Koenigsegg Regera Stuns with 0-249-0 mph Time of 31.49 Seconds
Impressive acceleration and braking run also resulted in world record for Swedish manufacturer in 0-249-0 mph category.
At the remote Råda airfield deep in the Swedish forest outside of the town of Lidköping, Christian von Koenigsegg once again proved beyond the shadow of a doubt why he and the company he founded in 1994 are such big players in the world of hyper cars, even with production numbers that are extremely low. On Sept. 23, with factory driver Sonny Persson behind the wheel of the company’s insane Regera production car, the company set a new world record for the 0-249-0 mph run of 31.49 seconds. Unless you’ve been sleeping under a rock for the last four years or so, you’re no doubt familiar with the Regera and it’s mind boggling stats. The plug-in hybrid sports car (or megacar as its manufacturer calls it) pumps out 1,500 horsepower thanks to its twin-turbo V8 combined with a trio of electric motors.
Koenigsegg released a video on their YouTube channel that briefly documents the record attempt. They also have a press release on their website that talks in more detail about the moment. Despite the fact that the weather was almost perfect for the attempt, with no wind and a bright sunny day, the Råda airfield that they used wasn’t without it’s challenges. The runway isn’t really used for anything, so the surface was dusty, so traction was a problem. On top of that Persson had to serve around bumps on the road surface. A length of taxiway was utilized to extend the length of the run by about 300 meters. Despite the drawbacks, Persson was able to belt the Regera to 249 mph (400 km/h) in a scant 22.87 seconds. He then slowed the car to a complete stop in 8.62 seconds. The company also is confident that with better conditions they could beat the existing time!
Along with the aforementioned twin-turbo V8 and three electric motors, the Regera also uses a unique single-speed transmission called the Koenigsegg Direct Drive. The technology makes the Regera lighter and more efficient. “This was a good opportunity to showcase the true capability of the Regera’s one-of-a-kind Direct Drive transmission,” says Christian von Koenigsegg. “As the Regera only has one gear we had to make use of it from standstill to the record top speed of 403 km/h (or 250 mph) limited by rpm. The car reaches its top speed like there is no tomorrow, but then there are no more gears. This actually suits the philosophy behind the Regera, which is ‘whoever gets to 400 km/h first wins’. Priority has been given to acceleration and drivability between 0-400 km/h – no more, no less. At any given time, the Regera can and will accelerate harder in that speed range than any other production car known to us.”
Koenigsegg notes that the car that was used was a fully homologated production car with a full interior and stock seats. The only upgrades were safety related and were limited to a four-point racing harness and a roll cage. The record breaking run continues a tradition for the company. In October 2017 an Agera RS set a record 0-249-0 mph run and then in November 2017 another run by an Agera RS broke that record. That last time was finally bested by the Regera, which did the run 1.8 seconds faster.