Road Test Editor, HOWARD WALKER gets to grips with the 1,018 horsepower, $1.4 million Swedish-built Koenigsegg CCXR.
Photos by Gareth Rockliffe/Soderquist Photography
One thousand and eighteen. That’s the insane amount of horsepower this car’s twin-supercharged V8 motor cranks out!
That amount of muscular power would be mightily impressive if it were motivating a Mack or a Peterbilt. But here it’s powering a two-seat sportscar that tips the scales at a featherlight 2,821 pounds. In human terms that’s the equivalent of a Bolshoi ballerina. On a crash diet.
So what happens when you bolt this 1,018-horsepower nuclear-like powerplant into the equivalent of a Tupperware container on wheels? Simple. You get the kind of acceleration that only a fighter pilot on full after-burner experiences. Think zero to 60mph in an insane 2.9 seconds. Zero to 120 mph in a blistering 8.9 seconds. And a top speed of a mind-warping 259 mph!
Just don’t label the sensational $1.4-million Koenigsegg CCXR as a mere Supercar. What we have here is the world’s first Hypercar.
Koenigs-what I hear you say? The CCXR is the wild creation of brilliant Swedish car designer, Christian von Koenigsegg (for the record it’s pronounced KOH-nig-segg). We’ll forgive you for not having heard of him. While he started building his hyper-car in 2002, his total worldwide production only recently passed the 80-car milestone.
Naturally the Koenigsegg attracts comparisons with its only true rival, the 1,001-horsepower $1.5-to-$2.4 million Bugatti Veyron. But while the Veyron has similarly staggering performance, it’s more of a luxurious grand tourer whereas this sexy Swede is more the hard-edged, nimble, agile rocketship!
Much of its agility and bullet-out-of-a-gun performance is down to its ultra light, yet incredibly stiff carbon fiber body. And here is a body that defines the word compact. Measuring just 169 inches nose to tail, it’s actually six inches shorter than a Porsche 911. And from ground to the top of its roof, it’s a mere 44 inches.
But boy is it gorgeous to look at with that wild 180-degree helmet visor-like windshield, its stubby, racecar nose and long, long, sloping roofline. If a car could be mistaken for a fighter-jet, this is it. Painted black, with those neon red accents, this is the automotive equivalent of a Stealth B-2!
And climbing aboard involves one of the best “party tricks” you’ll ever see in a car. Reach into the side intake, punch the hidden release button, and watch in amazement as the door pivots away from the body and does a beautiful forward barrel roll ending up vertical. Re-enact it outside a Starbucks and you’re guaranteed to get applause.
For a car seemingly not much bigger than a bathtub, it’s exceptionally spacious and comfy inside. Even with the removable top in place there’s no shortage of headroom, while the body-hugging seat has plenty of rearward travel for excellent legroom.
Press two buttons simultaneously on the car’s funky, Star Trek-like circular control pad and the big V8 churns away behind your right ear before detonating into life. Like a hardcore racecar motor, it chatters and chugs at idle, leaving you in no doubt of the 32 valves and quartet of camshafts working away.
If Al Gore were big into 250 mph hypercars, he’d love the CCXR. That’s because its V8 is perfectly happy to run on E85 gas (a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline). This not only makes its exhaust emissions as clean as those of a four-cylinder economy hatchback, but the cooling properties of ethanol in the engine’s combustion chamber mean a big boost in power from the stock engine’s 806 horsepower to the ‘R’s’ obscene 1,018 hp.
What does all that power feel like? Pull back on the right side paddle shifter controlling the six-speed manu-matic transmission to slot into First, punch the accelerator, and get ready for lift off.
The lunge away from the line squeezes you hard in to the seat back. Then as the tach needle sweeps past the 4,000-rpm mark you feel as if the air is being squeezed out of your lungs. Past 6,000 rpm and all hell breaks loose as the V8 howls and screams like a demon and you can only hang on for dear life!
Our morning’s drive in and around Naples (Naples is the new HQ of Koenigsegg’s North American operation with well-known Ferrari enthusiast Kim Pemberton running the show) doesn’t tell us much about the CCXR’s handling. The steering is laser-precise, the brakes have the ability to stop time and the ride is firm but not bone-rattling. It makes us crave an hour on the track at Sebring.
But one clear message we’re left with: This is without doubt one of the most exciting, most mind-blowing, most thrilling cars to roll on four wheels. A thousand and eighteen Swedish horses will do that to a car!
For more information about Koenigsegg, please visit, http://www.koenigsegg.com/