It appears we were wrong when we thought that Koenigsegg only produces hypercars - Angelholm seems to be shifting its business from the automotive sector to showbiz, with the Swedes having now become deja-vu entertainers. At least this is the feeling we're experiencing now that the Koenigsegg Agera RS has grabbed a velocity world record that used to be held by Bugatti for the second time in a month.
To be more precise, Koenigsegg took an Agera RS to Pahrump, NV, with Niklas Lilja, one of the company's drivers, pushing the beast all the way to 447 km/h (make that 277.9 mph). We're talking about a closed road situated between Las Vegas and Pahrump.
The said velocity number, which was recorded in both directions and verified using Racelogic gear, allowed the Agera RS to set a new production car world speed record.
As we mentioned above, this trophy used to be stored in Bugatti's cabinet. Back in 2010, an unrestricted incarnation of the Veyron Super Sport climbed all the way to 431 km/h (267.8 mph). The hypercar was manhandled by company test driver Pierre Henri Raphanel, with the safety delivered by the VW Group's Ehra-Lessien test track being an important factor.
It's worth noting that the street-legal version of the Veyron SS was electronically limited to 415 km/h (258 mph), with Bugatti citing tire limitations as the reason behind this.
As it was the case when an Agera RS destroyed the Bugatti Chiron's 0-400-0 km/h (0-259-0 mph) record (think: 36.44 vs. 41.92s), the Swedish beast featured the carmaker's Megawatt engine, with its twin-turbo 5.0-liter V8 churning out 1,360 hp and 1,1011 lb-ft (1,371 Nm).
And while we're waiting for Bugatti's Chiron-involving reply, we'll remind you there's another player in this maximum velocity game. We're talking about Hennessey, whose new Venom F5 promises to hit no less than 484 km/h (301 mph). Molsheim has let it slip that it will attempt a Chiron top speed run next year, so we have plenty of events to look forward to.
Update:We've added a piece of onboard footage showing the Agera RS' velocity adventure at the bottom of the page. The Swedish land-land missile climbed all the way to 284 mph in the second run shown in the clip, while its previous run saw the beast hitting 272 mph, with the 277.9 mph headline figure being the average of the two.
It's worth noting that while Bugatti has mentioned the limitations brought by the Michelin tires of its machines, Koenigsegg, whose hypercars are considerably lighter, has a different view on the matter.
For one thing, Angelholm used a single set of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s throughout the testing day that led to the adventure above and even took the time to praise the rubber: "The [Michelin] tires were amazing. We used only one set and they looked as good at the end as they did at the start,"
In his quest to bring you the most impressive automotive creations, Andrei relies on learning as a superpower. There's quite a bit of room in the garage that is this aficionado's heart, so factory-condition classics and widebody contraptions with turbos poking through the hood can peacefully coexist. Full profile
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