Koenigsegg has been one of very few “outsiders” to establish itself in the supercar market and compete with the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini. But maybe it is time to stop calling the Swedish company an outsider, because its newest creation, the stunning One:1 just revealed at the Geneva Motor Show, is about to set the standard for hypercar performance and insanity.
When Koenigsegg first announced that its next car would produce one horsepower for every kilogram of weight – hence the name – it was hard to take seriously, but that’s just what it has accomplished. The One:1’s 5.0-liter twin-turbo Koenigsegg-designed V8 puts out 1340 horsepower. That’s more than three times the power you get from the 5.0-liter V8 in a brand new Mustang GT. Amazingly, the One:1 only weighs in at just 1340 kilos, which is about 16 percent less than the Pony Car. And that weight figure? That’s with all the fluids and an average driver included. Yowza.
So just for fun, let’s compare that to some other things. The Bugatti Veyron Super Sport is a positive fat boy in comparison. It weighs in at 1,888 kilos (close to 1200 pounds more than the One:1) and has a measly 1,184 hp. And what about those horses? 1340 horses would weigh in at around 670,000 kilos 500 times more than the One:1. Stupid, heavy horses!
Just how the hell did Koenigsegg accomplish this remarkable feat? Well, let’s look back at that engine. Those twin turbos use variable vanes designed by Koenigsegg that maximize the boost across the engine’s entire 8250 rpm rev range. In fact the engine is good for 740 pound-feet of torque from 3000 – 7500 rpm, something that is essentially unheard of.
Everything on this car has been designed for lightness. The turbo housing and even the titanium exhaust are 3D printed in-house by Koenigsegg. The chassis is made from carbon fiber and witchcraft. In fact the only thing about this car that isn’t designed for lightness are the aerodynamics. The car’s shape is crafted to produce real downforce, meaning that not only will the One:1 accelerate more quickly than a Saturn V rocket. In high speed, it will produce more than 2 gs of cornering force at 160 mph, like a jet fighter.
Koenigsegg won’t say what kind of acceleration figures this car will put down, but let me save them some time. The One:1 isn’t just going to accelerate quicker than anything else out there, it’s going to accelerate faster than Thor’s freaking hammer; 0 to 248 mph in under 20 seconds is a real possibility. Not to mention that Koenigsegg think that it can achieve better than 273 mph, which would make it even faster than the Hennessey Venom GT that just set the speed record.
Add in the fact that the One:1 looks like a Batmobile designed by Steve Jobs and this is simply one of the most desirable objects ever created by mankind. Sadly the insane Swedes will be building just four, and all of those are already spoken for. Besides, with a pricetag of more than $2 million, it’s about $1.99 million out of my price range.
