Koenigsegg Breaks Four Speed Records With Jesko Absolut

by Carl Malek | July 2, 2024

Koenigsegg raises the bar on speed records with Jesko Absolut. Swedish supercar maker confirms that the hypercar smashed four different world speed records as it made its way from 0 to 250 mph and 0 again on a recent high-speed run.

Koenigsegg confirmed that the Jesko hypercar managed to break four high speed records at once.

Koenigsegg is no stranger to breaking records with the Swedish supercar maker laying claim to a number of high-speed records with some of its past super and hypercar entries powering their way into the record books over the years as the company continues to establish itself as a serious supercar contender.

The Jesko is the latest example of Koenigsegg’s engineering insanity with the limited-production hypercar making its appearance in 2019. The car quickly sold out after it made its global debut but the Jesko proved to be a potent entry in the hypercar wars thanks to its 5.0-liter twin-turbo V8 which makes 1,280 hp on regular gasoline with E85 bumping it up to 1,600 hp. The Jesko is no stranger to setting records, but a recent high-speed run in Sweden showed just how good it is at rewriting speed records when asked to do so.

Four records, one Jesko

Factory test driver Markus Lundh was behind the wheel for the Jesko’s record breaking speed run.

The Jesko is available in two different flavors, Attack and the Absolut with the Attack focusing on providing maximum downforce thanks to an extensive aero kit while the Absolut reduces drag by removing the Attack’s add-ons which allows the car to reach a higher top speed. Company officials chose to use the latter for its most recent high-speed run with the car being driven by factory test driver Markus Lundh at an airfield in Sweden.

Lundh was able to have a very productive day with the Jesko by first breaking the Regera’s 0-400km-0 record. The Jesko completed the task in 27.83 seconds which is 0.98 seconds faster than the Regera when it clocked its record-setting run in 2023. Lundh also broke the Regera’s 0-250-0 mph record with a time of 28.27 seconds with that time being 1.33 seconds faster than the Regera’s record. The last two records it broke were focused on its ability to get to 400 km and 250 mph with the Jesko managing to do both in 18.82 and 19.2 seconds respectively.

Jesko capable of going even faster

The company says that the Jesko is capable of going even faster if given the right conditions and enough space to accelerate.

Koenigsegg said that the car used for the record-breaking attempt was largely unmodified but a roll cage was added to improve safety and the driver’s seat was swapped out for a throne from the Koenigsegg One:1 with the latter item being “favored by the driver” according to the company’s brief statement. The Jesko Absolut used in the attempt was also running on E85 ethanol fuel which allowed the engine to produce maximum power when compared to traditional gasoline.

But while its 256 mph recorded top speed is an impressive feat in and of itself, it would seem that the Jesko is capable of going even faster with company founder Christian von Koenigsegg saying that the Jesko Abslout is capable of hitting a top speed of 330 mph if given enough room. That’s certainly an ambitious claim, but there are very few places on Earth where such a top speed can be attained safely so it might be a while before the firm gets an opportunity to try and reach that top speed.