The Koenigsegg Regera Hypercar Visits Jay’s Garage

The Koenigsegg Regera Hypercar Visits Jay’s Garage

It’s also joined by the Agera RS and Christian von Koenigsegg himself

Jay Leno generally tends to have some pretty special vehicles and many interesting people on his web channel. Even so, this week’s episode is rather special as he features not only two very impressive hypercars but also the man who designed and engineered them, Christian von Koenigsegg.

The Agera RS is the first to get the spotlight, based on the earlier S and R models and incorporating technology from its One:1 program, this exact vehicle is currently the world’s fastest car ever on a public road. The number to beat is 277.9 mph, a mighty impressive achievement from such a niche sports car manufacturer.

The focus of the show, however, is on the new hybrid Regera, a car that combines all of Koenigsegg’s cutting-edge technology into one package. It utilizes a 670-hp electric motor to complement the existing 5.0-liter twin-turbo V8 (albeit with smaller turbos than in the Agera RS) to offer a combined 1500 hp on pump gas.

The Regera is slightly more comfort oriented than the Agera RS and therefore has a rubber mounted chassis and, despite weighing around 250 pounds more, Koenigsegg claims that it is faster than the Agera RS in a straight line thanks to that instant electric torque and trick transmission system.

Jay and Christian talk at length about the Koenigsegg Direct Drive Transmission; it uses a bespoke, heavy-duty torque converter that works with the 800-volt electric powertrain to provide seamless acceleration that fills power gaps to constantly deliver a massive accelerative shove at any road speed.

A lot of these design solutions and technologies are unique to the Regera and many are world firsts too. And then there are the neat little touches, such as the ghost-like ‘spirit of performance’ emblem on the practical magnetic key holder.

But perhaps the most impressive aspect of these hypercars is that practically every major component from the engine to the fully active rear wing and from the hollow carbon-fiber wheels to the door-opening mechanism have all been designed in-house. And unlike many low volume niche auto makers, these cars are fully homologated for driving on US roads.

Pricing for each car started at $2.2-million before adding any customer-specific options. Of the 80 cars that will be built in total, all have already been pre-sold, with 5 already on the roads and 20 more in the process of being built.