2023 NEW WORLD RECORD: Koenigsegg Regera
When it comes to an automotive brand that happens to hail from Sweden, the name Volvo will most likely be the brand name that rings the most familiar, particularly to the ears of car enthusiasts.
But did you know that Sweden also has another brand name that, by right, should ring just as familiar to the ears?
Well, enter one particular Swedish hypercar brand that goes by the name of Koenigsegg, where it has recently celebrated a new world record for the second time through one of its current offerings, the Regera.
Now, if you’re not very familiar with name, maybe you should start paying more attention right now.
Koenigsegg, by all intents and purposes, falls under the category of elite, boutique and bespoke car maker, where it is also the brainchild of Christian von Koenigsegg.
Koenigsegg made its first debut at the 2000 Paris Motor Show with a production prototype named CC8S, having been founded six years prior by none other than Christian von Koenigsegg himself at the very impressive age of 22 years old.
Two years later, the first road-going version of the CC8S rolled off the workshop and delivered to the 2002 Geneva Motor Show, featuring a finessed version of the clean & simplistic design language from production prototype that quickly becomes the signature of Koenigsegg. It also featured the same 655-horsepower V8 powertrain from the prototype, where a total of just six cars were produced.
Fast forward to today, Koenigsegg has pretty much established itself as one of the revolutionary, elite & bespoke carmakers following the likes of Bugatti and Pagani, where it has also gained cult following from the top of the tier 1% population. It has also since produced other iterations of the ‘CC’ line-up, such as the CCR, the CCX, the CCXR, and the CCXR Trevita to name a few. Other than the ‘CC’, it has produced other line-ups like the Agera, the Regera, the Jesko, and the very recent CC850.
For this article however, we are paving our focus on the Regera, which debuted in 2015 Geneva Motor Show.
The Koenigsegg Regera is a groundbreaking product from the house, designed and built completely all-new from the ground where it acts as another technical and mechanical marvel aside from the then-existing Agera that was built in 2010, featuring a carbon fiber & aluminum honeycomb chassis, a carbon fiber & Kevlar body, plus a healthy serving of a sophisticated powertrain of an in-house developed plus built twin turbocharged 5.0 L V8 combined with three electric motors to produce a massive 1,500 horsepower.
All of that power is being sent directly to the rear wheels, where according to Koenigsegg, the Regera has no gearbox or transmission like you would find in other ICE (Internal Combustion Engined) vehicles. Rather, the Regera moves using a system called Koenigsegg Direct Drive. In essence, the Regera propels forward from idle via the three electric motors first, to which then the combustion engine kicks in from the speed of 30 km/h and above.
For the Regera, a total of 80 production vehicles was planned over the course of five years and all allocated units were snapped up during its debut.
So then, what does the combination of over 1,500 horsepower and the revolutionary Direct Drive system has brought to the table?
The simple answer: a world-record run that beats the previously held record. And make that a run from 0 all the way to 400 km/h, and then back to 0 again.
The first officially recorded 0–400–0 km/h run for the Regera was done in 2019, where the record was first held by the Agera RS two years prior in 2017. For context, the Agera RS managed the 0–400–0 km/h run in a total time of 33.29 seconds. The Regera beats that setting by running a full 1.8 seconds faster at a total time of 31.49 seconds.
And now, in 2023, that record run has just been beaten. Yet again.
This time around, the Regera sets a total time of 28.81 to complete the run in km/h setting, which translates to a total time of 29.60 seconds for it to complete 0–250–0 mph.
The 2023 run shaves another full 2.68 seconds from the 2019 run.
For a more complete breakdown, the Regera now manages to accelerate from 0–400 km/h in 20.68 seconds, and then decelerate from 400–0 km/h in just 8.13 seconds. That also means 21.35 seconds from 0–250 mph, and 8.25 from 250–0 mph. All of that acceleration in under 30 seconds.
What’s the most impressive fact about this run, is that Koenigsegg basically runs a similarly standard Regera with no changes in the powertrain. All that has changed is the use of tires and the track.
Koenigsegg mentions that back in 2019, the Regera used a set of Michelin Cup 2 tires and the run itself was completed on the Råda airfield tarmac, whereas for the 2023 run, it now uses a set of Michelin Cup 2R rubbers while accelerating on a much smoother surface of Örebro Airport.
So, there you go.
A practically 10-year-old car simply running on both new ‘shoes’ and on a smoother surface to set a new world record.
The word Regera also means ‘to reign’, and boy, how it has indeed reign once again.
Now, it’s time to witness the 2023 record run as produced and published by Koenigsegg itself via their YouTube channel below:
(102) KOENIGSEGG Regera | 0–400–0 km/h — NEW WORLD RECORD — YouTube
