The Koenigsegg Jesko is one brutal hypercar and one of the last of its kind to feature a jaw-dropping amount of power from fossil fuels. Taming it is tricky as laying down all those horses the right way takes experience, and in the right hands, it is a proper track tool.
Case in point, the vehicle recently set a blistering-fast lap record at a lesser-known racetrack on the right side of the Atlantic Ocean. The pace was Sweden’s Gotland Ring. The time was September 29, 2023, in an ambient temperature of around 18C (64F), and test driver Niklas Lilja put it through its paces.
When the hypothetical checkered flag dropped, the Koenigsegg Jesko was at 2 minutes and 56.97 seconds. This puts it in front of the Porsche 911 GT3 RS by Manthey Racing, which was the previous record holder at the said racetrack, which is 7.3 km (4.5 miles) long in the GP configuration, with a time of 3:04.83.
According to Koenigsegg themselves, Niklas Lilja is said to have pushed the car to around 90 percent of its potential. As a result, the Koenigsegg Jesko could complete a lap of the Gotland Ring even quicker. But as long as it holds the lap record there, the chances of that happening are zero, no matter how much we would want to see it pushed to 100%.
Photo: Screenshot Youtube | Koenigsegg
As for the model in question, it was in the Attack configuration, and strange enough, the automaker didn't use E85 in the fuel tank, but 98-octane pump gas that's similar to the 93-octane available in the United States. As a result, the twin-turbo 5.0-liter V8 engine had 1,280 hp (1,298 ps/955 kW) at 7,800 rpm and 738 pound-feet (1,000 Nm) of torque from 2,700 to 6,170 rpm.
On E85, the engine, whose redline is at 8,500 rpm, would have enjoyed 1,600 hp (1,623 hp/1,195 kW) and 1,106 lb-ft (1,500 Nm) of torque. Everything goes to the rear wheels through a nine-speed automatic transmission. Tipping the scales at 2,910 pounds (1,320 kg) dry, the Koenigsegg Jesko is said to be able to do over 500 kph or 310 mph, yet there aren't many places out there where it can safely and legally hit such dizzying speeds.
Koenigsegg’s Jesko is a toy for big boys (and gals) not only from a performance standpoint but also from a financial one. As you likely already know, it is a multi-million dollar machine, with the build slots that rarely get listed for grabs costing up to $5 million. Only 125 copies of this hypercar will ever see the light of day in the Attack and Absolut configurations, and all of them are put together at the company's facility in Angelholm, Sweden.
After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s. Full profile
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