There comes a point where manufacturer's claims about a car's performance go from ambitious to downright frightening. The latter is certainly true when it comes to the latest hyper-car from Swedish Manufacturer Koenigsegg, The Jesko Absolut.
The latest offerings from Koenigsegg, the Jesko, and it's totally-necessary 'high-speed variant', the Absolut, come with a bold statement from the company, which is certain to raise an eyebrow: "The Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut has been unveiled. It is the fastest Koenigsegg ever made, and the company will never endeavor to make a faster series-production road car, ever."
Everything about the Jesko Absolut focuses on pushing the envelope beyond any conceivable limits, and when you consider the numbers that are being thrown around by Koenigsegg, it's hard to argue.
Let's take a closer look at this Koenigsegg supercar.
So Why is the Jesko Absolut So Special?
Let's reveal the ridiculous numbers that are driving this hype and speculation surrounding the Jesko Absolut:
A claimed top speed of 330 MPH.
1600 HP when you use E85 fuel.
1106 lb-ft of torque.
Those aren't typos, but they are numbers that put the Jesko Absolut in a different stratosphere from almost any other car. Even the Bugatti Chiron will be struggling to keep up with the Jesko Absolut when it gets into the upper echelon of its ninth gear (more on that later). The 330 MPH top speed is the headline statistic, but we'll all have to wait to see if this gets verified by a top-speed test.
Most peculiar, perhaps, is the specification of using E85 fuel to utilise the most power from the twin-turbo 5-liter V8. The V8 itself has been designed to produce as much power as possible without sacrificing a lightweight design. The crankshaft itself only weighs 30 lbs, making it the lightest V8 crankshaft on earth.
Streamlined Ferocity, with Innovation to Match
One of the least-discussed talking points of the new Jesko Absolut in it's recent media coverage is it's transmission. Koenigsegg have designed a brand-new nine-speed multi-clutch transmission for the Jesko Absolut from the ground up.
The aptly named 'Light Speed Transmission' makes use of multiple clutches that open and close simultaneously to enable the driver to shift seamlessly between the nine gears in the most demanding of situations and at the highest of speeds.
This will not only allow for optimal gear shifts in acceleration, but it will also allow room for the Jesko Absolut to stretch its legs well into the 300 MPH range. Of course, these numbers are mind-boggling and thus need to be taken into context. To reach such a high speed, the conditions, location, and driver will all need to be favorable to such a feat. Needless to say, this won't be possible on any public roads.
Not only does the Light Speed Transmission shift through gears at extremely high speeds with great efficiency, but it also manages to do this whilst being significantly lighter than most other dual-clutch transmissions, sitting at just under 200 lbs.
Aerodynamic Excellence
One of the most heavily invested in and thoroughly planned aspects of the Jesko Absolut is its aerodynamics and drag coefficient. The team at Koenigsegg have spent over 3000 hours on fluid dynamics and aerodynamics analysis, as well as 5000 hours on design and engineering on the Absolut specifically, separate from the time spent on the base Jesko model. The Absolut is also 85mm longer than the base Jesko model.
This exorbitant amount of time spent on research, design and execution of innovative engineering results in significantly reduced downforce and drag, allowing the Jesko Absolut to pierce through the air like an arrow. The removal of the large rear wing alone reduces the downforce all the way to 330 lbs, a massive drop from the previous figure of 3087 lbs. To compensate for this, Koenigsegg have added two fins on the rear hood to maintain aerodynamic stability at high-speeds.
The design and engineering team at Koenigsegg have meticulously crafted every square inch of the Jesko Absolut's body with the specific aim of allowing air to pass under, over, around, and through with ease at high speeds.
Koenigsegg's target for drag coefficient when designing the Jesko Absolut was 0.28 Cd. Whilst ambitious enough in its own right, what is perhaps even more astonishing is that the Jesko Absolut surpassed this target and has a drag coefficient of 0.278 Cd.
This means that the Jesko Absolut pierces the air with relative ease and is one of the largest contributing factors to the astronomically high top speed claim of 330 MPH.
How You Can Buy One (Hint: It's Not Easy)
It's very unlikely that anybody purchasing a Jesko Absolut will be able to go anywhere near the car's limits unless they specifically book themselves some time at a test track with a long enough straight (there are not many around outside of Koenigsegg's private runway).
A standard Jesko (of which all 125 example cars have already been sold), the 'slower' version of the Absolut, will set you back roughly $2.8 million. Therefore, it's reasonable to say that the Absolut will be more expensive and more exclusive. Some publications have estimated that the price tag for the Absolut will be just shy of $3.5 million. The price tag certainly matches the claims being made and gives weight to the Absolut-ly absurd performance specifications. Color us interested.