It was only a few days ago when we reported an update regarding Texas tuner John Hennessey's 800-hp McLaren 600LT. We knew Hennessey took delivery of the first 600LT to reach America back in November, but we assumed he purchased the car purely for modification purposes. Apparently, that wasn't entirely the case. Speaking with Top Gear, Hennessey stated he bought a 600LT "for the same reason (he) bought a new Ford GT, to give our team a solid benchmark for our Venom F5."

As you likely recall, the Venom F5 hypercar is slated to be revealed later this year before customers starting receiving them sometime in 2020. The F5 is expected to attempt to set a new production car world speed record by beating the Koenigsegg Agera RS's 277 mph average time.

The original plan was not to modify the 600LT, but after taking it for a spin, Hennessey realized the car was "so good the only thing that it's asking for is more power." The ultimate goal is to give the McLaren Speedtail a "run for its money" from 0-150 mph. Any speed above that will be owned by the Speedtail thanks to its lower drag and sleeker aero. But since Hennessey became addicted, so to speak, to the 600LT, he figured he might as well create a tuning program for any interested owners.

They will soon have three upgrade levels to choose from: one with around 708 hp and a 0-60 mph time of 2.6 seconds, 805 hp and a 0-60 sprint time of 2.4 seconds, and the insane HPE1000. Expect a total of 1,001 hp and 865 lb-ft of torque, and a 0-60 time of only 2.1 seconds.

It should also be able to do the quarter-mile in around 9.6 seconds at 156 mph. "I think that McLaren is building the best supercars in the world right now," Hennessey added. Given that, it makes sense why he himself studied the 600LT and declared it benchmark worthy. The 600LT is also known for its exceptional on-track handling, so it'll be interesting to see how the Venom F5 will compare. Only time will tell.