a half a million dollars or so gets nice toys. unless they float. or fly. then you hardly get anything. :eek:
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/3686/3sec.htm The 3-SECOND CLUB ... "Long live the NEW KING: the Hennessey Motorsports Viper Venom. As if a regular 400-horsepower V-10 Dodge Viper isn't sufficiently virile, Hennessey's Venom 500 and 550 derivatives pack enough testosterone to outfit six pro-wrestlers, three Marine Corps platoons, and a trainload of foamy-mouthed Brahma bulls. The "slower" of the two blasts from 0-60 mph in 3.6 seconds, and scorches the quarter mile in 12.1 seconds at 116.3 mph. That's an energy release as subtle as an atomic bomb in a pay toilet and as exciting to drive as everything in our high-buck Road Test Review combined, making Hennessey's super-tuned Vipers the quickest - accelerating street cars ever tested in Motor Trend's 46 years of publication... period... no discussion. If that's not a big brag, you're not paying attention." [...] "The citified demeanor of the Venom 550's low-speed lope belies its flesh-eating soul. So, light the booster rockets and hang on. There's more power than traction all the way to 100 mph and enough torque to pull the truth out of the Warren Commission. Driving technique is critical to obtaining a record run, with an idle-speed launch and judicious feathering of the throttle required well into third gear. On the abrasive asphalt of Chrysler's Arizona Proving Grounds (better than what most dragstrips offer), Hennessey's Venom 550 blasted 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds, to 100 in 8.4, and through the quarter mile in 11.7 seconds at 120.9 mph. That's 1.5 seconds quicker and 11.3 mph faster than a Lamborghini Diablo, at about one-third the cost!" [...] "Tallying $87,195 in full-option trim, the red Venom 550 is far from cheap. But its bang - for - the - megabuck value is unsurpassed by any street-car compilation currently offered. The downsides to owning such a hormone-injected Viper are little more than those comfort atrocities already doled out by the factory version. Fuel economy will be worse (though we did see 17 mpg in freeway driving) warranty coverage becomes questionable, and tire life is measured in weeks, not years. But, all that is probably of little concern to those power freaks among us who lust to own the quickest accelerating cars Motor Trend has ever tested."