Koenigsegg, a small Swedish supercar maker, was founded by Christian von Koenigsegg in 1994. He was very young, just 22 years old then, but he succeeded to raise the required money to develop and polish the supercar in the following 8 years until the first CC8S delivered to client in March 2002. That’s amazing. His biggest success was to get the Swedish public excited (it’s the country’s first supercar) and many Swedish component suppliers involved the project. Even Volvo and Saab gave helping hands to Koenigsegg in the evaluation of aerodynamics and chassis rigidity, all free of charge. Now I know why the company could survive for so long without earning a penny: it is simply a state-owned project ! 

Since the car went into production, 6 cars were delivered. 25 others are on order book. Koenigsegg follows the footprints of Pagani to be another new supercar maker succeeded to survive, at least for the near future. 

The car 

In the UK, CC8S is priced at £367,000, this make it more expensive than Porsche Carrera GT, Pagani Zonda and Mercedes SLR, just shine of Ferrari Enzo. This seems expensive for a no-one-know supercar built in Sweden, but Koenigsegg claims very tempting figures: 655 horsepower (that’s level with Enzo), 1275kg (90kg lighter than Enzo), 0-60mph in 3.4 sec (0.15 sec faster) and a McLaren-matching 240mph top speed. Christian von Koenigsegg also talked of possible reaching 400kph (248.5mph). Can you believe that? obviously not before we examine its technical details. 

The car was styled by Christian von Koenigsegg himself but its shape is largely dictated by aerodynamics. It is not as striking as Pagani or Enzo. At some angles it even looks bulky, like a big whale. But the whale delivers a sense of power that you can’t find in its rivals either.  

Because of the targeted top speed, the body is designed to be so smooth that it has a very low drag coefficient of 0.30. This is much lower than Enzo (0.36), SLR (0.37) and Carrera GT (0.39). Unsurprisingly, the downside is a rather low downforce, just 50kg at the front and 70kg at the back. For comparison, an Enzo generates 775kg while Pagani achieves 500kg.  

The chassis is constructed like other supercars. Central to it is a carbon-fiber tub (Koenigsegg called it "semi-monocoque") attached with steel subframe up front and aluminum subframe at the rear for mounting engine, gearbox and suspensions. Chassis rigidity is 28,100Nm per degree despite of the targa roof. The whole bodyshell is also carbon-fiber. Koenigsegg claims a dry weight of 1175kg, which translates to 1275kg when fluid and fuel are loaded, i.e., what we usually refer to "kerb weight". In other words, CC8S is about as light as Pagani and Saleen S7, while being around 100 kilograms lighter than Enzo and Carrera GT.  

This level of weight control is outstanding when you consider how well the car is built and equipped. In my recent Mercedes SLR report, I described it "loaded with equipment cannot be dreamed in other supercars". That’s not exactly true, because the Koenigsegg also offers ABS, traction control, air conditioning, climate control, CD changer, mobile phone, sat nav, power windows, power mirrors, central locking etc. The only thing it misses is an automatic transmission.  

Open the door is usually a sensational moment for supercars, but this one is even more spectacular: unseen before, these doors operate with 2 axis, simultaneously pivot upward and outward. This might be meaningless to practicality, but it proves that the car is elegantly engineered. Step across the wide sills and drop into the carbon-fiber buckets. The environment is quite strange, because the digital reading is housed in a strange instrument binnacle, the buttons on center console are arranged like a telephone dial and the gear lever is a foot long. While the taste of Koenigsegg is questionable, the build quality is not. This is a well finished interior. Most surfaces are clad with leather and the floor is bare carbon fiber. Space is quite limited for people over 6 feet, but the seats and steering wheel are multi-adjustable, so finding a suitable driving position is easy. 

Engine and Performance 

Start the engine, it roars like an American V8. Yes, it is an American V8 ! very disappointing, like many cheaper British sports cars and American tuner’s cars, this Swedish supercar is powered by a supercharged version of Ford Mustang’s dohc 32-valve V8. 60% of it has been modified, from the titanium header that lifts capacity to 4.7 litres, the lowered 8.6:1 compression, the intercooled Vortec supercharger which boosts 1.0 bar, the forged pistons and con-rods, the dry-sump aluminum crankcase that allows the engine to be installed lower in the chassis, the weight-saving carbon-fiber intakes.... however, you still feel a modified Ford V8 is never an ideal engine to a supercar. It might work in Ford GT, but not a car costing 4 times the money. For sound, for willingness and response, there is no replacement to a high-tech V12 or V10. Unfortunately, Koenigsegg could neither source a better engine nor develop a one itself. 

On paper, this engine delivers 655 horsepower at a high 6800rpm and it redlines at a mighty 7500rpm. The peak torque of 553 lbft arrives at 5000rpm. So, it should have the best combination of power and torque on the market. Unfortunately, that is only on paper. In reality, the high-boost 4.7 V8, with its unusually high specific power, lacks torque at low to medium rev to fight against its rivals. Its torque curve is more like an old-fashion turbocharged engine’s than a supercharged engine’s, putting emphasis on the top end of its spectrum. At 3000rpm, only half the maximum torque is available. In contrast, Mercedes SLR’s supercharged V8 emits its peak 575 lbft at that rev. No wonder Autocar magazine criticized it lack flexibility. It found the CC8S took a laughable 10.2 seconds to accelerate from 50-70mph at top gear while Pagani Zonda C12S needed only 4.4 sec.  

Much of the blame must go to the Vortec supercharger. It is a centrifugal-type supercharger, unlike the screw-type supercharger used by other supercars such as Mercedes SLR, SL55AMG and Ford GT. Centrifugal-type superchargers are very much like turbochargers except that their turbines are driven by crank instead of exhaust gas. Their advantage is high power gain, which the Koenigsegg needs to get most from its 4.7-litre capacity. The disadvantage is weak boost when the turbine is not spinning quick enough, just like turbochargers. They also cause some throttle delay, similar to turbo lag, as Evo experienced in the Koenigsegg.  

However, peaky power delivery is not all the problem. Autocar also suspected the engine is not as powerful as claimed. Theoretically, it should match or at least come close to McLaren F1 in acceleration, but the data recorded said otherwise: 0-60mph took 4.4 sec, 0-100mph in 8.4 sec, 0-150mph in 17.6 sec and 0-200mph in 35.4 sec. For comparison, McLaren did that in 3.2 sec, 6.3 sec, 12.8 sec and 28.0 sec respectively. This miss the mark by a large margin and falls behind other less powerful rivals. 

What about top speed? Judging from the time Autocar needed to get to 200mph, it is unquestionable the car can pass the 210mph mark or maybe even 220mph. But so far Koenigsegg has yet to prove its McLaren-beating speed. It claimed once saw 233mph when testing on a wet Nardo track and the car was still accelerating. However, you know, claim is claim. Before CC8S set a record in front of witness, I won’t believe it could topple McLaren F1. 

Handling and Ride 

The chassis of Koenigsegg is obviously much more promising than its engine. Weight distribution between front and rear axle is 45:55, this help it to balance remarkably well. It is also fine-tuned by supercar tuning expert Loris Bicocchi, the man responsible for the handling and ride of Bugatti EB110, Edonis and Zonda.  

On the road, the CC8S handles very good. Initially it feels too big and wide while understeer a little in tight corners. Give it an open road, it immediately comes alive. Up the pace and the understeer is replaced by neutrality. Massive grip from the wide tires and powerful AP brakes (with superb pedal feel too) give you full confidence, as is the steering wheel which transmits stream of information from the front wheels to your arms. The Italian Cima gearbox also shifts satisfyingly, with short throw, slick and precise action. Bicochhi has the chassis and its human interface sorted so well ! 

In fact, this chassis is better sorted than Ferrari Enzo’s. Both cars have traction control to prevent from sliding rear wheels, but the Ferrari’s system works busier. In the Koenigsegg, you have to steer aggressively to swing its rear end out. That’s partly due to its weaker torque, partly thanks to its better balance.  

It also rides pretty good - not as supple as Zonda, but more forgiving than Enzo. Besides, the aluminum double-wishbones suspensions use electronic adjustable shock absorber to allow ride height adjustment. On bumpy roads, the driver can increase ride height to prevent bottom out.  

Verdict 

Like other supercars tuned by Loris Bicocchi, Koenigsegg CC8S will be remembered for the way it handles and communicates with its driver. Unfortunately, it got a poor engine and therefore does not deliver the performance it promised and the eagerness its customers expected. Give it an AMG V12 and a more adventurous styling, it could jump to the top of the supercar chart.... but then it will need to be renamed to "Pagani".