Hennessey Venom F5 Tuning Guide — Best Setup for FH6

Class Range: S2 - X | Base HP: 1,817 | Drivetrain: RWD | Weight: 1,360 kg | Best Class: X

The Hennessey Venom F5 is not a car. It's a missile with a steering wheel. 1,817 horsepower from a 6.6L twin-turbo V8 (Hennessey calls it the "Fury"), rear-wheel drive only, and a curb weight of 1,360 kg thanks to a carbon fiber monocoque that weighs just 86 kg. The power-to-weight ratio is 1,336 horsepower per ton — for context, the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport is about 806 hp/ton. The Venom F5 has 65% more power per kilogram than a Chiron. That's not a typo. Hennessey built this car with one goal: 500 km/h (311 mph), and in FH6, you can absolutely achieve that.

But here's the thing nobody tells you about the Venom F5: it's rear-wheel drive. 1,817 horsepower through just the rear tires. There's no AWD safety net, no hybrid front axle to pull you straight, no electronic torque vectoring. Just two massive rear tires and your right foot. The Venom F5 demands more respect and more precise throttle control than any other car in this guide, because at any speed below 250 km/h, full throttle means wheelspin. In fourth gear. On warm tires. The engine is so powerful that traction is never a given — it's something you have to earn with every input.

The tuning philosophy for the Venom F5 depends entirely on what you're doing. For top-speed runs, you tune for minimum drag and maximum stability at 400+ km/h. For circuit racing (yes, some madmen circuit-race this thing), you tune for traction and handling — accepting that you'll never use full power until fifth gear. This guide covers the top-speed build in detail, with notes for circuit adaptations.

Best Tuning Setups by Class

X class is where the Venom F5 belongs — it was built for numbers that don't fit within FH6's class system. At X class with 2,050 hp, the Venom F5 will exceed 500 km/h with the right gearing and aero setup. This is the ultimate top-speed car in FH6. S2 at the stock 1,817 hp is technically possible for circuit racing, but at S2 you're up against AWD hypercars that can put power down while you're managing wheelspin in third gear. The Venom F5 at S2 is a challenge run, not a competitive choice.

Tuning Parameters — The Detail Work

Tire Pressure

Front: 33.5 PSI, Rear: 32.5 PSI. The Venom F5 needs high tire pressures because at the speeds it reaches (400+ km/h), the tires experience massive centrifugal forces that try to deform them. Higher pressures keep the tire's shape stable at extreme speeds. The front pressure at 33.5 PSI is notably high — at 500+ km/h, the front tires are dealing with aerodynamic lift forces and the slightest deformation causes wobble. Rear pressure at 32.5 PSI is slightly softer to maintain a contact patch for the 1,817 hp trying to overwhelm the tire's grip. For circuit racing, drop both values by 2.0 PSI to improve mechanical grip at lower speeds.

Gearing

Final drive: 2.80 (X class, top-speed build). This is the key to the Venom F5's top speed. A 2.80 final drive is extremely tall — most cars in this guide run 3.40-4.10 — and it's necessary because the engine produces so much power that you can pull tall gearing at any speed. Individual gears should be set to maximize top speed: first gear should hit 120+ km/h, second 200+, third 280+, fourth 350+, fifth 420+, and sixth should pull to 500+. The gearing should be set on the highway (or the longest straight you can find) — do a pull, check where RPMs max out in top gear, and adjust accordingly. For circuit racing, change the final drive to 3.20 to make the lower gears usable without constant wheelspin.

Alignment

Camber: -2.2 front, -1.6 rear. Moderate camber. The Venom F5 doesn't need extreme camber because it's primarily used for top-speed runs where cornering forces are a secondary concern. The front camber at -2.2 provides stability at speed, and the rear camber at -1.6 keeps the tire flat for maximum straight-line grip. Toe: 0.0 front, 0.1 rear. Zero front toe is critical — any toe at 400+ km/h creates drag and instability. Slight rear toe-in keeps the rear planted at speed. Caster: 7.0.

Anti-Roll Bars

Front: 36.0, Rear: 34.0. The Venom F5 at 400+ km/h experiences aerodynamic forces that try to make the car float and wander. The anti-roll bars at 36.0/34.0 provide high-speed stability by resisting body roll, which is more about keeping the car tracking straight than about cornering. The slightly softer rear bar (34.0) helps the rear squat under acceleration to transfer weight onto the rear tires — at speed, loading the rear tires is the difference between acceleration and tire smoke. For circuit racing, soften both bars by 4.0 to reduce oversteer on corner exit.

Springs

Front: 900 lb/in, Rear: 850 lb/in. Extremely stiff springs are necessary for the Venom F5's mission. At 400 km/h, aerodynamic lift tries to unload the suspension, and stiff springs resist that unloading — the car stays planted. The front springs at 900 lb/in prevent the nose from lifting at speed, which would reduce front tire grip and make steering unresponsive. Rear springs at 850 lb/in are slightly softer to allow squat for weight transfer under power. Ride height: minimum possible. The Venom F5's carbon fiber body was designed to run as low as aerodynamically possible — every millimeter of ride height costs top speed. For circuit racing, raise the ride height by 1.0 inch and soften springs to 750/700 to improve compliance over curbs.

Damping

Rebound: 10.5 front, 10.0 rear. Bump: 7.0 front, 6.5 rear. These are the firmest damping settings in this guide, and they need to be. At 500 km/h, any suspension movement happens at incredible speed, and the dampers need to arrest that movement instantly. High rebound damping prevents the body from oscillating after bumps — at speed, one oscillation can become a tank-slapper. The bump damping is correspondingly high because the suspension needs to resist compression from aerodynamic forces. For circuit racing, drop all values by 2.0 to improve mechanical grip over bumps and curbs.

Aero

For top-speed runs: set both front and rear aero to minimum. Every bit of downforce is also drag, and the Venom F5's 500 km/h target requires minimum drag. The car will feel floaty at high speed — accept this. The alternative is a car that's stable at 450 km/h but can never reach 500 km/h because the aero is holding it back. For circuit racing, add the Forza rear wing at 50% downforce and the front splitter — this provides just enough high-speed stability for the fast corners without killing the top speed advantage that makes the Venom F5 competitive on tracks with long straights.

Brakes

Balance: 54% front, Pressure: 115%. The Venom F5's carbon-ceramic brakes are sized for 500 km/h stops, and in FH6 you need maximum pressure to make them effective. The 115% pressure gives every bit of stopping power available. The 54% front bias accounts for the forward weight transfer from 400+ km/h — at those speeds, aerodynamic forces push the nose down and the front tires can handle more braking force. The single most important braking tip: at 400+ km/h, start braking at least 500 meters before your corner. The Venom F5 has tremendous brakes, but physics is physics — stopping from 500 km/h takes distance.

Differential

Rear diff: Accel 80%, Decel 50%. The Venom F5 is RWD only — there's no center or front diff to tune. 80% accel lock is extremely high, and it's justified. With 1,817 hp going through two rear tires, you need both tires working together at all times. Any less lock and the inside tire on corner exit will spin uselessly while the outside tire does all the work, which means slower acceleration and unpredictable handling. 50% decel lock is also high — it stabilizes the rear under the extreme braking forces from 400+ km/h, preventing the rear from stepping out when you lift off the throttle at speed. For circuit racing, reduce accel lock to 65% to make the car less prone to understeer on corner exit.

Best Race Types for the Venom F5

Driving Tips

The Venom F5 is genuinely scary to drive fast because the speeds it reaches are beyond what most FH6 players (including me) are used to managing. First and most important: throttle control is everything. At any speed below 250 km/h, full throttle will break the rear tires loose. You need to roll onto the throttle progressively, even in third and fourth gear, and only go to 100% throttle when the car is straight and the tires are hooked up. Second: brake impossibly early. The braking distances at 400+ km/h are so long that your instinct will be wrong. Find a marker — a bridge, a sign, a specific tree — and start braking 200 meters before you think you need to. Then adjust from there. Third: be smooth with the steering at speed. The Venom F5 at 450 km/h does not tolerate sudden inputs. Lane changes that would be trivial at 200 km/h become life-or-death at 450. Gentle, progressive steering and early lane positioning are essential. Fourth: the car is fastest in a straight line. Don't try to carry speed through corners like you would in a Bolide or Viper ACR — the Venom F5's strength is what happens between the corners. Brake, survive the corner, then unleash 1,817 hp on the straight. Fifth: respect the car. The Venom F5 will kill you in FH6 more times than any other car. That's not a joke — the combination of RWD, 1,817 hp, and 500+ km/h capability means mistakes are punished instantly and severely. Drive within your limits and build speed gradually.

Common Tuning Mistakes

Short gearing for acceleration. The Venom F5 already has too much power for traction in lower gears. Shortening the gearing makes this worse — you'll just spin through every gear instead of moving forward. Keep the gearing tall and use the engine's massive torque to pull through.

Too much rear toe-out. At 400+ km/h, rear toe-out makes the car wildly unstable. The rear will wander and snap unpredictably. Keep at least 0.1 degrees of rear toe-in at all times.

Adding downforce for cornering. For top-speed runs, downforce is drag and drag is the enemy. Every 1% of downforce costs top speed. For speed records, strip the aero to minimum and learn to manage the car's natural behavior at speed. For circuit racing, add aero — but accept that you're compromising top speed for cornering stability.

Stiff anti-roll bars on the rear. A stiff rear bar lifts the inside tire on corner exit. On a car with 1,817 hp going through the rear tires, a lifted tire means the remaining tire gets all the power and instantly spins. The rear bar should always be softer than the front on this car.

Not upgrading tires first. The single best PI investment on the Venom F5 is tire compound. Better tires don't just improve cornering — they improve straight-line traction, which is the biggest limitation on this car. Before adding more power, upgrade the tires.

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