Koenigsegg Agera RS Demolishes Bugatti Chiron's World Record — The Speed Wars Are Back

The Koenigsegg Agera RS has demolished the Bugatti Chiron's 0–400–0kph record.

Published: Monday, October 9, 2017, 12:32 [IST]

In September, Bugatti claimed the world record for the fastest car to accelerate from 0–400kph and back to zero again. With former F1 speed demon Juan Pablo Montoya (the holder of the fastest ever lap in F1) at its wheel, the Bugatti Chiron went from 0–400–0kph in just 41.96 seconds.

Unfortunately for Bugatti, Swedish hypercar manufacturer Koenigsegg, which has been chomping at the bit for a while to take down Bugatti's speed record, has demolished the Chiron's time by over five and a half seconds going from 0-400-0kph in a mind-bending 36.44 seconds.

Koenigsegg Agera RS Smashes Bugatti Chiron's Record

The Agera RS out sprinted the Bugatti Chiron to 400kph, reaching the insane speed from standstill in just 26.88secs, covering a distance of 1.9 kilometres. The Chiron, on the other hand, needed 32.6secs and 2.6 kilometres of tarmac to complete the same run.

However, the Koenigsegg was unable to dethrone its French rival while braking, going from 400-0kph in 9.56 seconds compared to the Chiron's 9.3s time. However, the Agera RS covered a smaller distance while braking, coming to a halt in 483-metres compared to the Chiron's 491-metres.

The Agera RS in question is a customer car destined for the United States and with the owner wanting to know the performance potential of his hypercar, the bonkers acceleration run took place earlier this month at the Vandel Airfield in Denmark with Koenigsegg factory driver, Niklas Lilja behind the wheel.

The Agera RS in question is not a regular version of the car but is one of the cars fitted with Koenigsegg's 1MW engine upgrade which cranks up the output from the 5.0-litre twin-turbocharged engine to 1,341bhp (1360hp or one megawatt) and 1,371Nm of torque. The record-breaking Agera RS is also equipped with Koenigsegg's optional and removable roll cage.

DriveSpark Thinks!
Koenigsegg's latest record-shattering run shows that the Swedish hypercar manufacturer is not done in its bid to chase Bugatti's speed records down.

If only the Volkswagen Group (which owns Bugatti), would allow other carmakers to its track at Ehra-Lessien (one of the only places cars like these can hit their top speeds safely), we may finally get to know what is the fastest production car in the world and put every conspiracy theory and our own hyperventilating and salivating curiosity to rest, once and for all.