The Bugatti Chiron is frighteningly fast, but the Koenigsegg Agera RS has it thumped.
Four turbochargers, eight liters of displacement, 16 cylinders, and 1,500 horsepower have a predictable affect on 4,400 pounds of automobile. In just over 2.0 seconds, the Chiron is already hitting the speed limit on most highways. Provided enough runway, Bugatti’s latest hypercar will reach 261 mph.
These figures alone have attracted buyers for over half the 450 planned production models, but to move the remaining units (at $3 million apiece), the automaker needed more headlines. Four weeks ago, it got them.
At the hands of Juan Pablo Montoya, winner of the F1 Monaco Grand Prix (once), Indy 500 (twice), and Daytona 24 Hours (three times), the Chiron broke the world record for acceleration and braking between 0 and 249 mph. Requiring only 41.96 seconds and 3.1 km of track, the Chiron went from a standstill to warp speed, then back to a dead stop.
As you might imagine, Bugatti was proud of its accomplishment. It wasn’t the world’s top speed king, but this feat of linear G-force was arguably more impressive. Too bad Koenigsegg wanted to play too.
The Swedish supercar maker may not be as famous as Bugatti, but its cars are just as impressive. Each year, Koenigsegg one-ups its own performance benchmarks. The company’s latest model, Regera, uses a plug-in hybrid powertrain to deliver 1,500 hp and 1470 lb-ft of torque. This surely would be the car Koenigsegg would use to attack Bugatti’s record.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending how you look at it), every production Regera has been sold. Koenigsegg’s only option was to pull from the second string, using a customer’s Agera RS (with their approval) for the record run. With only 1,341 hp, the Agera RS was down 159 hp to the Chiron, but Koenigsegg didn’t shy away from the challenge.
In the early hours of October 5, Niklas Lilja strapped into the Koenigsegg and prepared for an all-out run on southern Scandinavia’s Vandel runway. Despite a lack of traction, the Agera RS accelerated to 249 mph in 26.88 seconds before Lilja slammed on the brakes. Exactly 9.56 seconds later, the car was standing still and a new 0 to 249 to 0 mph record had been achieved. At 36.44 seconds, Koenigsegg’s run was 5.52 seconds faster than the Bugatti (an eternity in supercar terms).
Bugatti’s celebration was embarrassingly short, but rumor has it the automaker is already planning a faster Chiron to restore its pride.
Images courtesy of Koenigsegg.