About two years ago, Juan Pablo Montoya took the Bugatti Chiron to 249 mph (400 kph) and back to 0 in 41.96 seconds. An impressive performance without a shadow of a doubt, but it didn’t take Koenigsegg long to improve the record by completing the task in 36.44 seconds with an Agera RS just a few weeks later. To rub salt into Bugatti’s wound, the hypercar marque improved its own record with the same model a month later in Nevada by lowering the time to 33.29 seconds.
Fast forward to September 2019, Koenigsegg is at it again. At the Råda airfield in Sweden, the Regera in the hands of factory driver Sonny Persson managed to complete the 0-249-0 mph (0-400-0) kph run in only 31.49 seconds, thus improving the company’s own record yet again by nearly two seconds.
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If you like numbers, Koenigsegg points out the Regera needed 22.87 seconds to go from 0 to 249 mph (400 kph) and another 8.62 seconds to get back to standstill. The hypercar hit 250 mph (402 kph) after 23.65 seconds and stopped 8.83 seconds later.
There seems to be more to the story as we can hear Christian von Koenigsegg saying the Regera actually broke “a couple of new world records.” In addition, the company’s head honcho goes on to mention that while 250 mph is a “huge top speed,” the car has already achieved “faster top speed scores.” The hold-my-beer moment could be a sign Sonny Persson has already tried to take the Regera to the maximum.
Koenigsegg still has a long way to go if it wants to claim the title for the fastest production car as the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ was clocked in at 304.77 mph (490.48 kph). That was technically a prototype, but a production-spec car has been confirmed for a limited run of 30 examples. These will come with an electronic top speed limiter set at 273 mph (440 kph), although Bugatti has hinted owners will be allowed to access the Volkswagen Group's Ehra-Lessien test track and go flat out after removing the limiter. The Molsheim-based company is confident the “longtail” Chiron can go faster than 304 mph in optimal conditions.
Then again, if the Regera can't dethrone the Chiron SS 300+, we need to keep in mind that Koenisgesgg has already announced a 300-mph version of its new Jesko.
