After BMW M and Alpina I felt it was time to go and visit my fellow countrymen. And that is not Saab or Volvo (Which are not Swedish but American by now). It was the supersportscar producer Koenigsegg Automotive of Ängelholm, Sweden.

At the last Geneva Salon of 2004 the Koenigsegg CC-R was introduced. The R-version of the first Koenigsegg, the CC8S which had all the features of the CC8S but a refined design of the side air-intakes, different headlight arrangement, a revised rear-design, larger brakes as well as new front splitters. Most importantly it have a much more powerful engine that produces 806 HP compared with the 655 HP of the standard model. Torque is up from 750 Nm to 920 Nm and it has a dry weight of 1180 kg. Christian von Koengisegg himselfs liken the comparison between the CC8S and the CC-R with the BMW 330i (E46) and the M3: "Compared to the CC8, the CCR chassis is slightly reinforced , through extra brcing and a different lay-up of the tub. It also have different brakes, tyres, wheels, shock absorbers, anti-roll bars, engine internals, supercharging system, body changes, interiour changes."

A year after it's introduction almost all orders for Koenigsegg are for the CC-R version, since it is marginally more expensive (around €40 000 more) for much more power and an overall more competent supercar. Over 20 examples have been delivered as of autumn 2004 the order list is growing with almost exclusively CC-R orders. Koenigsegg is working to expand their facilities so they can meet demand for 2005. Homologation for the USA market is underway and final certifications are scheduled to be finished so the car can be launched in late 2005 for USA. Two CC-R have been sold in Australia where the CC-R is the only street legal supersportscar on the market today. There is no problem in delivering a right-hand drive Koengisegg.

The goal is for Koenigsegg to sell at 150 examples of this car which they hope can be reached within 3-4 years from now.

The outlet on the rear "engine hood" with the Ghost emblem. Beneath the engine air outlet there is a large curved outlet that works together wit ha ducktail to form an integrated wing which creates enough downforce to replace a rear wing thus enabling a higher top speed.

The V8 engine wieghts just under 200 kg which is difficult to manage with a V-12. Some people that critisize the Koenigsegg engine to be a developed Ford engine. According to Koengisegg the engine is 80% engineeered in-house by Koenigsegg. The block is from Ford Racing, but just about everything else is Koenigsegg developed: oil-spray lubricaton of the pistons, engineering the engine as a stressed member of the chassis, the exhaust, the flywheel, clutch, superchargers, pistons, fuel-system, conrods, crankshafts etc.


The silver ghost is to honour the Swedish Fighter Jet Squadron No.1 which used the premises where Koenigsegg produces their cars. The ghost was the squadrons symbol. Today some of the mechanics of the Swedish JAS Gripen 39 fighter jet does build the Koenigsegg today.



The McLaren F1 managed a very high top speed -close to 400 km/h- with "only" 627 HP and the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 struggles to reach 400 km/h with 1000 HP. The problem is that Bugatti engineers have to work with a body that is a finished design while Koenigsegg engineered their design from the engineers wishes.



The Koenigsegg CC-R have a drag coefficient of 0,297 which have been measured at Michelin wind tunnels. This is lower than the McLaren F1.



Other side air-intakes than the CC8S.





The three circular rings on the rearlights are a design feature that reappears on the rear lights as well as in the interiour.



The fuel-cap on the right side of the car.



Carbon is everywhere. Soft Tempur materials are the seating surfaces made of and the seat shells are made out of carbon.



The shifter is placed as close to the steering wheel as possible to minimize the distance and time of travel for the right hand between changing gears and holding the steering wheel.



Remember not to open the door and the bonnet on the same time on your Koenigsegg when the battery is out since you could scratch the hood. This is becuase the window goes down a bit when opening the door to avoid a "collision" with the hood. But if the battery is "dead" the window cant go down and will thus cause scratches. Also, look out for high sidewalks when parking the car... Park Distance Controls is optional.



An interiour straight to the point. Positioned on the steering column there is the tachometer and LCD-displays. The most frequently used controls such as the safety button, starter button, light switches, window regulators, wing mirror adjustments are positioned there. Controls for the climate control, traction, hazard and ride height are positioned above and below the center control.



The 18 inch magnesium wheels are standard on the CC-R. The five-spoke wave shaped spokes and large open areas that helps the evacuation of hot air from the brakes. The front brakes are 362 mm in diameter and are six piston in front and four piston in rear.

The Jas 39 Gripen. The Jas 39 Gripen fighter recently won against seasoned and battle-proven US fighter jet Lockheed Martin F16 Falcon in a competiton for the new generation of fighter jets for NATO-country Hungary. Do I spot a Koenigsegg on the courtyard? The picture is taken above Läckö Slott near Lidköping, Sweden.

This is the actual CC-R Koenigsegg that did the top-speed test on the Prototipo circular proving ground in Nardo, complete with some dirt on it and everything. Bugs on the windscreen was however removed! The speed-circle (that is not oval...) performs high-speeds testings 363 days a year 24 h a day. For the Geneva Salon in 2005 they presented their result: 388 km/h at 6790 rpm. Rev limiter is 7600 rpm. This was the average speed over a distance of 1 km. This is faster than the McLaren F1 acheived on the high-speed oval. Ambient temperature was 8 degrees celsius.

Carbon lip that separates the air and which determines which air that should pass above or under the car. The front splitter on this CC-R is painted in silver. It is made of carbon and was unpainted on the red record-breaking car.

The Koenigsegg CC8S during testing on the Prototipo high-speed oval. Since the circle is banked the true top-speed is somewhat higher. The Prototipo circular track has a circumference of 12,5 km. The steering wheel has to be constantly at a 30 degree angle. The circle is made of concrete and is rather bumpy at high speeds.

Temperature in Celsius for the car during the top speed test:

• Tires: 64 degrees
• Engine coolant: 91 degrees
• Intake air intercooler: 64 degrees
• Gearbox oil: 94 degrees
  
• Engine oil: 112 degrees

Carbon used throughout the car.




The car had standard Michelin wheels at the test, standard ride height of the car, standard engine configuration, standard wheel geometries, standard gearbox, standard clutch, standard brakes and standard overboos pressure from the superchargers.

The McLaren F1 managed 386,7 km/h in top speed on a straight road, at the 9 km long Ehra Leissen test-track at the Volkswagen facilites. On the picture above with the 386,7 km/h top speed it is evident that McLaren have taped over the indicators, the area between the hood and the body as well as removed the wiper. Thus modificated the car at the time of testing at the Ehra-Leissen track test.

At Prototipo in Nardo the McLaren F1 reached a top speed of 372 km/h (compared to the CC-R 388 km/h) which is a 3,95% slower speed than it acheived on Ehra Leissen because of the banked track. Consequently, a rough extimate would lead to that the Koenigsegg CC-R can acheive a top speed of over 400 km/h on a straight track. However there are problems with this since Volswagen owns the Ehra Leissen test track and they have their own supercar in sight: the Bugatti Veyron. Also they have claimed that this 1000 HP car will reach over 400 km/h in top speed and I would be very surprsied if the would let Koenigsegg in to the facilites to claim the first price for production cars after the small-series Dauer 962. So sadly my guess is that we won't see any Ehra Leissen tests before VW launches their continously delayed Bugatti Veyron 16.4 which goal is to break the 400 km/h barrier on a non-oval track.

But the numbers speaks for Koengisegg:

Dauer EB110: 2.62 kg/HP
Koenigsegg CCR: 1,56 kg/HP
Veyron: 1,95 kg/HP

Some results from top-speed tests on Nardo from Auto Motor un Sport are:

• Aston Martin DB9: 309 km/h
• Alpina B7: 311 km/h
  
• MTM Audi RS6 Avant Clubsport: 313 km/h
  
• Bentley Continental GT: 323 km/h
• BMW M5 E60 unrestricted: over 330 km/h
  
• Ferrari Enzo: 355 km/h
• Ferrari F40: 329 km/h
  
• Lamborghini Diablo 6,0: 321 km/h
  
• Lamborghini Murcieolago: 330 km/h
• Brabus Mercedes S V-12: 310 km/h
• Brabus Mercedes SL600 V-12 (2003): 327 km/h
  
• Brabus Maybach S V12: 314 km/h
  
• Mercedes SLR McLaren: 334 km/h
• Mercedes SL65 AMG: 338 km/h
  
• Porsche Carrera GT: 334 km/h
• Porsche 911 (996) GT2: 315 km/h
• Porsche 959: 339 km/h
  
• Ruf 996 Turbo R (Ruf narrowbody with Ruf VIN#): 351 km/h
• Techart porsche GT Street: 335 km/h

The tyres are approved for speeds exceeding 400 km/h if you should decide to leave the Prototipo in Nardo and find some stretches.

The creator of the McLaren F1 Gordon Murray told this in an interview a few years back:

JB: What about the Edonis and Koenigsegg?

GM: You almost can’t count cars like the Edonis and Koenigsegg. With the Zonda you have to take the car seriously – the quality’s not bad, he’s selling the cars, people are driving them and using them and liking them. When there are 50 Edonises driving around and people are saying ‘This is good’, I’ll consider it a proper motorcar.

JB: The Koenigsegg is aiming for 250mph, too.

GM: People never learn lesson one, which is ‘don’t shout your mouth off before you’ve built the car’. Before the 1989 world crash there was an article in Road & Track, ’24 supercars you can buy’ and I think the only ones that actually arrived were us, the Jag and the Bugatti – three out of 24. With the Koenigsegg they’re talking about a horsepower figure and top speed for which you need a Cd of about 0.17 or something. It doesn’t add up. You shouldn’t do that. We didn’t say anything about our motorcar – nobody knew it was going to be middle seat until the launch – we just shut up and built it and then let people drive it.

Production of the McLaren F1 drew to a close in May 1998, with a total production of 100 cars, made up as follows:

F1 F1 LM F1 GT

64 5 3

GTR 95 GTR 96 GTR 97

9 9 10

Street-registred for Sweden, with Swedish standard issue front plate. The McLaren top speed-text the McLaren had a "sticker" plate of plastics taped on the front and not of aluminum as the standard license plate is.



Repeated 380+ km/h runs places alot of stress on all parts of the car, not at least the front of the car.



Drip-shaped rear view mirror for the mosty aerodynamically correct shape.


Interesting details on the loudspeakers that bears the koengisegg arm.



This air-intake gurantees rich air-flow to the oilcooler and intercooler. It is afterwards ventilated out through the rear outlet panel. Since the intake is placed slightly higher than the outlet some in functions also to provide some additional downforce.





Full leather and Alcantara even in the record breaking car. Racing seat and rollcage were installed for added safety.


The interiour of the record car with the adddition of some temporary instruments for the record run. My guess is that the single-digit display on top is to show which gear is chosen. The blue display (MPM Dashlogger) shows speed, lambda, exhaust-temperature and more. It also logs all values.



Christian von Koenigsegg with a proud father at the Geneva Salon 2005.

The available exteriour and interiour colours.

The Koenigsegg brochure in the middle.

The standard leather colours.

Interestingly the Koenigsegg CC-R have been produced in all of the above colours except the two most far away (thankfully). Many of the first CC-R delivered to consumers were in the 4th orange-like colour counting from above since that was the colour of the official premiere CC-R at Geneva 2004. Se more pictures of that car on this link. At least the first four CC-R were produced in that orange colour but now they have been produced in all colours featured above.

I took a closer look on the deep blue metallic and then I noticed that all the colour samples where painted on carbpn parts naturally, sicne the Koenigsegg is made completely out of carbon.