2021 Koenigsegg Regera on 2040-cars

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Koenigsegg pinpoints source of fire that flambeed a $3M Jesko Attack

The 70 or so road trippers who signed up for this year's 6to6 European tour were looking forward to taking off from Athens, Greece, then crossing eight countries and two mountain ranges on their way to Monaco. One entrant didn't make it out of Athens on the first day: Not long after leaving the hotel, a $3 million Koenigsegg Jesko Attack Nur Edition in raw carbon fiber with 24-karat gold accents caught fire while cruising through the city at low speed, turning into a bonfire that left little more than a pile of carbon shards melted to an engine. The Swedish carmaker had only delivered around 30 of the planned 125 Jeskos at the time. The Swedish mothership dispatched an engineer to bring the remains back to Sweden for an autopsy. In a post on Instagram, CEO Christian von Koenigsegg explained that the source of the fire was a leak in the car's pressurized hydraulic line.            View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by KOENIGSEGG (@koenigsegg) He said the systems containing other flammable liquids were intact, those being the engine and gearbox oil systems, and fuel tank. "However," he wrote, "there was a streak of hydraulic fluid behind the car on the road. Given this we have investigated the pressurized hydraulic system, which is the only system that contains this fluid." Sure enough, that was the culprit, the hose found to be "compromised at the rear of the car."  The company's checking the hydraulic system on every car that's been produced as well as those that have been delivered. It's also working on a software update that monitors hydraulic pressure and, in case of a leak, can shut the system down in less than a second. Based on the post date, that software should be on its way to cars or very close. Once the cars have been updated, Koenigsegg says they'll be safe to drive again. As for the two people in the car in Athens, they made it out unharmed. At the end of his post, Christian added, "We are also incredibly grateful to the owner of the car in Greece for giving us his continued support and that we will be able to supply him with a new car so he can continue his Koenigsegg journey." Here's a company whose customer service is almost as quick and comprehensive as its record-breaking cars. Oh, and cue the Facebook Marketplace profiteers: Autoblog Greece (no relation) reported someone put bits of raw carbon fiber up for sale, claiming without proof they'd come from the Jesko. Which makes total sense.

Koenigsegg Gemera goes V8-only due to low take-rate for three-cylinder

It's been more than four years since Koenigsegg debuted the Jesko and Gemera just ahead of the 2020 Geneva Motor Show. The Gemera was the first home for a few of Koenigsegg's pet projects, a hybrid powertrain based around a twin-turbocharged 2.0-liter three-cylinder dubbed the Tiny Friendly Giant (TFG). The engine featured cam-less Freevalve technology and was assisted by three electric motors. The Swedes claimed a combined 1,676 horsepower and 2,581 pound-feet of torque — 592 horses and 443 twists from the TFG — and a zero-to-62-mph sprint in 1.9 seconds. Those three e-motors, one on the crankshaft and two at the rear, helped deliver all-wheel drive, all-wheel torque vectoring, and all-wheel steering. And it's all gone. Not the Gemera, but the Tiny Friendly Giant. Two years after the Gemera appeared, Christian announced that the automaker found a way to fit the Jesko's twin-turbocharged 5.0-liter V8 into the Gemera's tighter bay. Once that happened, Koenigsegg said most customers switched to the V8 — reportedly a $400,000 option. "There were so few left that asked for a three-cylinder," he said, "we managed to convince almost all of them [to go for the V8 instead]. So for the time being, it [the Gemera] is V8 only. We could frame this as conservative buyers rejecting ingenious novelty, but that wouldn't be true. This is buyers giving up one ingenious novelty for another ingenious novelty with more familiar bragging rights. See, to get the Jesko's V8 to work, Koenigsegg engineers redesigned the castings, heads, intake, exhaust, and sump. They shelved the direct-drive transmission from the Regera they'd originally fitted, and created what they call the Light Speed Tourbillon Transmission (LSTT). This was an evolution of the nine-speed direct-drive Light Speed Transmission developed for the Jesko, but smaller, lighter, better. Then the whitecoats created a new six-phase e-motor to replace the original trio of three-phase Quark e-motors that had been paired with the TFG. This one motor to rule them all is called Dark Matter, designed as a blend of radial flux and axial flux topologies called "raxial." In the original powertrain, two of the Quark motors on the rear axle could each make a maximum 500 horsepower and 738 pound-feet of torque, the third Quark on the crankshaft made 400 hp and 369 lb-ft. Their combined output when working together rang in at 1,100 hp. The Dark Matter makes 800 hp and 922 lb-ft.

Koenigsegg CC850 shown with 1,185 horsepower, fascinating gated manual

This is a big year for Koenigsegg. It's the 20-year anniversary of the Swedish supercar builder's first production car, the CC8S. It's also the 50th birthday of the founder, Christian von Koenigsegg. To celebrate, the company has put together the CC850, which is a reimagining of that original supercar, but using modern technology. It looks very much like the old car, but packs way more power and some wild features. The exterior is quite close to the original. The biggest changes are the switches to more flowing LED lighting up front and in the rear. It has reworked wheels with the phone-dial round openings and has a smooth, uncluttered design. Part of that is due to the hidden rear wing that deploys at speed. The car has the signature tumble-forward doors, powered hood and engine cover, and it has a removable top that can be stowed in the car just like the CC8S. The interior is much more modern Koenigsegg, and the highlights include the beautiful analog instrument dials and the gated shifter in the middle. That shifter features a wood knob with a Swedish flag, again like CC8S. As is often the case with Koenigseggs, the parts that make it go are as interesting if not more so than the swoopy shell. The CC850 is powered by a twin-turbo 5.0-liter V8 that makes 1,185 horsepower and 1,022 pound-feet of torque on gasoline. Put E85 ethanol in it, and power climbs to 1,385. Christian von Koenigsegg noted that these numbers are a bit lower than for the Jesko, which provided the base for much of the CC850. The reason is because the company went with smaller turbos for better response and less lag, since the car has a manual transmission, sort of. Ok, so let's talk about the transmission. It's a version of the Light Speed Transmission, which has a set of seven clutches and nine gear ratios and can jump from any gear to any other gear, unlike most dual-clutch transmissions that have to shift sequentially. In the Jesko, it's an automatic transmission with paddle shifters. Here, it has an automatic mode, but it also has a manual mode, complete with clutch pedal. The clutch pedal does actuate the transmission's multiple clutches, and it is possible to stall the car if you're not balancing your clutch and throttle inputs. And the shifter will tell the car which gear you want. Curiously, there are only six gates for the manual mode. Christian von Koenigsegg said that having to pick through nine gates would be complicated, so the company stuck with six.