This is not the first time we have featured a Koenigsegg for Hot Car of the Month, and most likely won’t be the last. The newest edition created in Angleholm, Sweden, is no exception to Koenigsegg’s past and present lineup of cars that redefine what speed truly is. This small town manufacturer has managed to not only stick around for over a decade but has, the entire time, pushed the envelope on what an automotive manufacturer can achieve in the automotive super car world.
Introducing Koenigsegg’s latest and greatest offering: The 2017 Koenigsegg Regera. In Swedish, “regera” means “to reign”. The Regera truly reigns over all other super cars in a number of ways. Starting with just the basic numbers (and sourcing a quote from the manufacturer) the 2017 Koenigsegg Regera packs way over 1500 Horsepower and over 2000 NM of Torque thanks to its 5.0L Twin Turbo V8, which is paired with three electric motors. At this point automotive experts would usually go over statistics for 0-60mph scale but to truly illustrate what “way over 1500 Horsepower” means, Koenigsegg prefers to use the 0-249mph scale. If you are not sitting down, you might want to pull up a chair. The 2017 Koenigsegg Regera runs from a dead stop all the way to 249mph in just 20 seconds flat. This makes the Regera the undisputed fastest accelerating car in the world. To top it all off, there are no sacrifices in luxury to achieve this speed. The Regera comes standard with GPS, heated seats, full leather interior, and a fully robotic system which adjusts the front and rear bonnets and both doors to be opened by use of the central infotainment screen or the use of a smart phone.
Please take your seats again because there’s still another fact about this car that potentially is its greatest achievement yet: You get all of this performance in addition to absolute prowess and the car has no gears inside the transmission. You read that right, there is no shifting from first to second or third to fourth, etc.. The car utilizes a Direct Drive System that is gearless. It is no small feat to explain how all of this magic happens, so to quote from “Car and Driver” which explained it in the easiest to understand terms, “In effect, the car utilizes a single-speed gear reduction for [its] mighty V-8 engine. Between the engine and the 2.85:1 Rear Final Drive there’s no conventional Gearbox, just a Hydraulic Coupling that, when closed, links the two directly. Below 30 mph, this [hydraulic coupling] can slip slightly, but it isn’t a proper clutch and won’t provide propulsion at very low speeds so the Regera relies instead on its [three] electric motors. Above 30 mph, the Regera’s engine speed and wheel speed rise in direct proportion with the engine’s 8250-rpm Redline corresponding to its top speed of 249 mph.”
From the first video clips beginning to surface online of the 2017 Koenigsegg Regera’s driving capabilities, it’s easy to imagine that glorious V8 thunder. A super car that doesn’t stop for gear changes, it just gets louder and louder as you rocket towards the Sun. The car features the first “Active Top Mounted Folding Rear Wing” and a sophisticated set of headlights called “Constellations” named for the pattern the headlight emits. The car also retains Koenigsegg’s removable and storable hard top for those that prefer an open air driving experience.
Interested? Don’t wait too long before placing your order. Only 80 cars are being produced in this limited run. Koenigsegg’s last model, the Agera RS, sold out all copies in only twelve months and that was with an introduction at $1.4M a piece. No doubt, all the 2017 Koenigsegg Regeras will be snatched up in similar fashion. Starting price for this super car is $1.8M before taxes and fees, so this puts the Regera out of reach for most. However, thanks to a large expansion in Koenigsegg’s dealership network and partnerships, most of the world markets should be seeing at least one or two of these super cars sometime between 2017 and 2018.
