Hennessey Exorcist Camaro hits 349km/h

The 746kW Hennessey Exorcist Camaro is, surprise, faster than the new 563kW ZR1 Corvette.

The location of choice for testing was the high-speed oval at the Continental Tyre Proving Grounds, which is in Uvalde, Texas.

Hitting a top speed of 217mph, or 349km/h, the Exorcist topped the ZR1 by 3mph (about 4.8km/h). We suppose 1197Nm of torque is handy for this, too.

The 1.7-litre supercharger was upgraded to a 2.9-litre unit, with a larger intercooler, ported cylinder heads, and camshaft and valve train upgrades.

“The factory 10-speed transmission was also used and the 217mph speed was achieved in ninth gear.

“To date, HPE has delivered 20 Exorcists to clients and the company plans to only build 100 units in total.”

The standard Exorcist wheels and tyres were even used during this test.

“We wanted to see if the Exorcist could exceed the top speed of the new ZR1 Corvette, which is 213 mph. Mission accomplished,” says John Hennessey.

“This is just the first high-performance validation test for the Exorcist.

“We also plan to test our car’s 0-60 mph and quarter-mile performance at the dragstrip as well as handling and braking on a road course.

Hennessey did end up testing the car's time down the quarter. It ran a 9.57.

“The Exorcist offers supercar performance while still retaining everything that you would want in a daily driver with a backseat and room for golf clubs in the trunk.

“It’s kind of like having a new ZR1 Corvette with room for four people – but faster.”

So far, Hennessey says the Exorcist will hit 60mph in under 3 seconds and run a quarter in under 10.

That, and they come with a three year/36,000 mile (57,900km) warranty.