Supercar maker to chase mind-blowing speed record

An obscure European supercar maker is preparing to set an insane speed record that would leave all other contenders in its dust.

A little known Swedish car maker could soon top 500km/h with a car you can drive to the shops.

Boutique hypercar manufacturer Koenigsegg — which has built a reputation of producing high quality, innovative roadgoing sports cars — has hinted it may tackle Bugatti’s recently set top speed world record of 490.484km/h.

The Koenigsegg Jesko could be the car to set the record.

In a video showcasing Koenigsegg’s recent record 31.49-second run from 0km/h to 400km/h and back to 0km/h, CEO and founder Christian von Koenigsegg suggested a top speed world record run could be in order.

“Well, that’s for another time,” said von Koenigsegg when asked about the outright top speed of the $4.5 million Regera that was used in the 400km/h run set at a military airfield in Sweden.

Bugatti set a top speed record with its Chiron hypercar.

“This is huge top speed,” he said of the 400km/h run done in a hybrid car with no gearbox, which the company believes it can better on a smoother racetrack. “But we have faster top speeds cars, of course.”

Von Koenigsegg may have been hinting of taking the upcoming Jesko for a top speed run.

With a 955kW 5.0-litre V8 engine, the circa-$6.5 million Jesko is shaping up to be the fastest car yet from Koenigsegg, with previous reports quoting the brand as saying it “should be capable of driving faster than 300mph [483km/h].” Already four Jeskos have been sold in Australia, the first of which is due in 2021.

Four Koenigsegg Jeskos have been sold in Australia.

Given the brand’s love of proving its performance credentials there’s every chance a top speed run could be around the corner.

Of course, one challenge is where to set such a speed.

No racetrack in the world has a straight long enough, which is why Volkswagen-owned Bugatti uses the company’s Ehra-Lessien test track in France.

The Jesko costs about $6.5 million.

It has an 8.8km straight, but even then the Bugatti Chiron that set the time had to enter the straight at 200km/h off a banked curve and leave it at 200km/h at the other end.

That’s because getting from 400km/h to 500km/h requires a very long stretch of road.

At 400km/h a car is travelling at 111 metres per second. By 500km/h that increases to 139 metres per second.

Approaching 500km/h — at which point acceleration would be far more leisurely than at lower speeds — it would take a little over seven seconds to cover a kilometre.

If the car can hit 500km/h it would take about seven seconds to go a kilometre.

And at that sort of speed it would need the best part of one kilometre to slow to a stop.

Another challenge is tyres. When Bugatti did its 490.484km/h it engaged Michelin to design bespoke tyres reinforced with carbon fibre and X-rayed for accuracy.

Then again, Koenigsegg is clearly up for the challenge, often taking on performance records — and succeeding.