24hcar: Koenigsegg

Showing posts with label Koenigsegg. Show all posts

VIDEO:Koenigsegg Trevita CCXR visits Jay Leno's Garage

Posted by Mr Dung Thursday, May 6, 2010

Being a celebrity car fan has its privileges. Christian von Koenigsegg, founder of the supercar manufacturer named for his family, brought the Koenigsegg Trevita CCXR to California for a segment with Jay Leno.

The rear-wheel drive car is one of only three Trevita units to be produced with a body built from a proprietary white carbon fiber diamond weave. The car uses a 4.8-liter twin-supercharged V8 engine running on biofuel that produces 1018 horsepower (759 kW / 1032 PS). Torque tops out at 1060 Nm (782 ft-lb).

Although the automaker claims the Trevita is half the weight of the Bugatti Veyron, it actually has a slower 0-100 km/h sprint time. The Veyron hits the mark at 2.5 seconds, while the Trevita needs 2.9. The Trevita hits 200 km/h in 8.75 seconds, and goes 0-200-0 in 13.55. 0-300-0 is accomplished in 27.8 seconds.

"This is a car that will be prized years and years into the future," said Leno on inspecting the car. The car is street-legal in the United States, having survived 18 crash tests.

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Koenigsegg Agera Configurator Launched

Posted by Mr Dung Monday, March 22, 2010

[koenigsegg]

Koenigsegg revealed the new Agera supercar at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show as a celebration of the company's 15th anniversary. It will be built alongside the CCX and the CCXR. For those of us who are currently not in a position to buy, we can at least configure the cars to our preferences on the official Koenigsegg website.

The configurator allows a choice of three wheel types, including a black one, plus eleven exterior paint colours such as Sparkling Topaz and Emerald Green. Three robotised rear wing types can be had. They include an F1 Double Wing and a Top Gear wing.

The interior leather can be configured in one of ten colours and features techno gadgets like USB connectivity and satellite navigation.

The standard Agera engine is a 4.7-litre twin turbo V8 making a healthy 669 kW (910 PS / 898 bhp) and 1,100 Nm (811 lb-ft) of torque, giving it a 0 - 100 km/h sprint time of 3.1 seconds and a top speed of around 390 km/h (245 mph).

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NLV Quant Preliminary Details Released in Geneva

Posted by Mr Dung Monday, March 8, 2010

[Autoblog]

While the Bugatti 16C Galibier was winning rave reviews, at the Geneva Motor Show, a potential competitor was silently stalking in the background. It was the Quant, a concept jointly-developed by NLV Solar and Koenigsegg.

Set to be production ready next year, the Quant was designed to prove "cutting-edge supercars can combine speed, comfort and enjoyment with environmental integrity." It features two different battery systems ("a long-life metal-air battery or a rechargeable redox flow cell"), four torque-vectoring electric motors, a full carbon fiber chassis, and a revolutionary thin-film coated photovoltaic body.

The latter converts light into electricity to supply the operating electronics and the battery. While it's a bit technical, NLV says the coating has "an average photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 38%, depending on ambient conditions, and a peak performance of over 50%." More importantly, the company believes they can tune the material's absorption characteristics to create multiple layers with their own unique absorption frequency. As impressive as this is, NLV estimates the film will have a degradation coefficient of only 5-6% over 20 years.

So what does all this mean? Power, efficiency, and speed. The electric motors produce a combined 600 kW (805 hp / 816 PS) and 1500 Nm (1107 lb-ft) of torque, which allows the 1680 kg (3704 lb) Quant to accelerate from 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in an astonishing 2.8 seconds and hit a top speed of 377 km/h (234 mph).

Besides the sci-fi technology, the Quant is stylish and luxurious. The cabin features alcantara upholstery, LED lighting, carbon fiber trim, and individual seating for four.

Although Koenigsegg is no longer involved in the project, look for more information to be released later this year.

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The Action-Packed, Ageless Agera by Koenigsegg

Posted by Mr Dung Thursday, March 4, 2010

[CS]

Koenigsegg's Agera is a car of action. No, literally, "agera" is Swedish for "to act". It's name is also derived from the Greek "Ageratos", meaning "ageless". Being a Koenigsegg, the Agera puts out an insane amount of power (910 horses thanks to two turbos), oodles of torque (1,100 Nm / 811 lb-ft ), wears 6-egg-omelet-sized brakes (392mm discs in front and 380mm in back).

It even runs on regular, or so they say, and offers the most luggage space in its segment. Deliciously practical.

Koenigsegg claims the traction control system "is the fastest reacting in the industry", something I'd be more than happy to test if they ever wanted to send one down South Carolina way.

According to the Swedish manufacturer, the Agera's interior features an industry-first lighting system. Called Ghost Light, "[the] illumination shines through the billet aluminium buttons and surfaces by way of invisible nanotubes, creating excellent visibility of the symbols, as well as a very clean and stylish appearance, framed by an all-new carbon fibre centre console and tunnel assembly." Sounds expensive.

Lastly, the diver's gauge pod can be configured to suit a variety of needs, providing basic gauges, a lap timer, G-force-o-meter, power level indicator, compass/sat-nav, and audio info.

With the CC-series cars already kicking ass and taking names all over the world, one might ask what the purpose of the Agera is. Koenigsegg is saying it's meant to broaden their range; somehow I don't see it as comparable to owning a Ford Mustang and having a Taurus as a family car. Interesting, but I really can't wait for this real range expansion Christian von Koenigsegg has been hinting at.

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Koenigsegg Terminates Agreement to Buy SAAB from General Motors

Posted by Mr Dung Tuesday, November 24, 2009

General Motors has just announced that the proposed sale of its Saab unit to a consortium led by Swedish sports car maker Koenigsegg has been canceled. And this time, it's not because the Detroit automaker wanted to keep Saab as was the case with Opel, but because Koenigsegg backed out of the purchasing of the Swedish brand in the same way that Penske did with Saturn.

"We're obviously very disappointed with the decision to pull out of the Saab purchase," said GM President and CEO, Fritz Henderson.

"Many have worked tirelessly over the past several months to create a sustainable plan for the future of Saab by selling the brand and its manufacturing interests to Koenigsegg Group AB. Given the sudden change in direction, we will take the next several days to assess the situation and will advise on the next steps next week," Henderson added.

In September, Koenigsegg Group AB had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings Co. Ltd. (BAIC) to explore growth opportunities in the Chinese and international markets for the products of both SAAB and BAIC.

The Swedish sports car maker has yet to release an official statement on the matter.

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Oops... New York Dealer Crashes Customer's Koenigsegg CCX

Posted by Mr Dung Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Of course, accidents can happen. But it's one thing getting into a fender bender with a Ford Taurus and another when you destroy a customer's $500,000+ supercar. According to the crash-addicted folks over at 'Wrecked Exotics', this accident happened when a New York dealer took his customer's 2008 Koenigsegg CCX for a joy ride only to end up crashing into a guardrail and then on a Porsche 911 GT2. We'd love to read the insurance claim on this one..

Via: Wrecked Exotics

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China's Beijing Auto Wants to Buy Previous Saab 9-5 Tooling and Design Rights

Posted by Mr Dung Friday, October 2, 2009

As the saying goes, another man's trash, well you know the rest... Citing unnamed sources, UK's Autocar magazine is reporting that China's Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation (BAIC) is interested in buying the tooling and design rights to the outgoing Saab 9-5 that is to be replaced by an all-new model in 2010. The report does not clarify if BAIC wants to start production of the previous Saab 9-5 in China as is or if the company will perform a light makeover (another word for changing badges...) as was the case with China's SAIC and the Rover 75.

And if you're wondering what's the deal between state-run BAIC and Saab, the Chinese company recently took a minority stake in Swedish supercar maker Koenigsegg, which is planning to take over Saab from General Motors. The two involved parties have yet to finalize the deal.

Via: Autocar