When some ambitious supercar startup gets up on the dais and says it's introducing the fastest car in the world, you stop what you're doing for a moment to listen but then walk away thinking, "Yeah, I'll believe it when they clock an actual record." But when an established player like Koenigsegg says the same, you stop dead in your tracks and behold the new speed king. Koenigsegg doesn't even have to call the all-new Jesko Absolut the world's fastest car, because as the world's fastest Koenigsegg, it's automatically the world's fastest car. Packing 1,600 hp, a streamlined profile and fins like a fighter jet, the Jesko Absolut debuts as an all-out speed machine, the fastest Koenigsegg that ever was and ever will be.
If you're planning to skim through for an estimated top speed, save your time — Koenigsegg doesn't provide one for this would-be Geneva Motor Show world premiere. It only gets so specific as to say, "Time will tell. Looking at the math and our advanced simulations, it will be unbelievably fast."
Right now, Koenigsegg might be one of only two automakers that can get away with such vague language. Anyone else, and we'd say, "Put up the numbers or shut up with 'fastest ever' hyperbole." But Koenigsegg has no reason for hyperbole since it already owns the 277-mph (447-km/h) world production car speed record ... set by its last-generation hypercar.
The Jesko debuted last year to build on that speed, ambitions of breaking the 300-mph (483-km/h) barrier, and the Jesko Absolut becomes the variant that will explore that new speed territory. This year's debut event marks the split of the line into the track-focused Jesko and the high-speed Jesko Absolut.
Koenigsegg shows its cards quickly and confidently, introducing the Jesko Absolut by stating it will "never endeavor to make a faster series-production road car." This is it, all chips in as one of the world's most preeminent experts in all-out sports car speed leaps to secure its final place in the annals of land speed history. Or so it says at the moment ... no one will complain about broken promises should Christian or a successor decide to build something even faster in the future.
But for now, the Jesko Absolut is the fastest Koenigsegg ever, a cutting edge evolution of world-record breakers like the CCR and Agera RS. The Absolut shares its 1,600-bhp twin-turbo 5.0-liter V8 with the track Jesko, a figure that just a few years ago would have looked outright insane but now lands the Jesko brothers somewhere lower than #5 on the list of the world's most powerful cars, an ordering that might need reshuffling after this week's Web-based version of the Geneva Motor Show. Koenigsegg's nine-speed Light Speed Transmission ensures smooth, millisecond-fast shifting between any two gears, even when skipping a bunch in between.
The most noticeable point of differentiation between Jesko and Jesko Absolut is the latter's loss of the hovering boomerang-like wing that left Geneva attendees staring in awe a year ago. Instead, the Jesko Absolut employs a pair of F-15 fighter jet-inspired fins to more effectively channel the air rushing over the rear of the car to increase high-speed stability. Whereas the Jesko design helps the car keep glued down around every track curve and nuance, the Jesko Absolut's every surface has been streamlined toward cutting drag and turbulence and enhancing stability at speed.
"[A] low drag coefficient of 0.278 Cd, combined with its high-speed stability optimized aero features, daily drive-friendly characteristics and luggage space, make the Jesko Absolut a land-based rocket ship determined to reach unheard-of speed in record-setting pace," says CEO and founder Christian von Koenigsegg.
Other aerodynamic changes include the longer tail, simplified front aerodynamics design and covered rear wheels. While the original Jesko creates up to 1,400 kg (3,086 lb) of downforce, the Jesko Absolut maxes out at a mere 150 kg (330 lb). Additionally, the loss of the hood air dam and other front-end adjustments make room for the removable hard-top to stow below the hood, not possible in the Jesko.
We're not seeing any official pricing info floating about, but given the "separate but different" strategy that Koenigsegg seems to be pursuing with the Jesko and Jesko Absolut, we imagine they'll both price in around the same US$3 million or so we heard tell of last year.
Source: Koenigsegg