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Koenigsegg Agera RS Top Speed
On 4 November 2017 an Agera RS ran a closed section of Highway 160 near Pahrump, Nevada, in both directions. Northwest it hit 457.94 km/h. Southeast it managed 436.44 km/h. That is a gap of more than 21 km/h in the same car on the same road within minutes, and it is the clearest illustration you will find of why a one-way number means very little. Average the two and you get 447.19 km/h (277.87 mph), which is the figure that counts and which still stands as the fastest verified production car speed.
Full specifications
| Engine | 5.0L twin-turbo V8 |
|---|---|
| Power | 1,176 PS standard |
| Power with 1MW package | 1,360 PS (1,341 hp) |
| Torque | 1,371 Nm at 6,000 rpm |
| Curb weight | 1,395 kg |
| Dry weight | 1,295 kg |
| 0–100 km/h | About 2.9 sec |
| Record average | 447.19 km/h, two-way |
| Northwest run | 457.94 km/h |
| Southeast run | 436.44 km/h |
| 0–400–0 km/h | 33.29 sec |
| Flying kilometre | 445.54 km/h average |
| Flying mile | 444.66 km/h average |
| Record date | 4 November 2017 |
| Record location | Highway 160, Pahrump, Nevada |
| Record driver | Niklas Lilja |
| Production run | 27 units |
| Built | 2015 to 2018 |
About the Agera RS
Agera is Swedish for to act, and in November 2017 the Agera RS did rather a lot of it. Koenigsegg took a customer's car to Nevada, got a stretch of Highway 160 near Pahrump closed off, and by lunchtime on the first day had set five world records with factory driver Niklas Lilja at the wheel.
The headline one is top speed: 447.19 km/h averaged over two passes. But the individual runs are the more interesting number. Going northwest the car did 457.94 km/h. Coming back southeast it did 436.44. Nothing about the car changed in between. What changed was the wind and the slope of the road, and it was worth over 21 km/h. That is why every credible top-speed record is run both ways and averaged, and why a manufacturer quoting a single one-way figure is quoting the friendliest number it could find.
The other four records fell the same morning: a flying kilometre averaging 445.54 km/h, a flying mile averaging 444.66, the highest speed recorded on a public road at 457.94, and a 0-400-0 km/h run in 33.29 seconds, which means the car accelerated to 400 km/h and stopped again in about the time it takes to read this sentence twice.
The car itself is a 5.0-litre twin-turbo V8 making 1,176 PS as standard, or 1,360 PS with the 1MW package fitted, which is what the record car had. It weighs 1,395 kg ready to drive. That is the whole trick. It was not out-powering the Bugattis of the era by much. It was carrying several hundred kilograms less while doing it.
Two years later Bugatti's Chiron Super Sport 300+ recorded 490 km/h, and that is the number most people remember. But it was run one way only and was never submitted for ratification, and after reading the 21 km/h spread above you can see why that matters. Twenty-seven Agera RS were built between 2015 and 2018, and one of them still holds the record almost a decade later.
Record runs of 4 November 2017 on Highway 160, Nevada. Specifications from Koenigsegg.