Turns out Koenigsegg has been pretty busy lately, having released images and specs today of the world’s first ‘Mega GT’ and confirmed the identity of the fastest production roadcar it will ever build.
Perhaps not the most ‘Petrolicious’ news article we’ve ever done, but… well, c’mon.
The ‘Mega GT’ to start with, which boasts the same mental pace we’ve come to expect from the Swedish lunatics – the hybrid powertrain produces 1,700hp and 3,500Nm (2,581lb ft) of torque! – but also happens to be Koenigsegg’s first ever four-seater. Cloying as the term may be, that company founder and CEO Christian von Koenigsegg has dubbed the new Gemera “a completely new category of car where extreme megacar meets spacious interior and ultimate environmental consciousness” is at the very least understandable, given the speeds to which the Porsche Panamera GTS and the BMW M8 Gran Coupe will probably disappear in the rear-view mirror.
In terms of ‘spacious interior’, the Gemera’s gharishly coloured cabin boasts four cold and four warm cup holders, heated seats, three-zone climate control, infotainment screens front and rear, on-board WiFi, and an 11-speaker surround sound system. Basically what you’d find in an ‘average’ Mercedes-Benz AMG GT63 S but with almost three times the power.
Said power, and ‘ultimate environmental consciousness’, comes courtesy of three electric motors – one for each rear wheel and one on the crankshaft – which produce a combined 800kW, or 1,100bhp. The two-litre twin-turbo three-cylinder meanwhile – dubbed the ‘Tiny Friendly Giant’ – to which said electric motors are mated produces a still sprightly 600bhp and 600Nm (443lb ft) of torque. That combined, herculean 1,700hp is sent to all four wheels and is enough for the 1,850kg beast (1,715kg dry) to hit 0-100kph in 1.9 seconds en-route to a 400kph top speed.
Oh and by the way, the Gemera isn’t just a rocket ship on casters. Rear-wheel steering and all-wheel torque vectoring have been implemented to boost maneuverability through the corners. In a neat touch, the front end has also been designed to ape Koenigsegg’s first ever prototype, the CC, which landed back in 1996.
Production is limited to just 300 examples. Expect an appropriate price tag.
At the other side of Koenigsegg’s bats**t spectrum meanwhile is the Jesko Absolut, “the fastest Koenigsegg ever made and the company will never endeavor to make a faster series-production road car – ever.” Quite the statement.
Named in honour of the father of company founder and CEO, Christian, a track-focused Jesko made its debut at last year’s Geneva Motor Show, usurping the Agera RS as Koenigsegg’s performance benchmark in the process. Now, complete with newly optimized aerodynamics, the Swedish madmen (and women) have confirmed that no road-going Koenigsegg will ever be faster. Hence the new ‘Absolut’ addition to the name.
The bodywork has thus been restyled specifically with low drag in-mind. The active rear wing on the ‘old’ Jesko for example is now gone, Koenigsegg engineers instead taking inspiration from F-15 fighter jets, hence the long tail and fins. That, plus the faired-in rear wheels, elongated rear hood, closed air duct in the front bumper, and a lowered ride height mean the official drag coefficient is just 0.278 Cd. Our comprehensive knowledge of fluid dynamics is a bit rusty, but a vote in the Petrolicious office deems that to be ‘quite good.’
Combined with that is a 5-litre twin-turbo V8 – also revealed last year – which produces a minimum of 1,280hp, or, if used with E85 biofuel, a mind-melting 1,600hp. An in-house developed nine-speed Koenigsegg Light Speed Transmission (LST) completes the drivetrain, a unit that also uses Ultimate Power On Demand (UPOD) – they do love their abbreviations, don’t they? – a pseudo-predictive technology that “enables gear changes in virtually zero time”.
Impressive enough, but despite the theoretical Bugatti Chiron-bating pace, a definitive top speed and 0-100kph sprint time has yet to be announced, Christian von Koenigsegg stating only that the Jesko Absolut will reach “unheard of speed in record-setting pace.” Pricing and production numbers? Dream on.
*Images courtesy of Koenigsegg
