Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut fires onto the Goodwood Hill

How do we know? Well, the track-focused and top-speed-focused versions are both being represented here at the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard with seemingly fully-developed and happily running pre-production prototypes. Deliveries can’t be far away now.

We can’t exactly blame Koenigsegg for taking this long though. World events notwithstanding, this isn’t exactly a normal car. Its transmission – the Light Speed Transmission – is all-new, promising seamless shifts through nine speeds, via a multi-clutch system that cuts out shift times entirely.

Then there’s the engine, which though it is a development of the old twin-turbo V8, has moved on significantly. It now has an all-new flat-plane crank and as a result, revs much faster to a much higher rev limit of 8,500rpm. The internals of the 5.0-litre V8 in combination with the flywheel-less clutch-less LST mean this is one of the fastest-revving production engines. On E85 it’s good for 1,600PS (1,177kW).

Then there is the question of what are effectively two different body styles. The Jesko Attack is maximum downforce, with the big active wing, shorter rear end, more aero addenda and ducting. The Jesko Absolut, which is focused more on top speed, uses a different unvented front clam, has no wing, a less aggressive splitter and is longer. The result is the Attack develops 1,400kg of downforce, while the Absolut is all the way down to 150kg. The reality is that this isn’t just one car, it’s two, literally.

It was fabulous to see them both finally here and in action on the Hill. The big question we have is whether the Absolut, what Koenigsegg says will be the fastest car it ever makes, take the crown of fastest car in the world? We hope we find out sooner rather than later.

Photography by Phil Hay.