The Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut just set a new world record by going from 0-400 km/h (248 mph) and back to 0 in just 27.83 seconds. That sounds quick, and it is, but in a world of hypercars that routinely cost more than a private island in Fiji, it can be hard to wrap one’s head around just how fast it really is. In short, the Jesko Absolut’s record time is faster than most cars can reach 150 mph and then get back to zero. Here’s the tail of the tape and a deeper look at 0-400-0.
To be clear, the Jesko Absolut, a twin-turbo V8-powered hypercar with 1,600 horsepower set multiple records, including to 400 km/h and to 250 mph on the same run so we’ll discuss both. The 0-250-0 (MPH) record now stands at 28.27 seconds. First, let’s chat about just how fast it is compared to normal cars. From 0-250 mph isn’t something any normal car can do, but for the sake of comparison consider the Jesko’s time.
It did that part of the test in just 19.2 seconds. According to Zeroto60times.com, the 2008 Chevrolet Matiz, 1968 Fiat 850 Spider, and 1980 Cadillac Seville Elegante Diesel all take longer… to get to just 60 mph. Didn’t think you’d be reading about the 1980 Cadillac Seville Elegante Diesel today did ya? Much less that it would be in comparison to the Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut.
Those are all terribly slow cars though. What happens when we put the K-Egg up against some real sports cars? It’s still bafflingly fast. Last year, Car and Driver did a 0-150 mph -0 test and brought along some great vehicles. Among them were the Kia EV6 GT, the Toyota GR Supra, and the Ford Mustang Dark Horse. All of them took longer to do this 0-150-0 dance than the Jesko did to go to 250 and back down.
What happens when we compare apples to apples though? Clearly, the Jesko is now the fastest in the world so we know that it wins, but by how much? Koenigsegg beat its own record from last year when it set the mark at 28.81 seconds for 0-400-0 km/h and 29.60 for 0-250-0 mph. This test isn’t a new one though. Bugatti chased it back in 2017 and set the record at the time. The Chiron accomplished it in 41.96 seconds.
Later that same year, Koenigsegg beat Bugatti’s record with the Agera RS and it wasn’t particularly close. The Agera managed the same feat in just 36.44 seconds. Next to one another, that gap becomes dramatically apparent as the Koenigsegg has nearly come to a stop by the time the Bugatti is just reaching 400 km/h. It’s faster to the top speed and faster in the braking zone.
All of that was six-plus years ago, though. Cars, including some electric ones, are considerably quicker now. The Rimac Nevera came out of nowhere to set all sorts of speed records including this one. After Koenigsegg actually beat its own record and dropped it to 33.87 seconds and then 31.49, the Nevera came along and set a new low bar at 29.93.
Since then, it’s been all Koenigsegg with the Swedish automaker setting a new record last year with the Regera. It didn’t need to beat itself, but did anyway and here’s the kicker: because Koenigsegg set both records in the same test, it could, in theory, go even faster in the 0-400-0 test since it wouldn’t need the extra time to get to 402 km/h.
It’s the fastest car to 400 km/h (18.82) and 250 mph (19.2). It’s that speed that helps it set the record, too. Where it needs just over 9 seconds to get back to zero, the Regera took just over 8. That’s how fast the Jesko Absolut is. It’s so fast to its top speed that it can make up the extra second it needs to brake over the Regera. Not too surprising for a car that can reach 400 km/h faster than a 1977 Jeep Cherokee Chief 4X4 can reach 60 mph.
Nonsense…Torch’s Pao is still better!
So my “fast” car is rated for 400hp and in the hands of a driver more skilled than myself, can get to 60 in less than 5 seconds. I’m trying to just wrap my brain around what 4 times that horsepower must me like. I’d need a big runway to feel remotely safe to try it.
As a teenager, I was impressed upon reading that there was a Shelby Cobra that could accelerate to 100mph, then come to a stop in 11 seconds. I can’t even relate to going 250ph. For the cost of the car, I’d much rather buy land, bulldoze a HooptieX track, then invite people to come flog a fleet of shitboxes on it…ok, I might want to put a shark pool in as a water hazard, but that’s about as extreme as I’d want to go 😉
I’m just not a Koeingsegg fan. What is the point of a street legal 1600hp car? You can’t use it on the street. A race car with a license plate is just silly.
While I respect the engineering that goes into something like this and that Koenigsegg does things differently mechanically, I ultimately find all this hypercar useless speed stuff to be uninteresting. Yeah, a new record set by a professional in a 7-figure very limited production vehicle specially prepped by the OEM and run on a hand-picked spot under the right conditions all so the billionaire parasite who buys it can stare at it in a room full of lookalikes or drive it at 1/50th of its capability at best, but likely just show-off traffic duty. Eh. I’d much rather drive something from the Brass Era—a steam car, especially—than yet another supercar with ’80s Group C proportions and the old car would be a more interesting story to anyone outside of car enthusiast circles (and I don’t hang out with other car people anymore).
I respect Koenigsegg because they do so much in-house engineering and because their only busienss is in selling these cars
All the other companies are part of a larger venture (Bugatti, McLaren, Ferrari) or in Pagani’s case, a side gig. Horacio’s day job is running a company that does composite R&D and manufacturing for other Italian supercar companies
What’s the point in buying a painting, it doesn’t do anything.
It’s not supposed to and a painting can actually mean something. This car is meant to do something useless and won’t be used to that pointless capability by their owners anyway. While the value ascribed to certain art by an inflated art market (and money laundering schemes) and rarity that makes it difficult to obtain can be used as mere bragging rights for billionaires who just park their money in it, that’s almost never its originally intended purpose and any disregard for its value as a piece of art meant to convey a message or illicit emotion, to merely see it as a commodity to hang on the wall along a few dozen more, is down to the shallowness of the buyer, not usually inherent to the art. OTOH, these cars are a product and the sole purpose of them and their pointless records is to sell to billionaires who feel the need to swing dicks with the other billionaires—his Bugatti takes 12 seconds more (I can’t even be bothered to scroll up for the actual number) to go from 0-250-0 than my Koenigsegg (even though neither driver would try to hit those numbers in the first place)! Six months later, it’s sitting abandoned on the side of a highway in Dubai because they ran out of gas and couldn’t be bothered to retrieve it as they’ve already moved on to the newer generic supercar silhouette racer.
“It’s cool” is a point.
Same point when collecting anything.
This question has been asked of every growing technology over time.
Much like Bill Gates reportedly saying that anyone should be able to do anything they need to with 640K of RAM, they’re not technically wrong. You can run a supercomputer on that much RAM. You can get anywhere on earth with a 5HP car.
I would worry more about why you think this gatekeeper mentality is the best approach.
Dude relax. This thing exists just because someone thought it would be nice to build it.
Everybody is here because our parents thought the same way.
I bet you can’t even get a full load of groceries in there.
People who buy them have a completely different rationale than us normal folks.
It’s not about practicality or usability at all because these cars get driven maybe 200 miles a year on average. It’s more about exclusivity, being able to flex that, and to some extent, the money
Buyers for these multimillion dollar cars are usually thinking something more like, “Do I get a Jesko or an Airbus ACH 130 helicopter”
Anyone can buy a Porsche 911 Turbo S, but only 125 people can buy a Jesko. If you miss out on the initial order, the only way to get one is to wait for someone to sell theirs
These cars also don’t depreciate because Koenigsegg, Pagani and Ferrari (to some extent) will buy back the cars for as much or even more than the original price to establish a high market price
Wealthy people hate wasting money too, so the idea of having an ultra-exclusive car their friends don’t have, that doesn’t lose value, is very appealing
When braking 400-0kph in 9 seconds, you’ve got ~1.26G pulling your face off, or in the Rimac at 8 seconds, 1.41G (in addition to the usual 1G pulling your ass down.) Call it 1.61 or 1.73 G pulling you into the pedals.
That seems like a lot, both for the tires and the driver.
If you look down, you have 1G pulling your face off.
AAAHHHH I’M GONNA DIEEE!
Now that 0-100 times for street legal tires has kind of plateaued at just below 2 seconds and acceleration to multiple hundreds of kph is pointless for regular roads, can braking be the new bragging point for supercars?
I want to see insane active aero like the hoonigan wagon
These specs really need to go mainstream to rid ourselves of the pandemic of the rolling road blocks.
Wouldn’t help, Teslas are pretty damn quick, in theory, but most drivers take about 60 seconds to recognize that the light has turned green, then just leisurely coast up to the speed limit over the next mile or so
Uhh arent those stop-ordered due to fires right now?
No mention of that?
That one didn’t catch fire.
It’s smoulderingly quick.
Koenigsegg has said that it discovered the cause of that fire. Apparently a leak in the hydraulic system has been determined to be the culprit. They are in the process of checking the other cars that have been sold, and issuing an over the air update for the hydraulic system sensors. They are also replacing the car the burnt, even though the entire run if that car is sold out. The old lighting site reported on this.
OTA Update? For the price of this thing, they really should send a guy to fix it.
Mclaren did with their F1. It came with a roller (toolbox) you weren’t allowed to touch them (they also had web based diagnostics). They were for the Mclaren mechanic should he need to come to you to fix the car.
In this segment of the market, Christian calls you on your personal phone, arranges when they can get a guy to come pick your car up, and when it’s finished he invites you back to Angelholm to pick it up and have lunch at the factory.
I recently read an account about a guy who was tracking his Pagani and the rear suspension failed during a turn. The car was fine other than the suspension
The next day, Horacio Pagani personally showed up, with new parts and some engineers, to repair the car for the owner on the spot