It's June 2023, and technically speaking, we've yet to see an official 300-mph top-speed run established by an automaker for a production car. Back in 2019, it seemed we were on the cusp of having several street-legal, production machines exceeding that exceptional barrier. None have delivered thus far (we'll talk about Bugatti in a moment) but Koenigsegg could be gearing up for an attempt.
We point to an Instagram post from the Swedish hypercar brand shared today. We're treated to three images of the Agera RST – a rebrand of the Agera RSN packing the 1,360-horsepower engine from the Koenigsegg One:1. While stunning and epic in pretty much every way, the text of this post is why we're sharing it. Koenigsegg talks about speed records, including top speed and the 0-249-0 mph title it recently reclaimed with the Regera. At the end of the post, we get a confirmation that the Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut "will challenge these records in due time."
Koenigsegg has talked speed records since the Jesko debuted, but believe it or not that was four years ago. The Jesko Absolut is the version aimed at exceeding 300 mph; it debuted in 2020 and the last we heard it was still in pre-production guise undergoing testing. With this new social media post talking about records, perhaps we're finally getting close to seeing what Koenigsegg's ultimate speed machine can do.
The company certainly isn't a stranger to speed records. There's the aforementioned Regera that currently reigns for acceleration and braking, and the Agera RS is a speed demon at 277.8 mph. If you get technical about top-speed testing (as Koenigsegg does in its post) the Agera RS is still the fastest production-spec homologated road car in the world. The SSC Tuatara recorded an official speed of 282.9 mph in early 2021, doing back-to-back runs at the Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds. But it wasn't a car homologated for road use.
Gallery: First Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut
As for Bugatti's top speed ambitions, the 304-mph Chiron Super Sport 300+ run in 2019 was only recorded in a single direction. Official speeds are calculated as an average of two runs in opposite directions to negate the effects of wind and road grades. Also, the record-setting Bugatti was a pre-production model modified for the run. And when the production version arrived, it was fitted with a limiter to keep speeds below the 300-mph threshold. And Bugatti has stated it's done chasing records.
As such, Koenigsegg is still the official king of speed among automakers. And it sounds like the Jesko Absolut might soon raise that bar even higher.
