Koenigsegg One:1 Is Sweden's 280 MPH Carbon Fiber Hypercar

Here's where Koenigsegg went nuts. Everything is carbon fiber. I mean everything. The seats, the wheels, the body, the monocoque safety cell, even the sun visors are carbon fiber, which Christian says saved them about 100 grams each. The point is, that might not sound like much, but every little bit counts here.

 

That's how the One:1 weighs 1,360 kilograms. And that's not dry weight. It's with a half tank of gas and all other fluids full. An amazing achievement.

Here's a great example: When I saw the car, it was running conventional springs in the suspension. But then Christian showed us something: A mold for carbon fiber springs that they had just gotten. The plan is to use those to lose another 3 kg off the weight. We're talking a fanatical, Colin Chapman level of dedication to weight loss.

Koenigsegg has equipped the One:1 with an active suspension with variable ride height. There is a paddle shift seven speed transmission that is ludicrously fast. But the part that amazed me the most was the way this car is being developed for tracks.

See, the One:1 was designed based on customer requests for an insane track car that could also be run on the road. Koenigsegg is doing this by having the suspension, GPS, and a cell phone app all work together. This is a connected car, but in a very different way from a Google car.

Before I went to see Koenigsegg myself, I was a skeptic. I thought of them as a kit car company that wouldn't really be able to build something that competes with the big guys. I was more wrong than I've ever been. This is a real automaker, and if the One:1 is as powerful and fast as they say, then it'll also be one of the most disruptive the hyper competitive super car market has ever seen.

Bravo Koenigsegg, I can't wait to see what else is up your Swedish sleeves.

Via jalopnik.com