Swedish hypercar brand Koenigsegg is no stranger to breaking records. In 2005, Koenigsegg briefly dethroned McLaren for the fastest production car in the world. Koenigsegg's cars have gone on to set records for acceleration and production car speeds. However, there is one record which is still unbroken: fastest land speed.
If we're being honest, the chances of Koenigsegg breaking the land speed record are slim to none. The record was set in 1997 by British jet car the Thrust SSC. Essentially a jet with wheels, the ThrustSSC reached an astonishing 763 mph, becoming the first land vehicle to break the sound barrier!
Breaking Records
More realistically, Koenigsegg could strive toward the production vehicle speed record, currently held by the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ at 304.7 mph. Since Koenigsegg's founding in 1994, Bugatti has always been their stiffest competition. Just six months after Koenigsegg's broke the record for fastest production car, the Bugatti Veyron set a new record by more than 10 mph.
So, unless Koenigsegg wants to strap a rocket engine to one of their cars, they'll have to settle for besting Bugatti the old-fashioned way.
That said, Koenigsegg's cars are getting faster every year and the Jesko Absolut is the fastest model yet. If Koenigsegg wants Bugatti to eat its dust, the Jesko Absolut is their best bet.
The Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut
First introduced at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, the Jesko sold out before the show was even over. The Jesko comes in three variations, Sadair's Spear, Attack, and Absolut. While none of these cars are slow by any means, the Absolut is best optimized for speed.
The Jesko Absolute replaced the Attack's rear wing with two rear fins in order to reduce both downforce and drag. Additionally, the Absolut features Koenignsegg's sleekest silhouette yet, along with removable rear wheel covers to maintain stability at high speeds. As for the engine, it's an absolute beast.
8000 hours were put into engineering the fastest fastest possible vehicle. The Jesko Absolute boasts a twin-turbocharged V8 engine as previously used in the Koenigsegg Agera. Upgrades to the engine include a 180° flat-plane crankshaft.
Now that we've gotten most of the mechanics out of the way, let's get down to the reason you clicked on this article: the Absolut's speed. Several manufacturers claim to have vehicles capable of far surpassing Bugatti's production vehicle record. Is the Jesko Absolut really as fast as Koenigsegg claims?
The short answer is yes and no.
Theoretically the Jesko Absolut can reach and even exceed 330 mph, almost 30 mph more than Bugatti's current record. You see words like "estimated" and "theoretically" thrown around a lot in discussions of record-breaking speeds. Sometimes, this is a way for a company to stall for time or artificially inflate numbers that they simply cannot reach.
This does not appear to be the case with the Jesko Absolut.
The Need For Speed
Already, the Jesko Absolut has records that speak for themselves. In June 2024, the Jesko Absolut set a new record for 0-250-0, accelerating then decelerating in 27.83 seconds. In August of this year, that time was shaved down to 25.21 seconds.
The Jesko Absolut also holds the record for highest top speed in a standing 1/2 mile at 224 mph. Testing continues, in wind tunnels and on runways, pushing that monstrous engine to the brink. In fact, finding comfortable test conditions may be the reason why Koenigsegg has not confirmed this record; airplane runways have proven too short for the Jesko Absolut to safely accelerate and decelerate.
Whether or not you believe Koenigsegg's claims, you can't deny that they're putting their all into breaking this record. Only time will tell whether or not not hard work will pay off.
