The Godfather

Let’s just get straight to the point shall we. Malaysia recently saw the launch of Naza Swedish Motors, the official distributor for Koenigsegg cars. It’s not like I’ve finally had the opportunity to buy myself one but hey, atleast we might be able to see one on Malaysian roads someday. The showroom is located in Naza World PJ under the division, Naza Swedish Motors. The recent launch was not only to officialise the opening of the showroom but to unveil the Koenigsegg Agera S as well, with the presence of the man himself, Christian Von Koenigsegg.

The Agera S is not very much different from the Agera R, just minor differences split them apart. The S is packed with a 5.0 twin-turbo V8 giving out 1030hp and 1100Nm of torque that runs of 98-octane/93-octane petrol whereas the R has a little bit more horsepower (1140hp/1100Nm) but is specially tuned for the use of alcohol compounded fuels such as e85, which is not easily available here in the Southeast Asia region. The redline of the S has also been increased to 8250rpm. Since the whole car is practically made of lightweight carbon fibre, the weight of the car is only 1330kg and 1415kg with all fluids in. Power to weight is where it stands out for this machine which contributes to its insane acceleration abilities; 0-100km/h-2.9secs, 0-200km/h-7.9secs, 0-200-0km/h-12.8secs, 0-300-0km/h-22.7secs. The transmission that is fitted to this car is similar to the R version, using the specially developed a 7-speed single-input shaft, dual clutch with and electronic differential. The car is fitted with massive ventilated carbon ceramic disc brakes, 6-pistons front and 4-pistons rear. Despite being so light in weight, you still get all the features you would expect from a hypercar;  ABS, EPS, climate control, mp3 player, usb connection, hydraulic lifting system, various infro system, satnav, reasonable luggage compartment and a detachable roof. Although the roof is detachable, the chassis is still incredibly stiff and strong with 65 000Nm of monocoque torsional rigidity and that gives the driver the opportunity to listen to the body-tingling soundtrack of the twin-turbo V8 on the go when the roof is off.

Prices in Malaysia start at an estimated RM 5million without tax (around RM12million with tax).  

Not a fan of Electric cars? Check this out

Electric cars have been a subject of controversy mainly amongst car enthusiast. I must say that I’m definitely one of them, an internal combustion engine enthusiast. There’s no thrill in driving a car without the pistons clashing with the engine cylinder block, nothing like the sound, nothing like the feel of driving one. Electric cars are used to be known for being quiet, boring and usually not very powerful.

In the past couple of years though, many car manufacturers, big ones as well as new ones in the industry, has been investing lots of time and effort to create more and more intelligent hybrid powertrains and battery-powered cars. The changes to battery-powered cars nowadays are quite simply unbelievably drastic. Due to emission regulations, many car manufacturers are moving towards smaller engines to lessen the CO₂ output from each vehicle. This with an increase efficiency of the battery power trains has encouraged many car manufacturers to make hybrid cars, and recently even super cars. Porsche has released their 918 Spyder, Mc Laren with their P1 and soon to be released is the Ferrari La Ferrari which all uses incredibly powerful and efficient hybrid power trains. These cars have power outputs of around 850+ to around 1000hp. As much as we can argue about the downsides of using battery power to run the vehicles, we must admit that the results of the current hybrid power systems are pretty amazing.

There’s this one car that has caught my attention, not even made from a well known car manufacturer. In fact, I’ve never heard of them, and they are based in Croatia. The car is called the Concept One and it is made by Rimac Automobili. 

        Their supercar produces a staggering 1088hp. 1088 hp I repeat, from just 4 electric motors. It puts out an incredible 1600Nm of torque and fires from 0-100km/h in just 2.8 secs. The car uses 4 liquid-cooled permanent electric motors, one powering a wheel each. The motors are powered by a 91kWh lithium iron phosphate battery and per charge, it can give you a range of an incredible 500km. The whole car inclusive of the chassis is made from carbon fibre with a dry weight of 1950kg.  As its branded a supercar, it has an interesting characteristic for a fully battery-powered supercar. It has what they call, an All Wheel Torque Vectoring (AWTV) which sends a different amount of power to each wheel to suit the situation the car is in. The amazing thing about the Concept One is it because of its intelligent AWTV system, it gives the driver the option to choose the drive setting from either an understeer setting, neutral setting or the more fun, oversteer setting. It uses a regenerative braking system which recharges the batteries when the brakes are applied. Aside from its incredible sprint speed, it also goes very very fast, supercar speed fast infact; an electronically limited top speed of 304km/h. Because it doesn’t actually have an engine, and rather 4 individual electric motors placed 2 at each side of the car(front axle and rear axle), a close to balance weight distribution of 42% front and 58% rear is achieved. 

       Aside from all that techy specs, its a true beauty to look at. Very gorgeous indeed. 3 words to sum up this car; absolutely mind boggling.