This year, Koenigsegg marks its 25th anniversary. In their brief existence, Koenigsegg surpassed all expectations and repeatedly beat down much older and larger competitors – like Bugatti, who celebrate their 110th birthday.
Christian von Koenigsegg is the genius engineer behind the record-breaking performance of the Agera, One:1 and Agera RS. However, neither car would have ever existed if it wasn’t for his father – Jesko von Koenigsegg. He was his biggest supporter when the company was no more than an idea and poured his life’s savings to help make it a reality.
To give credit where it is due, the new Koenigsegg model is called Jesko. It was unveiled in an emotional presentation at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show.
Jesko is the new generation of track-focused hypercars, taking after the Agera RS. It comes with the promise of absolute performance and a potential to break the 300 mph barrier.
Starting from the obvious, the Jesko looks absolutely stunning – recognizably a Koenigsegg, but evolving the design even further.
The car rides on the biggest and lightest carbon-fiber wheels the company has ever used – 20 inches at the front, weighing 13 lbs, and 21 inches in the rear, weighing 16 lbs. The rear-wheel steering compensates the longer wheelbase, helping the car turn in narrow urban spaces and improving stability at high speeds.
A feature you can’t overlook is the massive rear wing. Koenigsegg believes it’s the biggest currently in use with on any production vehicle.
It helps the car stay firmly planted on the pavement. The Jesko produces more than 2,000 lbs of downforce at 170 mph and a maximum of 3,000 lbs at top speed. With a curb weight of 3,131 lbs, that’s almost a 1:1 ratio.
A sister model called Jesko 300 will be available to buyers when speccing their vehicle. Jesko 300 comes with toned down aerodynamics, sacrificing downforce, but enabling higher top speeds and potentially reaching 300mph.
The transmission is all-new. The Jesko will use a 9-speed gearbox, allowing the engine to stay in the perfect power band drawing maximum performance. Seven automated wet clutches can switch between any two gears in just one millisecond. Using the gear lever, the driver can instantly shift in the lowest or highest possible gear, while keeping engine RPM in check.
Speaking of the engine, it’s a twin-turbo, 5.0-liter V8. Koenigsegg uses a flat-plane crankshaft. Weighing just 26.5 lbs, it’s the lightest ever used in a V8 engine. Combined with a light-weight flywheel, it allows the engine to rev up quickly and provide immediate throttle response.
The engine produces 1,280 hp on regular pump gas and 1,600 hp on E85, as well as 1,106 lbs/ft of torque. Jesko achieves a power to weight ratio of 1.95 lbs/hp – better than the Aston Martin Valkyrie. The insane power comes courtesy of two large turbochargers feeding air into each bank.
Large turbos offer great power at high engine RPM, but have more inertia and spool up slowly. To solve the turbo-lag problem and avoid the extra weight of adding more turbos, Koenigsegg designed a proprietary pressurized air system. It shoots compressed air through nozzles integrated into the turbine casing, helping the blades spool up.
It’s a phenomenal vehicle. Only 125 units will be built with a sticker price of around $3 million. More than 2/3rds of the vehicles have already sold prior to the presentation and likely all of them are gone by now.
