Koenigsegg Sets New 0-249-0 MPH World Record
Monumental feat made with a single-gear Koenigsegg Regera hypercar, which demolished the run in 31.49 seconds.
On September 23, Ängelholm, Sweden-based car manufacturer Koenigsegg continued its trend of setting world speed records. Driven by Koenigsegg factory driver Sonny Persson at the remote Råda airfield in the Swedish forest, the company’s Regera hypercar completed a 0-400-0 km/h run in a staggeringly swift 31.49 seconds. The previous 0-249-0 mph (0-400-0 km/h in England) record of 33.29 seconds was set by a Koenigsegg Agera RS customer car in the Nevada desert two years ago.
“This was a good opportunity to showcase the true capability of the Regera’s one-of-a-kind Direct Drive transmission,” said Koenigsegg founder and CEO Christian von Koenigsegg. “As the Regera only has one gear we had to make use of it from standstill to the record top speed of 403 km/h (or 250 mph) limited by rpm. The car reaches its top speed like there is no tomorrow, but then there are no more gears. This actually suits the philosophy behind the Regera, which is ‘whoever gets to 400 km/h first wins’. Priority has been given to acceleration and drivability between 0-400 km/h – no more, no less. At any given time, the Regera can and will accelerate harder in that speed range than any other production car known to us.”
Koenigsegg says that that the Regera used for the run was a fully homologated production car with all of the amenities intact, right down to the factory seats. A roll cage and 4-point harness were the only modifications and were added purely for driver safety. “The record is proof of how the Direct Drive transmission gives the driver seamless power on command. The car is truly a dream to drive. The stability during acceleration and braking is from another world,” said Persson. The Regera accelerated to 249 mph in 22.87 seconds with braking to zero taking 8.62 seconds.
The Regera uses a twin-turbo V8 aided by three electric motors to produce over 1,500 hp and 1,475 lb/ft of torque. Starting price is an eye-watering $2 million. “What is really impressive is how incredible the Regera brakes – 8.62 seconds from 400 km/h to 0 km/h is just unheard of,” says Koenigsegg. “It is a testament to the Regera’s balance, suspension, aerodynamics and of course its in-house design and built Koenigsegg brake callipers.
The proven numbers now show the greatness of the Regera. Having said that, we know we can improve these already impressive numbers on a track with better conditions.” The record run continues a rivalry between the Swedish company and French manufacturer Bugatti, though Bugatti say they are no longer pursuing top speed records. According to Koenigsegg, the run data was recorded by an AiM EVO5 data logger and AiM GPS08 in combination with a Racelogic VBOX 3i.
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