Koenigsegg and Pagani prep Geneva uber cars

Newswheel staff :: 10 February 2006 :: Filed under Mid / rear engine sportscar, Koenigsegg, Pagani

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Small-time supercar makers rise to the Bugatti Veyron challenge

Tricky business, trying to top the table for the world’s fastest production car. By most reckoning, the Koenigsegg CCR held the record from February to May 2005 with a none-too-shabby 242mph maximum. Following which, the Bugatti Veyron unsheathed its 1,000bhp stick and beat the opposition into a bloody, whimpering pulp. Or at least upped the ante slightly to 254mph. Now the Swedish madmen at Koenigsegg have announced their response: the even more powerful CCX. Meanwhile, over in Italy, Pagani has also been busy preparing the Roadster F…

The CCX (top) is likely a development of the existing CCR. But it’s not purely an engine upgrade: the new car has a slightly longer rear overhang, perhaps to reduce aerodynamic drag

Given that the existing Koenigsegg CCR packs an 806bhp punch, the safe money for the CCX has to be at least 900bhp from the mid-mounted V8. Assuming a small aero advantage versus the brutal Bug, that 900-ish bhp should just about do the trick. But for Koenigsegg, there’s just one problem – it doesn’t have access to VW’s Ehra test facility with its 5.6 mile straight. The big Swede’s usual hang out, Nardo’s 7.8 mile bowl, may sound big enough for any high speed run. But at speeds of 240mph or more you’re talking 30 degrees of friction-inducing, power-sapping steering lock. Another venue may be necessary if the Veyron is to be vanquished.

As for the Pagani Roadster F, it’s a drop-top version of the Zonda F specced up with the same Mercedes AMG-derived 650bhp V12 as its hard-top sibling. It’s a sign of the times that a 650-bhp carbon-chassied roadster seems almost under-endowed, on paper at least, compared to the opposition. More info on prices and availability on both cars from the Geneva show. But if you have to ask how much…