BY STEVE SILER
Koenigsegg, perhaps the quintessential boutique supercar maker, is at it again with two road rockets making their debut in Geneva. The first is the CCGT, based on the 806-hp CCX but—get this—detuned to comply with GT1 racing regulations. The V-8 engine was bored out to 5.0 liters from the CCX’s 4.7 but lost the superchargers, resulting in “just” 600 horsepower. However, weight was reduced to a supermodel-skinny 2200 pounds, which should leave the CCGT plenty fast, thank you.The other sweet Swede on the Koenigsegg stand would make anyone want to, as GM might say,
“go yellow.” The Koenigsegg CCXR is basically a CCX engineered to burn E85 ethanol. And whereas a supercar that burns corn oil might seem ridiculous, consider the outcome of Koenigsegg’s efforts: 1018 horsepower at 7200 rpm and 780 pound-feet of torque at 6100 rpm. This is due to the fact that biofuel has a higher octane and different cooling characteristics, according to Koenigsegg, which claims that even its own engineers were surprised with such results. Not that owners would care, but fuel economy—typically 30 percent worse when running E85—will certainly never exceed the single digits.
Otherwise, the CCXR is pretty much identical to the CCX, which is certainly no toad from a looks standpoint. Indeed, it’s bound to be the only E85-burning vehicle of any genre or vintage to make it onto the bedroom walls of teenagers around the world.What’s wrong? You already have a CCX and want the extra potency of the CCXR? Not to worry, you can bring yours into the shop (in Sweden) for a factory conversion.
