GENEVA: At the Geneva Motor Show, Swedish car maker Koenigsegg unveiled its new $US1.9-million Regera a 1,500-horsepower beast that ushers in the Age of the Megacar.Now we know. A megacar is just massively more insane than a hypercar, which was already substantially more insane than a supercar.
Koenigsegg’s home-built 5.0-litre twin-turbo V8 itself is good for 820kW of power at 7800rpm and 1000Nm of torque. Add to that three electric motors – one producing 160 kW, the others 180kW each – and the combined power output is around 1100kW.
Or, as Koenigsegg so succinctly likes to say it, 1.11 megawatts of power.
While other features include niceties such as soft closing doors, powered memory seats and all body openings that can robotized to operate automatically from a remote or smartphone “so you can get in and out without having to touch the body and make grease marks,” according to Koenigsegg.
One thing you won’t get is a gearbox because amazingly, the Regera takes its drive directly from the engine to the rear wheels without using conventional gears of any sort.
Koenigsegg claims not to be a fan of “conventional” parallel hybrid drivetrains such as used in the McLaren P1 or Porsche 918 Spyder because of their added hardware that equals extra weight.
In fact, if you say that you’re into supercars these day, you mark yourself as a nostalgist. Maybe you like regular old V8 engines that barely generate 500 horsepower.
You’re thousands of horsepower behind the times, my antiquated friend! You need multiple turbochargers and a hybrid gas-electric drivetrain that, in the case of the Koenigsegg Regera, conjoins a 1,100 gas engine with a 700 horsepower electric motor. Working together, they achieve 1,500 hp.
