Koenigsegg Archives - Swadeology

Tjena från Vejbystrand

Hi there. Long time, no write.

If you’re reading this, thanks for hanging around.

All is going well in Sweden. Yes, the job is absolutely fantastic. It’s everything I’ve ever wanted to do for work and it’s slowly expanding into areas I didn’t expect.

I expected to take photos, for example. I didn’t expect to take so many, nor for them to be so useful. This one’s now one of the slider photos on the Koenigsegg homepage.

There are lots of other unexpected things, too. Content management. Website layout. And plenty more. It all involves a learning curve but not one so steep as to be a problem.

The bigger learning curve has been in navigating the Swedish bureaucracy.

Just getting here legally was a nail-biting experience in itself. As I’m an Australian (read non-Swede or non-European), I had to get a permit to work here, which took a lot longer than anyone thought. I planned my exit from work in Australia back in March. It was supposed to coincide with the Saab Festival, with the belief that I’d be able to start work at Koenigsegg the day after the Saab Festival finished. I was working on the assumption that the work permit would come in plenty of time, which it most certainly did not.

The advice I received from the Swedish Embassy in Canberra was that I shouldn’t enter Sweden while the decision on my work permit was still being made. On the Monday before the Saab Festival, there was still no decision. Impatient as I am, I booked my flight anyway, crossing all my fingers and toes that it would come before I left.

I had to write to the Swedish migration agency and let them know that I would be entering the country in three days time for the Saab Festival. I was advised that my visit would be OK, but if the decision on my work permit still hadn’t arrived by then, I would have to leave Sweden as soon as the Saab Festival was finished. I made arrangements to flee over the border if need be.

My first night’s accommodation at Swania in Trollhattan was booked for Thursday night. The work permit decision arrived Wednesday morning, which is about as close as you can get.

There have been other red-tape nightmares since then. All of them worked out OK, but it’s frustrating having to work through an unknown process at unknown agencies just to be able to do the simplest things.

Getting the card that goes with the work permit.

Clearing my extra suitcase through Swedish customs when it (finally) arrived via Emirates air freight.

(Here’s a tip for any Aussies coming to Sweden and flying economy with Qantas: one suitcase only. Qantas will charge you $80 per kilo for any extra luggage if you simply arrive at the airport and try to check it in. Lucky I checked this first. Even the cheap option set me back $300 but that’s much better than the $1600 Qantas would have slugged me.)

Getting the all-important Swedish personnumber.

Getting the Swedish ID card that should really be automatic when you get the personnumber, but isn’t. It involves an extra fee and a visit to a bigger Skatteverket office.

Getting a Swedish bank account (relies on the personnumber and if your a working foreigner, proof of your employment).

Getting the aforementioned Swedish ID card so that you can access internet banking. Yes, you need one to do the other.

Buying a car.

Yes, I bought a car and yes, it’s a Saab. I bought a 2003 Saab 9-5 SportCombi in Merlot with a black half-leather interior and 5-speed manual shift. It was previously owned by a former tech at ANA and has been well maintained as a result. I gave the boss a lift home last night and even he commented on how smooth and quiet it is.

I’m also living in a ‘Falun Red’ timber cottage with white trim windows. I look like a regular Svensson now 🙂

There are actually three little accommodation units in that building. Mine is the middle one. It’s tiny but that’s good for me right now. The last thing I need is to feel compelled to buy furniture and fill a place up with it. This little cottage in ~~Vjebystrand~~ Vejbystrand has most of the things I need – it’s cheap, it’s 5 minutes drive from work and about two minutes from this beach 🙂

The 9-5 is actually intended to be my sensible winter car. I’m looking for affordable vehicle storage nearby and hope to store the 9-5, then pick up something less sensible to drive for the remainder of the summer.

The work?

It’s been a very interesting experience so far. It’s a bit like bringing up a kid in that there’s no instruction book. You think of things, you float ideas and you run with what seems best. There should be more strategy to this but I’m working on that. I think it’ll be my job to write that instruction book and I’m going to seek some expert help from friends along the way.

There have certainly been some exciting experiences so far.

I did my first trip for Koenigsegg before I’d even left my old job in Tasmania. I flew to Japan for an event at Suzuka Circuit, which was a jaw-dropping debut. I put a gallery of images in a previous post but here it is again:

Since then, we’ve done an unofficial record 0-300-0km/h run in the Koenigsegg One:1……

….. and I made it to England to cover Koenigsegg’s presence at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Goodwood was astounding in its size and the access to mouthwatering vehicles that is given to spectators. It’s effectively replaced whatever old-style motor shows there were/are in the UK, too. It is massive.

We have more events and campaigns coming up, too. I’ll be abroad again in a few weeks and several times in the months to come after that, too. And there’s plenty to do when I’m here, not the least of which involves making some new friends, learning a new language and culture.

It’s all going OK so far. There are quiet times, which can get a bit lonely, but they’re more than offset by the work and the amazing things I’m seeing and learning.

I do hope to write here a bit more often now that things are getting settled. Being away from regular Australian news bulletins has given me a new perspective on what’s going on in my homeland and it’s distressing to say the least. But it won’t be all about that.

Thanks for reading. It’s been good to write something familiar again.

Have a great week.

The Koenigsegg Regera Is A Lot More Interesting Than Kim Kardashian’s Butt

They said that Kim Kardashian’s champagne butt photo broke the internet a few months ago. By rights, the Koenigsegg Regera should split the darn thing in two.

The internet, that is.

It won’t, because the Swedes aren’t like that. But it should.

I’m still waiting for a proper press release, but the first stories about the Regera are starting to appear online now ahead of Koenigsegg’s press function at the Geneva Motor Show.

I’ve pinched one photo from Jalopnik. You’ll have to head over there yourself for the rest.

The Regera, in dot points:

1,500hp
1,627kg
0-400kph in under 20 seconds
Direct drive – no gearbox
Conceived and built in just 8 months
80 to be produced at US$1.89mil
Twin-turbo combustion engine
3 electric engines
21km pure electric drive range
Apple Carplay via 9-inch Neonode zForce touchscreen

What’s truly amazing is the 8-month build story. Most of Koenigsegg’s cars have had a very similar look to them over the years. They’ve been an evolution of a familiar design. The Regera has a similar profile from the side but it looks very different, front and back. To design and build that car from scratch in just 8 months is a truly amazing feat (of course, it’s just a show car, so it may be incomplete, but still….)

Christian, you’ve done it again.

Simply amazing.

Saab Snippets – Time, Koenigsegg And Double Dipping

Time

It’s well past December 31, which is the time we all expected a decision from Mahindra as to whether or not they were going to invest in the ghost of Saab.

NEVS’s money was expected to run out by then and Mahindra were going to provide two tranches of funds IF the deal was going to go ahead – $5mil for January and $5mil for Febraury – to keep the ghost afloat in ‘reorganisation’ (bankruptcy protection) until the deal is finalised.

NEVS got a financial lifeline by selling tooling for spare parts to Orio, which explains why there was no urgency around the end of the year. The price paid in the deal wasn’t mentioned in the press release so the amount of time they’ve bought is unknown. It wouldn’t be too long, however.

When will Mahindra make a decision? It’d be nice to know.

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Koenigsegg V4

My mate Tompa has been speaking with Christian Von Koenigsegg about engines. Specifically, the potential for cutting a Koenigsegg V8 in half and using the resulting V4 in a passenger vehicle.

You can read the article here, at a site I hadn’t seen before called Saab Tala.

The good news is that Christian believes it’s entirely possible. And considering that Christian knows more about cars and engineering than anyone else I’ve met, I’ll take that as given. In fact, not only is it possible, but Christian estimates that a half-Koenigsegg V4 could reliably produce plenty of power.

Quote from Christian:

If [you’re] looking at a 2 litre engine with 4 cylinders with a slightly smaller turbo to get a fantastic response, we are talking about 450 hp and 500 Nm on Unleaded 95 octane.

Sounds fascinating, doesn’t it?

There’s no bad news in this story, but the $64,000 questions remain unanswered – how much would it cost? And would that cost gel with the market(s) Mahindra would pursue with Saab if they got control of the company? Are they looking to take on the Audis and BMW’s of the world?

They’d better be. Because the engine won’t be cheap and consequently, the car won’t be cheap, either.

I don’t agree with Saabtala’s point of view about the BMW/Mini 1.6 engine being a mistake. I think it would have been a great engine for Saab, as it has been for Mini. The salient point is this: That BMW/Mini engine was considered to be a very expensive choice and it’s an engine that was used across several brands and made in the hundreds of thousands of units. How much, then, for a purpose-designed V4 from one of the most expensive carmakers in the world that’d be made in the tens of thousands?

Quality has its price. Your level of comfort with that price depends on the market you’re chasing.

It’s an interesting story and I know Tompa’s going to chase it a little more. I’m keen to see what he comes up with, if only from an engineering point of view. You can build whatever Saab you like if you’ve got the money, but you’ve got to be able to sell it to someone. That’ll be the hard part – whatever path they choose.

Side note: Tompa first met Christian when I asked via SU for someone in Sweden to provide a convertible Saab for Tompa’s wedding a few years ago. Christian was the only person to respond to the request, so Tom and Carola got to drive Halldora von Koenigsegg’s car on their wedding day. Result! 🙂

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Double Dip

I remember the early days of Spyker’s ownership of Saab, with Victor Muller saying that the biggest threat to Saab’s future was a double-dip recession.

It’s interesting to ponder, then, what might have been if Spyker had access to finance and stuck it out until 2015.

Why?

Well, 2014 saw Western Europe record it’s first rise in new vehicle sales since 2009. And they’re forecast to grow in 2015, too. From Just Auto:

The US market also saw sales rise in 2014, but then the US market has been rising for a while. The US market’s recent low was also in 2009 with just 10.4 million vehicles sold. There were 16.5 million vehicles sold in 2014 and the last time the US market was that big was in 2006.

I wonder what would have happened, then, if there were no ban on Vladimir Antonov’s money (and no Antonov charges in Lithuania) and no supplier backlash in March 2011. What if all the new vehicle launches went ahead according to schedule and Saab kept making cars through 2011 and beyond? Would Saab have sold enough with the 9-4x, the new 9-5 and whatever would have happened with the 9-3 between then and now?

Such a prolonged slump was the economic situation that Victor feared the most in those early days. I wonder if ‘we’ could have survived it to prosper in 2015 and beyond?

Inside Koenigsegg – Preparing the Koenigsegg One:1

Did you watch the first Inside Koenigsegg video series last year? If not, click that link and get yourself educated about what it takes to build the most amazing cars in the world.

The latest iteration – the world’s first ‘megacar’ – is the Koenigsegg One:1, which as you’ll learn in the video is pronounced “one to one”. The premise is one horsepower for every kilogram of weight, making 1360hp (or one megawatt) in total. It’s an outstanding achievement and as you’ll see, they plan on going even further with the production version of the car.

This is the first video of /DRIVE’s second Inside Koenigsegg series. Christian von Koenigsegg presents a quick tour of the car as they’re preparing for it’s debut at the Geneva Motor Show.

Enjoy.

Koenigsegg One:1 Delivers A Megawatt Of Power

Sweden is a country of subtleties. It’s not in the Swedes nature to stand out from the crowd and those who do are often frowned upon.

Sometimes, the Swedes are too subtle, however, and I fear that might be the case with Koenigsegg’s new One:1. First there was the supercar. Then there was the hypercar. Christian von Koenigsegg has crafted a new term for the One:1 that will debut in Geneva next week – the megacar.

It might sound like some fruity marketing exercise but there’s some genuine engineering behind the claim. That’s because the new Koenigsegg One:1 delivers 1,000kW of power. The other way to say that is 1 megawatt of power.

Unfortunately, most of the mainstream motoring press still works in horsepower (1,340hp) so the prominence of the megawatt achievement is somewhat overlooked.

That’s not to say that the car has been overlooked. Not by a long shot.

Jalopnik got special access to the One:1 and it’s proven to be a masterstroke by Koenigsegg. The Jalops have a massive readership now and if you get a genuinely good story covered there, it’s going to spread. And spread it has. In fact, I’ve never seen so many Koenigsegg articles come out at once – and Geneva’s still days away.

Most outlets are covering the basics but head over to Jalopnik for the inside story of just how amazing an achievement this car is.

Some snippets:

This first quote is typical of Koenigsegg’s dedication to innovation and producing the absolute best product they can. They’re intoxicated with the notion of always producing the best.

While it looks exactly like the monocoque that is in the Agera, the One:1 uses an entirely new weave of carbon fiber that could be up to 40 percent lighter than the weave used in the Agera.

Think about the fundamental purpose of this car and then think about this next sentence….

The One:1 maintains a lift system to help get over speed bumps

Even when the car is made to be bonkers insane, it still has that Swedish sense of practicality 🙂

More coolness:

Out back is the world’s first top mounted movable wing on a road car. The inspiration is taken from Le Mans racers and the goal is to increase the efficiency of the underside of the wing.

More dedication….. those wheels are something else, I can tell you.

Everything is carbon fiber. I mean everything. The seats, the wheels, the body, the monocoque safety cell, even the sun visors are carbon fiber,

They missed something amazing in the following sentence. Something that sets Koenigsegg apart from everyone else:

There is a paddle shift seven speed transmission that is ludicrously fast.

….and that’s great. What’s astounding about it is that the transmission (and the engine, for that matter) is 100% bespoke, designed by and unique to Koenigsegg. And when you consider that the company’s made just over 100 cars in total, that’s rather amazing.

The following quote doesn’t surprise me:

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.

I first visited the Koenigsegg factory in 2010. I never ever thought they were a kit-car company but I do remember being absolutely blown away by their dedication and attention to detail (enlarge the photo of the piston, below, to see what I mean). It was beyond my wildest expectations. If they’re overlooked, it’s probably because of the self-made nature of the company, the lack of storied history or connection with motoring royalty.

The thing is, Koengisegg is writing that storied history right now, even as we speak. Pay attention.

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Celebrating 20 Years By introducing – The Agera One:1 – Worlds first Megacar

Worlds first 1:1 (One:1) power to curb weight ratio homologated production car (kg/hp)
World’s first Megacar – 1 Megawatt of power homologated production car
2G cornering capability on road legal production cup tires
610 kg down force at 260 km/h (160 mph) utilizing advanced active under and over body aerodynamics
Chassis with active ride height and shock absorbing including variable stiffness spring ratios
Fully active aero with independent left and right front flaps under front splitter and hydraulically actuated top mounted dual plane rear wing
3G and GPS controlled Predictive Active Chassis and Aero Track Mode
20% lighter carbon chassis and body due to implementation of M46J & M55J high modulus fibers
3D-VGT – Koenigsegg patented 3D printed variable turbo housing – gives improved response and bottom end torque
3G connection for telemetry, performance, lap times and software upgrades, including owners iPhone app
New Koenigsegg developed Carbon fiber ventilated memory foam racing seats
3D printed titanium exhaust end piece saves 400 grams compared to Aluminium counterpart
Active noise canceling seat option
Top Speed – has not been a priority, as the One:1 is a track focused car – however, the One:1 is anticipated to be, the world’s fastest homologated production car, with a simulated top speed of > 440 km/h, due to high power and high rpm capability in combination with strong tires and active aero
Many more exiting and new features will be present at the show
Program fully pre-sold prior to introduction

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Inside Koenigsegg: Putting 1140hp to the ground

The Inside Koenigsegg video series concludes today with this final instalment – the gearbox. This one is guaranteed to go over most people’s heads. The overall concept makes sense to me but the technical bits went over my head very quickly and I think it’ll be the same for many people. I get concepts but I’m a technical imbecile. There are still several things you can appreciate, however.

First, even though it’s a video about a gearbox, the fact that it’s Christian von Koenigsegg talking about a gearbox still makes it interesting for some reason. Having watched this series from start to finish, there’s no-one else in the series that can make such technical wizardry so interesting to listen to.

Second, even thought I don’t understand the way everything works in detail, it’s still eminently clear how cutting edge this technology is. That makes the fact that Koenigsegg do all this stuff themselves rather than buying-in the component from someone else all the more remarkable.

This has been a great series to watch. Kudos to the Drive team for putting it together. I hope they stitch all the parts up into one 90-minute video.

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You can see Episode 1 of this series (Carbon Fibre) here.

You can see Episode 2 of this series (Triplex Suspension) here.

You can see Episode 3 of this series (Perfect Paint) here.

You can see Episode 4 of this series (Interior Surfacing) here.

You can see Episode 5 of this series (Test Drive) here.

You can see Episode 6 of this series (The Brain) here.

You can see Episode 7 of this series (Cargine Camless Valves) here.

You can see Episode 8 of this series (The Engine) here.

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Koenigsegg Hundra celebrates 100th Koenigsegg at Geneva Motor Show

Koenigsegg has teased its 2013 Geneva Motor Show entry with a few photos and a press release. The Koenigsegg Hundra is an Agera that’s been custom built with 24-carat gold inlay, clear-coat carbonfibre, Koenigsegg’s own revolutionary carbonfibre wheels and a host of other goodies.

The good news for me is that there’s some small, teeny-tiny chance of owning it one day (if I win some humungous lottery) – because it’s right hand drive 🙂

The press release and images:

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Koenigsegg from 0-100 in 10 Years

2002 – After eight painstaking years of constant development, the small striving Koenigsegg team delivered the first production cars to anticipating customers.

10 years later, in September 2012, the first carbon prepreg pieces were cut on the routing machine for Koenigesgg’s 100th production car. The car was duly named “Hundra” (Swedish for 100) – a unique one-off Agera S being built for an excited car collector.

Fast forward to March 2013 – The Hundra is finished in time for the 2013 Geneva Auto Salon. A beautiful clear carbon right hand drive Agera S with celebratory, artisan hand-laid and swirled, 24 carat gold leaf inlays, creating an intriguing mix of traditional and hi-tech craftsmanship.

A lot has happened in the past 10 years. Koenigsegg has evolved from being a small and unknown car developer, to becoming a household name, revered for excellence and performance – competing head to head with the strongest brands in the industry.

What a fantastic 10 years it has been:

Four Guinness World records
Forbes award for one of the ten most beautiful cars ever made
Prestigious Red Dot design award
Top Gear Hypercar of the Year award
Longest lasting Top Gear Power Lap record ever
Entrepreneur of the Year – Ernst & Young
Worlds Top 100 Luxury Brands award
And the list goes on

Most importantly, the Koenigsegg family has grown from a handful of dedicated craftsmen and engineers, to over 50 full-time employees and more than hundred proud caretakers of precious Koenigsegg cars.

All these individuals share the same passion and goal: to carry the Koenigsegg brand, experience and philosophy steadfast into the future.

Given the success, has Koenigsegg become relaxed and rests on its laurels? On the contrary. The Koenigsegg range still stands proud – head to head against the greatest new car onslaught in hypercar history.

In fact, the Koenigsegg team can’t even wait to get their creation of passion measured against all the latest and greatest hypercars currently being launched. Prepare to be surprised – again!

New Koenigsegg book and prints:

To commemorate this historic occasion, a book has been created – “0 to 100 in 10 Years”. Through the remembrances and voices of drivers, owners and key persons that helped Christian create the cars they love, the story of Koenigsegg is being told, in words and pictures.

The limited edition coffee table book, features 300 pages of exiting and beautiful material, never shown before.

Furthermore, a very limited series of 10 photographs, only printed in 10 pieces each, signed by Christian von Koenigsegg, are being made available. The prints are created to capture the soul of Koenigsegg´s unique automobiles.

To pre-order the book and express your interest in the limited prints – send your contact details to: zerotohundred@koenigsegg.com

Distraction……. Koenigsegg take 0-300-0 record

Consider this one a personal indulgence……. and something to pass the time as we wait on other things.

From one Swedish company to another, I just wanted to pass along some congratulations to Koenigsegg for their recent supercar achievement. First, because they’re Swedish, and second, because they’re super-cool. They are the epitome of “Subzero”.

I was very pleased to read my news feeds today and see that Koenigsegg have just been awarded a Guinness World Record for the fastest car to accelerate from zero to 300km/h and then back to zero again.

0-300-0 in just 21.19 seconds.

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For those of you who don’t know, there is some history between Koenigsegg and Saab. A group fronted by Koenigsegg tried to buy Saab from General Motors back in 2009. That bid ultimately fell short when Koenigsegg pulled out of the deal in November 2009.

During that time, I had a chance to meet Christian von Koenigsegg at the Frankfurt Motor Show, when the Saab 9-5 was launched. In 2010, whilst on holiday in Sweden, I had a chance to visit the Koenigsegg facility in Ängelholm and take a tour of the factory.

I also got to go for a ride 🙂

We didn’t do the 0-300-0 run, but we came close…..

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The engineering in these cars is absolutely amazing. The “no-hands” run should give you an idea as to just how rock-solid these cars are. The acceleration is brutal and as you can hear from my reactions, the braking is just as enjoyable.

So, again, my congratulations to this outstanding Swedish company on being recognised by Guinness for their work.