And that includes both very hard on a track and out on public roads
December 3, 2022 at 21:00
by Stephen Rivers
Swedish hypercar manufacturer Koenigsegg is getting ready to deliver the first of its limited-run Jesko. At the same time, it’s lent one out to the folks at Top Gear. Prepare to watch more than 1,200 hp (953 kW) let loose on the track before tackling a small road trip.
If you’re a hardcore Jesko fan you might know that it’s capable of making 1,600 hp (1,193 kW) from its 5.1-liter twin-turbocharged V8. To accomplish that though, it needs to run E85 and in this video, Top Gear only had access to regular unleaded fuel. With that limitation, it’s ‘only’ making 1,280 hp (954 kW).
Koenigsegg will only build 125 Jeskos. The one seen here is of the Absolut variety. Unlike its Attack sibling, the Absolut is focused primarily on top speed and everyday livability. To that end it doesn’t have as much downforce and lacks the trick Triplex damper system that the Attack has between the front wheels. Both cars share that same system for the rear though. According to Christian von Koenigsegg: “The name Absolut comes from the fact that this is the absolute fastest Koenigsegg that [we] will ever make.”
More: Koenigsegg Is Gearing Up To Deliver The Very First Jesko
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In the video, we first see Top Gear’s Jack Rix absolutely pummeling the Absolut around the Dunsfold Aerodrome. Not long after we get a history lesson on Koenigsegg before Rix takes us on a quick tour of the lesser-known features of the Absolut. For example, the hollowed-out carbon fiber wheels are made up of 650 sheets of the stuff that’s hand-laid and then polished.
The trick Lightspeed gearbox features nine different gears and no flywheel. The results of that clever engineering are lightning-quick shifts and an incredibly fast-revving V8 engine. Evidently, the only way to experience turbo lag in the car is to put it in a high gear and then to mash the throttle.
Rix doesn’t stop at bombing around the track though. Next, he does something we imagine few Jesko owners will actually do, namely, he takes it on a shortish road trip. Evidently, it’s so good-natured on the road that it stands out amongst other hypercars. “Most of them leave me in awe but not actually wanting one… but this Jesko, it’s an all-arounder… I wasn’t expecting that,” he says.