Koenigsegg has unveiled an all-new mega car – the Koenigsegg Jesko – at last year’s Geneva International Motor Show. Jesko inherits the mantle left by the Agera RS as the leading track-focused, road-legal car for those looking for the ultimate in vehicle performance.
Jesko is named for Jesko von Koenigsegg, the father of company Founder and CEO, Christian von Koenigsegg. Jesko von Koenigsegg was a key presence at Koenigsegg Automotive during its formative years. His considerable business acumen helped steer the company through many early challenges. Now retired and in his 80’s, Jesko von Koenigsegg and his wife, Brita, were on-hand at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show to see his namesake vehicle introduced to the world.
Jesko is powered by a re-designed twin-turbo V8 engine with a new 180-degree flat-plane crankshaft, new intake, bigger turbos with air injection, and more precise pressure control.At the heart of this newly designed engine is the world’s lightest production V8 crankshaft. Weighing just 12.5 kilos, Koenigsegg’s new flat-plane 180-degree crankshaft allows Jesko to produce more power with greater efficiency while achieving a higher 8500rpm rev limit.
The crankshaft is milled by a small manufacturing house in southern Sweden. It is made to Koenigsegg’s in-house design from a single solid billet of high tensile Swedish Dievar steel. The flat-plane design allows even firing across engine banks and an even more visceral engine sound. The tendency of flat-plane engines towards greater vibration is countered by active engine mounts first used in the Regera, as well as newly designed, super-light connecting rods and pistons.
The engine has been re-designed to house a tumble valve on intake and individual pressure sensors for each cylinder to achieve real-time, precision monitoring of every cylinder – an industry first. Turbulent air provides a faster burn rate, which leads to more efficient and effective combustion, especially at lower rpm and during cold starts.
The new Koenigsegg V8 produces 1280hp on regular gasoline and an astonishing 1600hp on E85 – an available option in certain markets. Maximum torque increases to 1500 Nm at 5100rpm with 1000+ Nm available anywhere between 2700 to 6170rpm.
Jesko’s new Light Speed Transmission – designed in-house at Koenigsegg – is a 9-speed multi-clutch unit that does away with traditional synch rings and makes changes between anygear possible at near light speed.Modern DCT’s typically have two clutches – one for even-numbered gears and another for uneven numbered gears.One clutch/gear is engaged and driving while the control unit pre-selects what it anticipates is the next gear. This solution allows for fast gear changes but comes with a significant weight penalty and the limitation of only changing to adjacent gears due to anticipation logic constraints.
The Koenigsegg LST allows the driver to change to the optimal gear for acceleration, regardless of that gear’s relationship to the current gear.Traditional DCTs can weigh up to 140kg. The new Koenigsegg Light Speed Transmission weighs just 90kgs, including wet clutches, flywheel, fluids, starter motor and oil pumps. It also has an optimized, compact design resulting in a much smaller footprint. This ensures the drivetrain’s weight is much more central to the vehicle, allowing more room for the advanced underfloor aerodynamics and the resulting lower yaw inertia for even more agile driving dynamics.
Gearshifts are via either steering wheel paddles or the manual-style shifter located in the traditional central position. Both the paddles and shifter feature a double-notch shifting mechanism. The first notch shifts one gear up or down. Advancing to the second notch engages Ultimate Power on Demand – shifting the car to the optimum gear for maximum acceleration, regardless of that gear’s relationship to the current gear – instantly.
At the core of every Koenigsegg is its carbon fibre monocoque chassis. Jesko features a monocoque that is 40mm longer and 22mm taller than its predecessor, allowing for more generous headroom and legroom. Importantly, it still retains every bit of its structural rigidity, measured at 65,000 Nm per degree. 
This supremely stiff and strong chassis allows Koenigsegg’s engineers to concentrate on tuning the suspension for performance rather than compensating for suboptimal chassis dynamics. Koenigsegg’s F1-style elongated wishbones are retained and improved. These combine with the largest wheel bearings used in a road car today to provide the ultimate in responsiveness and feel. Fully adjustable damping from Öhlins is tuned using bespoke electrics and controllers designed in-house at Koenigsegg.
Jesko redefines ‘precision’ thanks to an additional active Triplex damper added to the front suspension and a new rear-wheel steering system. The Triplex system was first introduced in the KoenigseggAgera in 2010. It used a third, horizontal damper built into the rear suspension to counter the car’s tendency to ‘squat’ during hard acceleration with over 1000hp.Koenigsegg has equipped Jesko with an adaptive, active rear steering system that increases responsiveness and heightens the senses at both high and low speeds. Using inputs such as individual wheel speed, steering angle, steering wheel angular velocity, engine speed, lateral acceleration, longitudinal acceleration and other parameters, the steering system can turn the rear wheels up to three degrees in either direction for quicker cornering, increased agility and stability.
Jesko’s newly optional carbon fibre wheels are the lightest and strongest production wheels of their size. Larger than the Agera RS wheels they replace, the front weighs just 5.9kg (20” x 9.5”) and the rear 7.4kg (21” x 12”). Showcasing its penchant for track-focused performance and handling, Jesko features the most aggressive aerodynamics package ever designed for a Koenigsegg car.An enlarged, active double-profile rear wing hugs the rear form to maximise both the rearward positioning of the wing and the surface area used to push the car into the tarmac. The rear wing is top-mounted to minimise disturbance on the underside – a focal point for high downforce.
The front splitter is the deepest ever designed for a Koenigsegg and features enlarged, active under-body flaps to either maximise or release downforce, as required.Jesko’s aerodynamic design has a two-pronged focus – to direct airflow as efficiently as possible for both downforce and cooling while cutting through excess air with minimal drag. No stone is left unturned in this process: even the rear wing mirrors provide 20kgs of downforce while directing airflow to the rear of the vehicle.
Source: koenigsegg
