Koenigsegg was started in 1994 by Christian von Koenigsegg with the sole aim to make the world’s best supercar. At 22, when most people are still figuring out what they want to do and twiddling their thumbs, Christian set about achieving his dream of building the world’s greatest supercar. He sketched the basic layout on his own and hand prototyped the first car with a small team. Despite having no formal training in engineering, Koenigsegg has managed multiple patents all revolutionary in their own right. After the first factory caught fire, Koenigsegg shifted headquarters to an airplane hangar with its own airfield in Ängelholm, Sweden. The previous occupants were Sweden’s top flight fighter plane squadron and in respect to that tradition of aviation every Koenigsegg car sports a white ghost decal.
Koenigsegg doesn’t just build cars, they build dreams. The factory at Ängelholm is a place where petrol heads might have a crisis. It’s a place where superlatives are the norm. Fastest, lightest, most expensive, this is the everyday reality of Ängelholm. Koenigsegg is a shining example of what can be achieved with the right attitude, no limitations or bureaucracy, and a lot of capital. Koenigsegg has assembled some of the most talented people in the field, all under one roof and made sure everybody plays nice. This is evidenced in the product and how resolved it is, every part in harmony with the others, every little bit working in conjunction to a common goal.
Starting out from scratch has many advantages. Koenigsegg is now at the cutting edge of everything automotive. From their use of composites to engine technology, they have excelled and become market leaders.
Latest Koenigsegg Car – AGERA R
The latest car, the AGERA R is a monster. No car goes harder, faster or longer than this beast. It holds the record for going from 0 to 300 and back to 0 again in 21.19 seconds. Also, in a straight line it will hit 420 kmph. It achieves this with sheer engineering and design ingenuity.
The Agera R is probably the most carbon fiber intensive car on earth. Most supercars have their monocoque tub and body panels made from carbon fibre, but this is where Koenigsegg goes above and beyond. Things like pressurised turbo piping, intake manifolds, and valve covers are all made from carbon fibre. Basically everything which they could make from carbon, they have. This results in a car that is light, fast and so strong that they can reuse carbon tubs between crash tests for homologation.
Unique Suspension Geomentry
The engine is a work of art at 5 litres in capacity spread over eight cylinders. It’s not a very big engine for this level of a car, but what it produces is mind boggling – 1,200 horsepower from the factory with a safety margin of 30 per cent. These kind of numbers were only seen in drag racing till a few years ago and this is a usable super car that you can comfortably drive every day. Weighing in at 198 kg the engine is also superlight, to the point that it has the highest power to weight ratio of any production engine. It also has the most torque to weight and the least carbon dioxide emissions per horsepower per km of any car. Koenigsegg’s attention to detail is legendary, if you were to buy a car and take it to India, Koenigsegg will actually send for a sample of your local fuel and optimise the engine management to use your fuel for maximum efficiency.
Producing all that power is one thing, but getting it down to the ground effectively through two wheels is a completely different story. Koenigsegg uses a combination of unique suspension geometry, a very tricky gearbox and some immensely clever software to achieve this.
Unique – Triplex Suspension System
A brainchild of Christian von Koenigsegg himself, triplex suspension system is unique in the way that it has an extra lateral dampener running across the axle and working in conjunction with the pushrod shock absorbers and the anti roll bars. The car produces so much power that the rear suspension would squat down during hard acceleration. To prevent this they put in this lateral dampener that only works during low speeds and high acceleration to prevent squatting and provide ultimate traction. Another plus is that it counteracts the harshness and poor ride quality, usually associated with using the kind of substantial anti roll bars that they use.
The other cornerstone of their legendary traction is their immensely tricky gearbox system also developed in-house by Koenigsegg. The automated manual gearbox has one of the fastest shift times outside of racing without using a complex dual clutch system. It uses a second miniature clutch to slow down the drive shaft and synchronise with the input shaft resulting in imperceptibly fast gear shifts. This unique electronic open differential is another piece of revolutionary technology. The differential stays open, allowing the outside wheel to spin faster and help in turning, mid corner the differential gets partially locked and allows for a superfast exit and in times of lift off oversteer the differential will completely lock allowing for almost no wheelspin and a quick recovery.
Interior of the Car
The interior of the car is pure jewellery. All touchable surfaces in the Koenigsegg are either carbon fibre, supple leather or billet aluminium. The interior buttons all look the same and seem featureless and you think someone has made a mistake until you turn the car on and the interior lighting reveals the signage and function of each button. Koenigsegg uses a system of ghost-lighting via tiny holes in the switches which only become visible with back lighting. The simple-looking steering wheel is a delight to hold, thanks to its highly optimised ergonomic shape.
The design of the car is a product of evolutionary refinement; the lines are still relatable to the first cars of the early 2000s but with a much more updated treatment. The low flying brick shape is highly optimised for stability. It is a vital design requirement when the car reaches 300 kmph in less than 14 seconds.
A unique feature of the Koenigsegg is its ability to remove the roof and neatly stow it away in the front luggage compartment. The Koenigsegg door system is another brainchild of the company founder. Not since Lamborghini and their scissor doors has a more unique system. The door actually pops straight out and swivels out in what they call a dihedral helix system.
In conclusion, if you have 1.45 million dollars to spend on a car, look no further. No other company cares as much about its customers and its product. Give your money to Koenigsegg, it’s in good hands.
Story By Rononjoy Sen
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October 13, 2015 at 4:21 am
Awesome pictures. The article is awesome. This shows the best quality work of the company.