Koenigsegg believe that the Agera R has more than the measure of the new toys at Geneva – LaFerrari and McLaren P1 – and Pagani’s Huayra lap at Top Gear was a farce.
The 2013 Geneva Motor Show has been a Hypercar Fest, with the stars of the show being the McLaren P1, the Ferrari LaFerrari and, perhaps, the Lamborghini Veneno.
But a car that was also at Geneva was the Koenigsegg Hundra, Koenigsegg’s one-off special to celebrate 100 Koenigseggs built since Christian von Koenigsegg started bolted his immense supercars together in a shed in Sweden a decade ago.
So we thought it would be interesting to chat to Koenigsegg people – including Koenigsegg’s UK dealer Supervettura – and get their thoughts on the new batch of supercars that could perhaps take some gloss off the offerings from Koenigsegg. But there’s no doubt in the minds of Koenigsegg that the Agera R (and Agera S) have more to offer than any of the new supercars at Geneva.
The McLaren P1 was by far the favourite car of the Koenigsegg team at Geneva; the P1 appealed to their own thorough engineering solutions where integrity plays a superior role to ‘flash’, and it found more favour than LaFerrari.
That was also down to the daft name; Koenigsegg found the same as we did – every Ferrari favourite we spoke to, who we knew would be on the list for the new Enzo, referred to it as either the F70 or F150 (or new Enzo). Not a single one referred to it as ‘LaFerrari’. Perhaps that, more than anything, shows it was a silly name choice.
But when it comes to the things that matter, Koenigsegg are quick to point out that both the P1 and LaFerrari have less power than the Agera R, weigh more and have a far lower top speed. Koenigsegg are in no doubt that the Agera R is the better car, especially with its new carbon wheels, gearbox and software on the 2013 model.
Interestingly – especially after Ron Dennis said he put the P1 round Dunsfold 10 seconds quicker than any other road car – Koenigsegg find it highly amusing that the Pagani Huayra had to resort to hand-cut slicks to set its Top Gear lap time.
They have no doubt the Agera R will go round Dunsfold quicker than the Huayra – and on standard road tyres (we’ll get the chance to find out very soon as the Agera R is due to go to Dunsfold soon to take on the Top Gear track). Not only that, but they reckon that even the CCX would also beat the Huayra round Dunsfold on the same hand-cut slicks .
And that will be just part of what Koenigsegg will do in 2013 to show that the Agera R is the superior car, although we’re sworn to secrecy – for now.
Consider the gauntlet thrown.
Salatiso says
3 of those excite me, I’ve never been a Ferrari fan.
Sacha says
What else are Koenigsegg going to do to prove they are better?
Hardeep says
The new Ferrari will be much quicker round any track than the Agera
SimonSez says
The Agera might be the match (and quicker) of the ridiculously named Ferrari and the P1 but it falls over in a corner. Look at what happened when Top Gear took the CCX round the track!!
Cars UK says
Actually, that’s not true.
The CCX did come off when Top Gear first put it round Dunsfold, but that’s because it went round before Koenigsegg had chance to set it up for the track (which all the car makers do). In fact, Koenigsegg don’t think the spoiler had anything to do with the subsequent lap (which was the fastest ever at the time) – it was all down to the setup.
Garlynne says
And Keonigsegg isn’t a more ridiculous name?
Cars UK says
Well. it is the name of the company’s founder.
Handle says
LaFerrari 0-300 kph: 15.5s
McLaren P1 0-300 kph ‘under’ 17s
Koenigsegg Agera 0-300 kph: 14.5s
That makes the statement and the Agera times were on the 2012 car.
Dteamer says
If (and its a VERY big if) the latest Agera R can improve its speed record times and take the Top Gear lap record AND go round the Nurburgring in under 7 minutes I’ll buy this claim.
Brian79 says
I’ve always thought the Koenegsig the most underrated of the supercars and have never understood why the Huayra gets the glory when the Agera is obviously quicker. Perhaps its the southern european flashiness that appeals more than the northern european reserve?
I do hope Koenegsig can prove their point!!
Mercedes62 says
Brave!
Dave Price says
I can see the Agera R taking the title as quickest in a straight line but with the active aerodynamics on the Ferrari, Pagani and McLaren I can’t see it winning round the bends. It will be interesting to see.