A Look at Koenigsegg Jesko’s Light Speed Transmission and How it Works

The car designed by the company’s founder, Christian von Koenigsegg was named Jesko as a tribute to his father, who mentored and used most of his life-savings to help him pursue the dream of building the world’s fastest cars.

The pre-production model was unveiled at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show and it was developed to replace the legendary track-focused road-legal hypercar, the Agera RS.

Building on the technologies used by its predecessor, the Jesko features an improved and redesigned version of the same turbocharged V8 that now uses a new 180-degree flat-plane crankshaft, which is 5 kg (11 lb.) lighter compared to the earlier design. The power output varies between 1,281 hp (1,298 PS; 955 kW) and 1,603 hp (1,625 PS; 1,195 kW) depending on the use of either gasoline or E85 biofuel.

Matted to this amazing engine is an equally innovative transmission, the first fully developed in-house by Koenigsegg. The Light Speed Transmission (LST) as it is official called, only weighs 90 kg (198 lb.) and it is at least 50% shorter in length than the 7-speed dual-clutch transmission used by the Agera.

This 9-speed transmission uses 7 wet, multi-plate clutches that have their own pressure sensors and hydraulic actuators.

The input shaft that comes from the engine can send torque to the second shaft, which in turn can transfer torque to the third. Each shaft has a set of three gears, which multiplied result in nine possible gear ratios.

On a traditional dual-clutch transmission that features two shafts, nine gear pairs are needed for nine forward gears. The LST only needs six thanks to its compounded gears, each controlled by its own clutch.

The seventh clutch is used for the reverse gear by matching the input shaft to the output shaft, essentially skipping the gear set and therefore changing rotation direction.

Due to this multi-clutch configuration, the LST delivers what Koenigsegg rightfully calls ultimate power on demand, or UPOD, by simultaneously opening and closing the respective clutches when switching gears. T

This enables much faster gear changes than any conventional dual-clutch transmission.

What is not ordinary with this transmission is the ability to pull the paddle all the way back and the gearbox will downshift or upshift to the ideal gear for maximum acceleration. There is also a shift lever that has a similar function mounted on the console.

This transmission is designed to be lightning-fast, just as anything Koenigsegg designs, and another cool feature is that, because of the lack of a traditional flywheel and clutch along with the lightweight construction, the Jesko sounds like a Formula One car on idle, which is absolutely nuts, like everything about this wonderful car.

The Koenigsegg Jesko will be the first of the Swedish manufacturer’s cars to be fully homologated for road use in all relevant markets, worldwide. With production beginning this fall at a rate of one car per week, it will be produced in 125 units that are all already sold out.