A Koenigsegg Agera RS Just Smashed Bugatti Chiron's 0-400-0 km/h Record

The test run was prompted by a private Koenigsegg owner who wanted to match up the car’s performance “in comparison to other manufacturers.”

This car featured the 1,360bhp and 1,011lb foot version of the RS’s engine (a 5.0-litre twin-turbo V8) and a removable roll-cage.

If you think the track had anything to do with the miraculous run, that’s not correct. The 2.8km (1.74-mile) track was not ideal and had various problems such as bumps and potholes.

“With this track being just 2.8km in length, we knew that we may run close to the track’s physical limitations. The track had a grassed run-off zone at the end, so it was relatively safe, but it would be safer still if we never had to use it,” Koenigsegg explained to TopGear.

The Test Run

The test driver, Niklas Lilja had to build speed with each lap, in increments of 10kmh until he made 400kmh (249mph), to ensure the car could handle the strain.

“While the car fought for grip on the deteriorated surface, the acceleration was both prodigious and relentless," recounted Koenigsegg to the auto media outlet.

Due to the low grip, the traction control was used on the first three gear changes due to wheelspin.

Eventually, the car hit 400kmh – or 249mph – in 26.88secs, covering a distance of 1.9km. (The Bugatti Chiron performed the same metric in 32.6secs over a distance of 2.6km.) Once the test driver hit 249mph, he braked back down to 0mph in 9.56secs over 483m. Meanwhile, the Chiron braked from 249mph to zero in just 9.3secs over 491m.

Christian von Koenigsegg, the founder of the automotive manufacturer, had this to say about the triumph to TopGear, “A result like this does not just happen. It may have only taken a few hours of driving to complete this run, but we cannot overlook all of the work that went into creating the car in the first place. Building these cars takes everything we have. We give it our all, every day of the week.”

Koenigsegg Agera

The company itself was founded in 1994 in Sweden by von Koenigsegg with the intention of creating a “world class” supercar. After years of prototyping and development, the first car was delivered in 2002.

Since then the company has produced numerous models, including the Agera which was first introduced in 2011. It was named Hypercar of the Year in 2010 by Top Gear Magazine. The latest Agera model the RS was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 2015. Von Koenigsegg called it the “ultimate track tool.”

We’d say so.