The 1600-HP Koenigsegg Jesko Isn’t Just Insanely Fast, It’s Also Technically Fascinating – Car and Driver

• The Swedish hypercar maker Koenigsegg does it again with the Jesko, which is even faster and more technologically fascinating than the Agera.
• The Jesko features the new Light Speed nine-speed multi-clutch automatic transmission, which was developed in-house.
  
• Owning a Jesko will cost about $3 million, with deliveries (including to the United States) starting sometime in 2020.
  

Crafting a worthy successor to a hypercar as bonkers as the Koenigsegg Agera RS, the world’s fastest production car with a top speed of 278 mph, is no simple feat. But that is exactly what the Swedish manufacturer is aiming for with its reveal of the 2020 Koenigsegg Jesko at the Geneva auto show.

Named after Jesko von Koenigsegg, the inspirational father of company founder and CEO Christian von Koenigsegg, the Jesko is a wild thing to behold with its vast array of massive aerodynamic appendages. It is an exotic contraption encompassing cutting-edge engineering, massive power levels, and a range of specifications that, on paper, make it appear a better and more capable vehicle than its predecessor in every way—despite following a similar performance formula and sharing a distinct familial resemblance to the Agera.

Weapons-Grade Power

For the Jesko, Koenigsegg’s familiar twin-turbocharged 5.0-liter V-8 has been heavily revised to include a lightweight, flat-plane crankshaft, an updated intake system, and three fuel injectors per cylinder, up from the previous two. With a redline of 8500 rpm, the Jesko’s powerplant generates 1281 horsepower at 7800 rpm on pump gasoline (1600 horses on E85) and 1106 lb-ft of torque at 5100 revs. The Agera RS, for comparison, was rated at 1160 horses on pump gas. While the engine’s turbos already generate an impressive 24.7 psi of boost (31.9 psi when running E85), the setup also includes a secondary air injection system that can deliver a brief shot of up to 290.1 psi into the exhaust flow to rapidly spool up the compressors, thereby significantly reducing turbo lag and sharpening throttle response. As a bonus, the setup also helps the car’s catalytic converters reach their operating temperatures more quickly to reduce cold-start emissions.

Arguably even more impressive than the engine is the Jesko’s Koenigsegg-developed nine-speed multi-clutch automatic transmission, controlled via steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters or a push/pull shift lever on the center console. In an ode to the gearbox’s rapid-shifting capability, the company calls it the Light Speed Transmission (LST). Versus a conventional dual-clutch automatic that utilizes a separate clutch for both odd- and even-numbered gears—an already super-quick-shifting arrangement—the LST employs seven individual clutches that allow it to shuffle gears even quicker—essentially with zero torque interruption—and to jump between any of its ratios with equal immediacy, be it an eight-to-third gear downshift or a second-to-ninth upshift.

The paddle shifters and console shifter feature a two-stage operation, whereby actuating them to their first detent manually changes gears in a conventional fashion. But engage them to their second position and the computer’s shift logic (Ultimate Power on Demand in Koenigsegg-speak) takes over to automatically engage the optimal gear selection based on wheel speed, vehicle speed, and other sensors. Equally important to a performance car such as the Jesko, the LST is claimed to be shorter and easier to package than a conventional dual-clutch ‘box, as well as significantly lighter.

Race Car Tech

Building on the Agera’s carbon-fiber and aluminum-honeycomb chassis tub, the Jesko’s chassis is slightly longer and taller, which allows for more interior space, particularly in terms of head- and legroom. An updated version of the Agera’s pushrod-actuated control-arm suspension includes updated adaptive Ohlins dampers at all four corners, as well as a third, horizontally-mounted damper on each axle (the Agera only had this setup at the rear) to maintain aerodynamic balance at high speed and quell suspension squat and dive. Also new is a rear-wheel-steering system that both improves stability at high speeds and enhances agility at lower speeds, as well as lighter 20-inch front and 21-inch rear wheel designs. The new rollers are available in both forged aluminum and carbon-fiber construction and are wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires as standard—sized 265/35R-20 in front and 325/30R-21 at the rear—with Michelin’s latest Pilot Sport Cup 2 R rubber as an option.

Further helping the Jesko stick to the road are its carbon-fiber body and advanced aerodynamic systems, including a massive front chin splitter with active underbody flaps that can route air through the nose and over the top of the car. The enlarged size of the splitter is necessary to balance downforce levels with those produced by the gigantic top-mounted, boomerang-shaped rear wing, which features stacked airfoil elements that Koenigsegg says can actively alter their angle of attack based on driving conditions. Representing a 40 percent increase in downforce over the Agera RS, the Jesko is claimed to produce 1764 pounds of downforce at 155 mph and up to 3086 pounds at higher speeds—almost as much as the car’s claimed 3131-pound curb weight. The additional drag inherent with such great aerodynamic loads means the Jesko likely won’t be able to reach quite as high of a top speed as its slipperier predecessor, but Koenigsegg says it has yet to test the car’s maximum velocity.

Appropriately High-End Tinsel

Additional highlights include a removable roof panel, Koenigsegg’s show-stopping “dihedral synchro-helix” door-hinge mechanism, three-stage traction and stability control, front and rear hydraulic lifting systems, adjustable pedals, leather- or microsuede upholstery with aluminum and carbon-fiber interior trim, and an optional old-school, analog g-force meter mounted on the dash. The Jesko also features an advanced driver interface encompassing a 5.0-inch, steering-wheel-mounted haptic touchscreen instrument cluster that remains centered as the wheel spins, as well as a 9.0-inch central infotainment touchscreen with Apple CarPlay. Additional options have yet to be confirmed, but Koenigsegg’s representatives did confirm that there will be both a full-attack track model and a more street-oriented version of the Jesko. Along with slightly less aggressive aerodynamics, the tamer model will likely feature power-adjustable seats instead of the track car’s one-piece carbon-fiber shells, as well as the ability to stow the removable roof panel in a front trunk compartment; go topless in the track car and the venting for the big splitter means you’ll have to leave the panel at home.

Koenigsegg says the privilege of owning a Jesko will cost you roughly $3 million, although initial production and deliveries, which will include the U.S., won’t commence until sometime next year. Given the incredible performance of its predecessor and the multitude of improvements incorporated into the Jesko, the latest Koenigsegg’s potential should be every bit as awesome as its looks—and specs—suggest.

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