kind enough to send a few our way.
As you can see by the renderings, the Venom GT features an adjustable rear wing that also acts as an air brake. We were informed that the Venom GT should be capable of 1.5 negative g's under braking, and that with the carbon ceramic brakes it will be able to stop from 200 mph in seven seconds flat.
We also learned the Venom GT is actually based on a stretched Lotus Exige chassis, making sense of the visual similarities between the two cars. Hennessey told us that he wanted to keep the car as light as possible, and the Exige was the best platform available to help him achieve that goal. The switch from the Viper V10 to the LS9 V8 was done for the same reason, and John liked the idea of an American V8 in an English car -- the same formula that was so successful for Carroll Shelby back in the 1960s.




No. 3, not exactly the most imaginative name, but the Kia concept car that so intrigued us at this week's Geneva Motor Show looks to be headed for production. What looks to be a Soul-based mule has been nabbed in spy photographs while cold-weather testing in Sweden. Kia says the slick-looking MPV will haul five passengers in its Honda Fit sized footprint. From what we can tell in the spy shots, the No. 3 will be another entry in the small/useful/fun (hopefully) segment that actually looks pretty good. Hopefully they beautify the name to match the rest of the car.




