Koenigsegg Has Reclaimed A World Record From Rimac

Another move has been made in the war of the hypercars. Back in July, Rimac took the record of the fastest production car to accelerate from a standstill to 400kmh (249mph, for those of us dealing in crumpets or freedom) with the Nevera R from Koenigsegg, managing the feat in a bonkers 25.79 seconds – over two seconds quicker than a Jesko Absolut managed last year.

Koenigsegg very much did not take kindly to that news and has been quick to reclaim its record. Yes, the V8-powered, rear-drive Absolut has gone even quicker than the all-electric, all-wheel drive Nevera R, and only a month later.

Set on 7 August and now shared with the world, the Jesko Absolut is recorded at managing that run in 25.21 seconds. For some reference, that’s about as long as it’s taken this author to type out the paragraph you’ve just read.

How has Koenigsegg managed to squeeze an extra two seconds out of that? Well, that’s all in the software of the Absolut apparently, with software tweaks to its nine-speed, triple clutch (yes, really) Light Speed Transmission and ECU with changes labelled ‘Absolut Overdrive’, and set to arrive on custom cars in the near future.

That’s right. No extra power, no trick new tyre technology, no enhanced braking systems. Just a few software engineers with laptops extracting that little more oomph from existing hardware. Incredible, really.

As a reminder, the Jesko Absolut delivers 1600bhp and 1106lb ft of torque to its rear wheels courtesy of that in-house twin-turbo V8, so it’s not exactly wanting for more power.

Oh, and while you’re here, it’s now verified that the Absolut can reach 0-250mph in 17.18 seconds – only a few tenths longer than it takes a McLaren P1 to hit 186mph, just to put that into perspective.