Koenigsegg’s New Jesko Is A £2.3 Million Route To 1578bhp

Swedish purveyor of massive speed and minuscule sensibility, Koenigsegg, has just revealed its brand new, £2.3 million replacement for the Agera RS.

The Jesko, pronounced Yes-koh, is named after company founder Christian von Koenigsegg’s father, who supported his son’s hypercar vision to the extreme where he sold the family home to help finance it.

It takes over from the Agera RS as a hardcore track-biased monster with number plates, though it comes in at 40mm longer and 30mm taller than the older car. Priced in the region of £2.3 million before options and customisations, it’s hardly what you’d call mass-market.

Its updated 5.0-litre twin-turbo V8, with freevalve cam-less technology and a trademark long stroke, is capable of producing 1262bhp on standard petrol or as much as 1578bhp on E85 race fuel. It includes cool new details like the world’s lightest V8 crankshaft, at just 12.5kg for the milled, flat-plane item. Super-light steel con-rods – 540g a pop – and pistons – each just 290g – help counter vibration. They are, the firm says, as light as the previous titanium items but even stronger.

Attached at its back end is a brand new nine-speed triple-clutch ‘Koenigsegg Light Speed Transmission’ (LST) boasting faster shifts. Using three clutches means you can theoretically shift from any gear to any gear at ‘lightning’ speed. Dual-clutch arrangements can be caught out with a shift in a direction they don’t expect and most can only work in single shifts, whereas the LST can swap from ninth to second as quickly as it could drop a single ratio.

Its track bias is betrayed by its obvious aero package, capable of producing 1400kg of downforce in its most extreme trim – although we don’t know at what speed. Assume high. A lower-downforce road-biased spec is available too. There’s active rear-wheel steering, more legroom and greater visibility, mimicking McLaren’s approach to an extent, to make the 1400kg (kerb weight) Jesko more usable – and easier to place on track.

The base for all the power is a new carbonfibre monocoque that’s 40mm longer and 22mm higher for a more spacious cabin feel without losing the 47,942lb ft (65,000Nm) per degree torsional rigidity of its predecessor. The Jesko’s fuel tanks are integrated into the tub along with roll-over bars and uncommonly strong Dyneema fabric reinforcement.

Two small touch-screens are built into the Jesko’s steering wheel. They can control everything from audio to ride height, but we still think there’s nothing more intuitive than a dial in the right place. Beneath the car’s detachable hard-top is a choice of leather or Alcantara upholstery with custom contrasting stitching over carbon bucket seats padded with memory foam.

There’s Apple CarPlay, Bluetooth, a USB connection and wireless smartphone charging for compatible handsets. Climate control keeps a nice kind of Swedish cool. As part of the standard kit you also get an around-view parking camera system, automated door opening and a bespoke car cover.