THE HIGHEST HORSEPOWER NON-HYBRID PRODUCTION ENGINE IS AMERICAN

We're living in a golden age of horsepower. Before we even look at the ridiculous numbers they're getting out of EVs and hybrids, conventional ICE-powered six and eight-cylinder engines are cranking out more hp than any gearhead would have dreamed of just 10 years ago, when you could count on one finger the production vehicles crossing the thousand-horse mark (the 1,341-hp Koenigsegg Agera, if you're curious).

We went looking for the strongest production engine on the market today with a few basic parameters.

Hennessey Performance Engineering turns up on a lot of lists tracking high power and quick acceleration, but not for production models. The brand has made its name as an industry-leading performance tuner, taking already-fast cars like the 2018 Chevy Camaro ZL1 and cranking the zero-to-sixty down to 2.1 seconds with stuff like upgraded superchargers and air-intake systems and stronger components throughout the engine to handle the extra power.The F5 borrows its name from one of the brand's very first projects, the Hennessey Venom 650R, a 1996 Dodge Viper GTS with a 3.3-second 0-60 sprint. The Venom name carried over to the 2010 Hennessey Venom GT, a 1,244-hp twin-turbo upgrade to the Lotus Exige. The Venom F5 was in the works for a while before hitting the scene. The first reveal was in 2014; then, the body was showcased at SEMA in Las Vegas back in 2017, the same year the brand founded the production division, Hennessey Special Vehicles.The car finally launched in 2020, with a promised production run of 90 units, officially announcing Hennessey to the world as a licensed automaker. The current run, launched in 2023, consists of 36 Revolution units with the same engine specs as the other models but improved aerodynamics, engine cooling, and suspension. 12 of these will be Roadsters.

The Fury Twin Turbo V8

Engine	6.6-Liter Fury Twin-Turbo 8-Cylinder
Displacement	400 cubic inches
Bore	4.125 Inches
Stroke	3.750 Inches
Power	1,817 hp
Torque	1,193 lb-ft
0-60	2.5 Seconds
Top Speed	300 mph

The 8-cylinder Fury isn't just an engine, it's a thesis, a mission statement. This is Hennessey telling the industry, "Here's how you do it." The Venom F5 packs a hand-built V8 dubbed Fury because, according to CEO John Hennessey, "it's the most furious engine that we have ever built." There's no one secret ingredient to reaching 1,817 hp (the actual target number was just 1,800 hp), it's just damn good engineering from top to bottom by a team with three decades of experience in getting more out of every engine.Forged aluminum pistons, a forged steel V8 engine block, 3D-printed titanium turbo compressor housings, and high-flow catalytic converters. A unique manifold design, with the intercooler placed between the plenum and the cylinder heads, cools the air coming out of the turbos on its way to the combustion chamber, resulting in greater air density and stronger combustion.

$3,000,000. Obviously, this isn't the kind of car where you can just go on the website and start clicking on features and add-ons, so we can't give you the full cost once you add in the delivery fee and taxes. But we do know that when Michael Jordan bought one, it ended up costing him $3.5 million.But it's 100% street-legal, and it's covered by a full warranty. While no seven-figure hypercar will ever be the most practical purchase you can make, if you've got three or four million dollars lying around, a Hennessey Venom F5 comes with the assurance that you're driving the most powerful V8 ever built.

If you're looking for the most powerful engine in the world, the Venom F5 wins hands-down. But it's not the most powerful car in the world. There are a couple that deserve mentioning in any conversation on the subject of high horsepower.

The Bugatti Tourbillon won't actually be out until 2026, but it's worth mentioning as it is projected to be the most powerful hybrid car ever released. The Tourbillon runs on an 8.35-liter 16-cylinder engine producing 789 hp. With the two electric motors up front and one between the engine and transmission, the total horsepower is 1,775. While the end result is truly record-breaking, the base engine doesn't even break 1,000 hp without the electric boosters.We also wanted to point out that the Venom F5 is actually 12 horses stronger than the strongest hybrid because that's a testament to Hennessey's incredible engineering know-how.