Koenigsegg One:1 Out to Beat Porsche 918’s Time at the Nurburgring

The scene is set for the Swedish hypercar manufacturer Koenigsegg to beat the Porsche 918’s 2013 Nurburgring lap time of 6 minutes and 57 seconds. Ready in the starting blocks sits the Koenigsegg One:1, the car that will have to do the dirty work and beat the Porsche’s ‘genuine’ production car lap time record on the Nurburgring.

By ‘genuine’ we mean that the Porsche 918 is usually referred to as the fastest production car ever around the Nurburgring, but in fact a Radical SR8 LM still holds the record of 6 minutes and 48 seconds set back in 2009. The car is however seen as an extreme, very much track oriented car that has little business driving on open roads, and therefore many attribute the record to Porsche’s hybrid hypercar that is a far more common sight on public roads.

Koenigsegg are currently testing the One:1 at the famous German racing circuit, confident they will be able to smash Porsche’s ‘record’ lap time. The Swedish brand has not disclosed what lap time they are aiming for exactly, but if any of their current production cars is capable of beating 6:57 it’s the ultimate Koenigsegg One:1. When filled with E85 Ethanol, its twin-turbo 5.0-liter V8 has a mindblowing output of 1341 bhp and a max torque of 1371 Nm at 6,000 rpm.

Koenigsegg One:1

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With such figures, 0-100 times almost become irrelevant and it explains why the specifications on Koenigsegg’s website immediately jump to a 0-400 km/h time, which should take the hypercar only 20 seconds. In order to set the record time minor modifications were carried out to the One:1, fitting it with a roll cage which is standard practice when attempting record runs. The One:1 will furthermore be shod with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires, the same the Porsche 918 used during its record lap.

Fuel may play a deciding role in the record run, and therefore Koenigsegg may very well choose to let the One:1 run on super unleaded gasoline to rule out any potential advantages of using a different fuel. Letting it run on regular ‘gas’ does however limit the hypercar’s potential compared to when it runs on Ethanol, yet it would still be able to produce an insane 1161 hp. Either way it shouldn’t reflect much if at all on the car’s on track performance, as the French rubber has a difficult time controlling the One:1’s performance as it is.

Do you think the One:1 will beat the 918’s time around the Nurburgring? We wish Koenigsegg the best of luck in their record attempt!