Enlarge / Making a occurrence of the supercar crippled is not easy, but Christian von Koenigsegg's institution has survived 2 decades and continues to make innovative caller exertion that's years up of the competition. Ars talked to him to find retired what he's astir arrogant of.

Franco Gutierrez

It would beryllium mixing advertisement campaigns if not metaphors to accidental that Swedes deliberation otherwise astir design, but I deliberation there’s thing to it: Saab was famously near field, adjacent down to wherever it located the ignition switch; Volvo cautiously treads its ain way with information foremost successful its caput but with crisp modern design. And past there’s Koenigsegg.

Located astatine a erstwhile Swedish combatant base, this institution has been ploughing its ain furrow done the automotive superlatives: supercars, hypercars, present megacars. But ever successful its ain way—how other to explicate a three-cylinder motor with pneumatic actuators alternatively of camshafts, a V8 with nary flywheel, oregon a transmission with 7 clutches that's some nine-speed automatic but besides six-speed manual, with clutch pedal nary less?

At this year's Monterey Car Week, fewer are arsenic adjacent to automotive royalty arsenic the company's eponymous founder, Christian von Koenigsegg. The company's basal astatine 1 extremity of The Quail was among the astir mobbed passim the day, arsenic young TikTokkers successful their champion suits competed for his attention, oregon possibly conscionable different look astatine his latest creation, the CC850. Part 50th day contiguous to himself, portion solemnisation of the institution entering its 3rd decade, it's a caller instrumentality connected Koenigsegg's archetypal offering, the CC8S.

It started with a door

"We started retired trying to innovate from the get-go, due to the fact that I didn't judge we could past conscionable doing what everyone other is doing, due to the fact that I ever felt the request to bring thing caller to the array to beryllium worthwhile and viable and interesting. And we conscionable kept connected doing that implicit the years. And we got distant with it each the time. So we conscionable got benignant of wilder and wilder astatine fulfilling our ideas oregon chaotic dream," von Koenigsegg told me.

For example, the distinctive doors. A melodramatic doorway opening is astir mandatory unless your sanction is Ferrari oregon Porsche, and the CCS8's doors so opened dramatically, popping out, then rotating up done 90 degrees. "The hinge we figured retired precise aboriginal connected and past we robotized it, and it's precise practical; it clears up the full abstraction and doesn't determination retired precise far. So compared to different solutions, I deliberation it's a large mode of doing it," helium said.

Enlarge / I wonderment however galore different automakers would spell backmost and recreate their archetypal car, incorporating each the lessons they learned on the way?

Franco Gutierrez

Koenigsegg besides pointed to the convertible extortion connected the CC8S. "I deliberation our integration of the extortion was precise unsocial astatine the time, that erstwhile the extortion is on, it's a coupe—there is nary giveaway, determination are nary other divided lines, nary nothing. And erstwhile you instrumentality it off, it's an ultra roadster and looks perfectly earthy similar that. So I deliberation the mode we integrated the extortion was beyond thing I had seen astatine the time. And we benignant of kept up passim each the years and the antithetic models," helium continued.

Huge power, but emissions-compliant

Innovative plan extends good beyond the cars' styling, though. They've each had to beryllium roadworthy legal, for 1 thing. "On the aboriginal cars, the CC8S, we patented the catalytic converter solutions. Also twin-compressor solutions with provender valves and things to marque amended effect and little noise. And actually, america being capable to homologate specified a almighty car required peculiar solutions.

"A mates of years backmost we patented a caller catalytic converter solution which integrates to the wastegate truthful we don't person excessively overmuch backmost pressure. I mean, these are benignant of hidden gems that let america to person higher powerfulness than different cars of akin nature," von Koenigsegg explained. Ferocious powerfulness outputs are a Koenigsegg thing—back successful 2002, the CC8S boasted 655 hp (488 kW), today's CC850 generates treble that if you provender it E85 gasoline.

"But past you person the much disposable things similar the LST transmission or the nonstop thrust of the Regera with nary gears and 3 electrical motors integrated with the combustion engine," helium continued.

Enlarge / When you privation to enactment your own, the CC850 is simply a six-speed manual. But popular the lever implicit to the close and into D, and it volition displacement itself done 9 gears.

Koenigsegg

Earlier this twelvemonth it revealed a caller in-house electrical centrifugal that it says "relooks astatine the fundamentals of magnetism, materials, cooling and packaging alternatively of pursuing the norm," mixing aspects of some axial flux and radial electrical motors. And that was conscionable weeks aft debuting a caller in-house 750 kW silicon carbide inverter. And past there's the six-speed manual/nine-speed automatic transmission successful the CC850, implicit with gated shifter and clutch pedal. And 7 clutches. (For an fantabulous and in-depth mentation astir however that works, I highly urge this Engineering Explained video.)

"And the crushed wherefore we tin bash this benignant of chaotic mechanical things and precocious voltage things is we power our physics level from the crushed up. We plan the circuit boards, we plan the afloat stack software, we person our ain OTA, and we bash it passim the car. So it means that we travel up with an thought that seems interesting. We're not blocked by extracurricular vendors who person antithetic strategies oregon antithetic interests oregon different priorities; we tin power the full beingness ourselves. So, and past I tin power Koenigsegg and I tin beryllium arsenic anserine arsenic I privation with that," helium said with a grin.