Christian von Koenigsegg, the mad-scientist founder of the Swedish hypercar company that bears his name, sat down to do another Q&A on his company's blog. Just like the last time, it was chock-full of great tidbits about the company, the philosophy, and the founder himself.
But most interesting to us was this tidbit, buried at the very bottom of the Q&A. Commenter "Will L" asked, rather bluntly, "will there ever be another manual Koenigsegg?" The founder's answer:
CvK: [Long pause] I don't know. I really enjoy driving our manual cars. We had a great manual gearbox. The clutch was progressive rather than being heavy. The shift was very direct. It's nice and it's a lot of fun. If we get enough demand for it, we might do it.
It's not as efficient. It's not as fast around a racetrack. But it's very engaging and it's fun.
We've said "no" to customers who wanted a manual gearbox in their Agera RS. The biggest headache is that the gearbox would only be six-speed and it would have to be reinforced for the power levels we are at now.
It's not a firm yes—in fact, it's about as close to a definitive "no" as possible. But there seems to be a crack in the door, one that with the right amount of cash (lots and lots, probably) could perhaps be wrenched open. We yearn for the thought of a three-pedal One:1 hypercar, even if it is a little slower.
Elsewhere in the Q&A, Christian explained why Koenigsegg prefers V8s when so many traditional supercars use V12s:
A V12 makes the engine much heavier and more complex than what we need in terms of performance and function. We still haven't seen the limits of what our V8 engine package can do. Our lightweight V8 engine package is an essential part that makes our cars what they are. We have better power than anyone else, regardless of the number of cylinders. We have better low-end torque. And, I would say, better drivability.
So if you ignore the 'exclusivity' perspective and just look at the goal of being the best, the answer is "No". If we were looking for 2500hp from a combustion engine, then it might make sense...
And he explained that concerns over weight, size, and handling have prevented an all-wheel-drive Koenigsegg, though perhaps there's a future in a hybrid AWD drivetrain:
Of course, nowadays you can have electric front-wheel-drive, such as in the Porsche 918. That's a different thing. If we were to do this on our cars, it would have to be via hub motors. We have a very compact front-end and we still have to get the roof stowed away in the front. The motors would therefore have to be super-small, super-light (to minimise the extra un-sprung mass) but still effective. I don't think we're there just yet but I know it will happen and when the right hub motors do become available, then we can look at electric four-wheel-drive.
For more insights into the Swedish hypercar company, including a look at Koenigsegg's patented FreeValve cylinder head design that does away with camshafts entirely, check out the full Q&A on Koenigsegg's website.
Source: Road and Track
