Koenigsegg just officially broke its own 0-400-0 km/h world record in Sweden last week, with a Jesko Absolut shaving nearly a second off the Koenigsegg Regera’s previous record. 400 km/h equates to about 248.5 mph, which the Jesko Absolut reached from a dig in a mind-boggling 18.82 seconds, and then completed the trip back to a standstill in a total time of 27.83 seconds. Who needs to have that much speed at their disposal? Literally no one, but it sure is cool.
Alongside the 0-400-0 world record, the Jesko Absolut set three other world records for a stock homologated production car; 0-250 mph in 19.2 seconds, 0-250-0 mph in 28.27 seconds, and 0-400 km/h in 18.82 seconds. The testing took place on an airfield in Örebro, Sweden, and the person who piloted the Jesko Absolut to these eye-watering world records was Koenigsegg’s own test driver Markus Lundh.
The Jesko Absolut is a trim of the Jesko that is specially engineered for straight-line speed, with no active aero, a smaller frontal surface area, and minimal targeted venting for the release of high pressure air which all help it achieve the lowest drag coefficient of any hypercar of just 0.278. The car was totally stock, with its twin-turbocharged 5-liter V8 producing about 1,600 horsepower, and completed the run in as-delivered condition aside from an added roll cage and a One:1 drivers seat for safety. It set the world records on a tank of E85, and on the Jesko Absolut’s standard Michelin Pilot Sport Cup2 R tires Lundh set the world record at about 5 a.m. local time on Thursday, June 27 since the wind was calm and ambient temperatures were optimal for high speed stability.
Christian von Koenigsegg, the mad man behind the Jesko Absolut and every Koenigsegg ever produced, said,
“This record run validated the accuracy of the simulated and calculated performance of the Jesko Absolut, which gives us great confidence in its ability to outright be the fastest, fully homologated production car in the world. Now it is all down to tire testing, development, and approval, before we finally can make an attempt at that record.”
Nobody needs to go this fast, but leave it to the eccentric Swedes to produce such incomprehensibly fast and exotic cars that continuously break their own world records. From the brand’s first car the CC8S in the early 2000s, the brand has exclusively produced absurdly fast, powerful, desirable, and exotic supercars, hypercars, and now megacars. I think I speak for car people everywhere when I say thanks for keeping the madness and fantasy of world-record-breaking speeds alive and well, Koenigsegg. You’re insane and we appreciate it.