The horsepower wars are still heating up with Swedish hypercar maker Koenigsegg firing up their 1,600hp power plant for the upcoming Jesko for the first time. By way of comparison, the category destroying Porsche 917/30 Can Am race car brought the series to a close with an engine capable of 'just' 1,200hp. The Koenigsegg puts out twice the horsepower of a contemporary NASCAR racer.

3 Ford Roots

The base of this insane power plant has humble beginnings as a 5.0 liter Ford block that has been warmed over from the Agera. That includes a pair of turbo chargers and the addition of an F1 style flat plane crankshaft that both reduces weight and increases the RPM range up to 8,500. On pump gas the Jesko puts out a respectable 1,262hp and on E85 a staggering 1,600hp.

2 9 Gears and 7 Clutches

All of that oomph travels to the tires via Koenigsegg's advanced "Light Speed Transmission." The automatic transmission features nine gears and instead of a flywheel deploys seven clutches. The gears are separated into different gearboxes so that that the transmission can select gears in combination. Gear changes are estimated to take as little as 20 to 30 milliseconds.

1 Record Hunter

With a final weight of 1,746lbs at full burn the power to weight ratio could mean that the Jesko is capable of toppling the current production speed record of 300 mph held by the Bugatti Chiron. Only 125 examples of the Jesko are destined for customers with all of the $2.8 million car already spoken for.

Source: thedrive.com