650HP Ford GT

[tdm434m]

Someone asked about performance mods for the new Ford GT. There is info on this Ebay item about Hennesy Motorsports #4564994716, kind of pricey, Wayne

[DirkP]

Watch out for Hennessy cars, If your going to buy one let him work the bugs out on the first 10 or so. John is not the best at tuning the car once he puts turbos or superchargers on them. Someone above had said it correctly just changing pullys or adding a supercharger to a car is only 25% of getting the car to perform correctly. I hope his money problems are also behind him. Hennessy is very creative and ahead of the curve with his thoughts on what makes a car go fast. But, sometimes he cant put it into the car.

There are a couple of Tuners here in Florida who are re-programing (chip change) and have changed the pully to a 2.7 and 2.8. I talked to one of them this last weekend at a large Ford event in Ocala. He is saying by just reprograming he is getting 635HP and 510 torque. Adding the Borla exhaust only gives you an added 8HP. But, per him, the sound is AWSOME. This tuner also told me the pullys are $500 each just for the part. Something about all the re-designes that were put into them by the manufactor to make them a quite as they are.

He told me he has set up a GT with the reprograms and a 2.8 pully on it. The owner has 3,000 miles on the car and is on his 3RD set of rear tires. Seems the 50 plus boost in Torque actually will let the back tires bust loose when you romp on it. I am not to fond of spending $800 every couple of months for tires.

I also talked to a dealer today about changing the pully and was told that it would probably void the warrenty on the engine. Ford would try to blame the pully change on any defects on the engine and it would be up to me to prove it was not the pully change that caused the engine problem. I have read somewhere that the engine and drive trane on the GT is worth in the area of $44,000. I dont think I need to run 10 flats (I wouldnt take my car to the track any way)by changing the pully.

Sorry I got long winded there. I will update the board when I find out more.

[T.R.]

it's not clear - are you saying with tuning and/or a new chip alone they're getting 635 HP? or with also changing the pulley? Most guys are getting that by doing all of the above

[Mark Worthington]

Aside from the fact that he is a mediocre tuner at best, John Hennesey is a crook. Anyone would be well advised to keep their car and their wallet far from his reach.

[Neil]

Many owners are using a slightly smaller pulley on the supercharger which is increasing the power. Interestingly although Ford quote 550bhp for the GT, many in the UK have been dyno'd at over 590 in stock form.

I hear that the smaller pulley is causing some problems with the inlet tube collapsing (with the additional draw) along with some seals being stressed.

There's a guy in the US who has put twin turbos on his GT and has achieved over 1,000bhp!

Personally, 550+ is more than enough for me tootling around Surrey!

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

Originally Posted by Mark Worthington

Aside from the fact that he is a mediocre tuner at best, John Hennesey is a crook. Anyone would be well advised to keep their car and their wallet far from his reach.

Yeah,
I saw on a Mopar board about how he has sold parts off customers Vipers and he even posted as himself and bragged about "having money in the bank" and how stupid customers were. Very surprised this guy has half the reputation he does...seemed like a real jerk!
Rick

[Bruce]

Do not use Hennesey. I did and was very sorry for the experience. He's a liar and a cheat. I signed up just now to save anyone from using this character. I recently had a young guy from my area install some after market parts. His name is Justin Burcham of JPC Racing. Installation included Ford racing headers, Accufab throttle body, Kennebell assembly for the front of the blower with 2.75 pulley and tuner chip. The car dynoed at 600 RWHP 590# of torque. I also had him replace transmission in my Viper with a G Tech unit. Big improvement over OEM unit. Justin is new to the aftermarket business, he wins races and is extremely knowledgable.

[Jonathan]

If I were going to mod a Viper or Ford GT, or about anything for that matter, I'd send it to Jason Heffner. He did fantastic work on my Viper GTS I used to own.