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TopSpeed’s Best of 2011: Geneva Motor Show 
The Geneva Motor Show is one of the biggest shows of the year and the 2011 event certainly did not disappoint. With over 70 cars lined up and ready to take our breaths away, choosing our favorites between them all was not an easy task. Sure, there were some easy choices, like the brand spanking new Lamborghini Aventador or the Jaguar XKR-S, or brilliant tuning projects like the ABT R8 GT S. Then there was the job of tossing out the not-so-brilliant vehicles like the Mitsubishi Global Small or the rather useless Rinspeed Bamboo. The 2011 Geneva Motor Show brought out cars from one side of the spectrum to the other, and rifling through them took some time. Some may not agree with our choices and that’s okay. However, everyone can appreciate a beautiful or highly efficient car when they see one, and we’ve gathered some exceptional specimens to share. Hit the jump to check out our choices for the Best of the 2011 Geneva Motor Show. Full story 2011 Koenigsegg Agera RWe’re not going to lie; when we picked the Koenigsegg Agera as our 2010 supercar of the year, we were pretty proud of ourselves. Not only did we buck the trend of crowning the mythical title of world’s best exotic to the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, we actually gave it to a car that has 300-less horsepower than the current fastest machine on the planet. We figured that even if the Veyron Super Sport can wallop the Agera on the drag strip, the latter’s combination of appeal, speed, and cheaper price tag was more than what we could get from the Veyron Super Sport. Turns out, we haven’t seen the very best and most powerful version of the Agera yet. That is, until this year’s Geneva Motor Show. Ladies and gentlemen, feast your eyes on the Veyron SS-slayer, the Koenigsegg Agera R. Now, if by any chance you’ve seen this car before in our pages, it’s because we actually ran a story of the Agera R first generating buzz over the webs because the Oman Royal Family got their hands on one even before it made its debut in Geneva. But now that the 2011 Geneva Motor Show is only days away from opening, Koenigsegg is gearing up to give the Agera R the world debut it deserves. And when the world gets to see the Agera R, you can be pretty sure that it’s going to be locked and loaded to throw-down with the mighty Veyron SS. Updated 03/18/2011: Koenigsegg has revealed the full specifications on the Agera R, and although we like what we see, we expected a little better. The supercar will sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 2.9 seconds and from 0 to 124 mph in 7.5 seconds. Top Speed has been reported at 260 mph! Hit the jump to see more specs on the Agera R. Updated 04/10/11: Seeing as the Koenigsegg Agera R is a hometown supercar in Sweden, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to find out that the first journalists given the keys to the Agera R for a test drive were the folks from Teknikensvarld.se, particularly one Erik Gustafsson who was the first journalist to ever test drive the car. Check out the video we’ve added to see how Gustafsson tries to tame the Agera R on the arctic roads of Sweden. Should be a good watch, folks. UPDATE 09/04/11: Koenigsegg recently took some serious bragging rights for the Agera R when it claimed to have set a few high-speed records, further cementing the supercar’s status as the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport’s biggest rival. According to the Swedish automaker, the Agera R managed to clock 0-186 mph in just 14.53 seconds, 0-200 mph in just 17.68 seconds, 200-0 mph in 7.28 seconds, and 186-0 mph in just 14.53 seconds. The records have yet to be verified, but if they prove to be legitimate, it’s only a matter of time before Koenigsegg slams Bugatti’s record. Check out videos of the Agera R’s record attempts after the jump. Details on the Koenigsegg Agera R after the jump. Full story Forbes releases Top 10 list of "Most Expensive Cars in the World"
Before anyone begins to even dream about owning any of these cars, we feel we have to give fair warning that purchasing any one of them will probably cost a few arms and legs. Of course, for anyone whose bank account has never felt the dryness that most of ours have, then listen up. Forbes - yeah, we all know them - has released a Top 10 list of the World’s Most Expensive Cars. Think forking over $100,000 on a car is already a financial burden? Well, think again. Not only are these cars fast and powerful, but they command a pretty steep price tag, which is only affordable to those people that have as much money as we have lottery tickets. Something of note for this list is that there are two cars that have yet to be unveiled, let alone given a price tag. Their respective prices are then assumptions by Forbes and may change the list once the actual prices have been revealed. Another thing that we noticed is the conspicuous absence of the Aston Martin One-77, which, at $1.77 million, is easily one of the most expensive cars in the world. Forbes normally covers a lot of holes on their list, but they clearly made one oversight there. Check out Forbes’ list after the jump. Full story TopSpeed’s Best of 2010: Supercar of the Year
Despite the economic crisis, 2010 has been a very active year for the automotive industry. And while most of the world expected to see more hybrids or small city cars, automakers wanted to prove once again that supercars were still the leaders of the automotive world. We’ve seen lots of world debuts this year, and while every single one of them is more than impressive, there were only three that topped our list for supercar of the year. Getting to the final three was no easy task, but we managed to find our way here, where the final three went head to head for the top podium. Our nominees need no explanation: the Ferrari 458 Italia, the Bugatti Veyron Supersport, and the Koenigsegg Agera. All of them are as fast as the wind, have an impressive exterior design, and an even more impressive interior, and all of them made headlines during this past year. Hit the jump to see supercar of the year. Full story Top Gear announces winners of 2010 Top Gear Awards
The Top Gear trio of Jeremy Clarkson, James May, and Richard Hammond may be all fun and jokes in front of the camera, but despite their cunning wit and silly banter, these three all share a unique similarity: they know everything and anything there is to know about cars. When they say a car is good or bad, their opinions carry more clout than the standard human because they’ve done their homework through countless hours of testing, free drives, and taped segments on the show. And now that we’re nearing the end of an amazingly eventful year, the trio have decided to finally release their choice of vehicles that will be included in the 11th Top Gear Awards. With categories ranging from Hypercar of the Year, Grand Tourer of the Year, Coupe of the Year, and even Engine of the Year, the three hosts took everything they’ve seen, heard, and driven in 2010 to come up with a winner for each respective category. In addition to these categories, Clarkson, May, and Hammond also picked their favorite cars of the year regardless of make, model, and type. Care to find out the award winners? Check them out after the jump. Full story Video: Koenigsegg Agera makes musicDon’t you really envy those people that seem to have all the fun in the world? Take the guys from 0-60 Magazine, for example. They got the chance to get behind the wheel of a brand new Koenigsegg Agera and run it through the gears at Koenigsegg’s private airfield in Ängelholm, Sweden. The Koenigsegg Agera is powered by the same 4.7 liter V8 engine that delivers a total of 910hp at the 6850rpm-redline and a peak torque of 1100Nm at 5100rpm. The car weighs only 2832lbs and sprints from 0 to 62 mph in 3.1 seconds and to 124mph in 8.9 seconds. Top speed goes up to more than 245 mph. Needless to say, the car is simply amazing and if the facts don’t show that, then this video will. Try to stay focused on the last few seconds of the video and let us know what you thought. Was it a bird, was it a plane, or was it the Agera? Video: The Koenigsegg Agera visits Jay Leno’s GarageJay Leno received a very special guest in the form of the new Koenigsegg Agera supercar in the latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage. The Agera is powered by the same 4.7 liter V8 engine that delivers a total of 910hp at the 6850rpm-redline and a peak torque of 1100Nm at 5100rpm. The car weighs only 2832lbs and sprints from 0 to 62 mph in 3.1 seconds and to 124mph in 8.9 seconds. Top speed goes up to more than 245 mph. We were a bit surprised to see that Leno was not the one behind the wheel of this masterful vehicle, but then again, he gets to ride around in his very own Trevita CCXR delivering 1018hp so the Agera probably doesn’t do it for him anymore. We did, however, discover that the car was being driven by Justin Bell and Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran who took the exquisite supercar around the Goodwood race circuit. Check out the video to see how they did! Bugatti Veyron’s 267mph record on Koenigsegg Agera’s to-do list. A couple of weeks ago, Bugatti made a worthwhile statement with their Veyron SS speed monster. This beast was capable of hitting an average top speed of 267mph, effectively placing it in the Guinness Book of Records. Koenigsegg wasn’t just going to sit back and let Bugatti take all of the glory, so they prepared their new Agera hypercar to effectively beat the Veyron Super sports’ top speed. And who better to test it than the men of Top Gear. The man behind the Agera super car, Christian von Koenigsegg, isn’t a man to be reckoned with. He’s one of the few people who have both the will and the means to silence Bugatti of its record-topping Veyron SS. According reliable reports, his aim is to do just that, and his new Agera is just the machine to do it. Coincidentally, it was the men of Top Gear who first gave the news of the Bugatti’s record to Koenigsegg, even though the feat was still supposed to be kept under wraps. Upon hearing the news, Koenigsegg immediately began thinking out loud of places he could test his new supercar. Full story Koenigsegg Agera Online Configurator
After officially unveiling it at the Geneva Motor Show, Koenigsegg is also offering an online configurator for the ones interested in buying the new Agera supercar. Customers will be able to choose from eleven exterior colors, three different wheel design, three types of rear wing and ten interior lether color. The Agera is powered by a 4.7 liter V8 engine that delivers a total of 910hp at the 6850rpm-redline and a peak torque of 1100Nm at 5100rpm. The car weights only 2832lbs and sprints from0 to 62 mph in 3.1 seconds and to 124mph in 8.9 seconds. Top speed goes up to more than 245 mph. Koenigsegg releases online configurator for new Agera supercar
If you took a stab at drawing percentages on how many people in this world can afford a Koenigsegg Agera, a safe estimate would probably be around 10%. As far as the remaining 90% of the world’s population is concerned – and that includes us, by the way – the closest thing we can do to owning an Agera is to buy one of its die-cast models at a Toys R’ Us. But while the reality of owning Koenigsegg’s new supercar is about as likely as seeing Ronald McDonald’s chowing down at Burger King, there are still ways for us to fill our heads with delusion – like play dress-up on the Agera through Koenigsegg’s new online configurator. Koenigsegg’s online configurator allows us to touch up and retool the Agera to our liking. We can choose among a palette of colors for the car’s exterior, pick out a rear spoiler for the car, and even choose what set of rims would go best with our freshly-minted Agera. In addition to that, we can also play designer with the car’s interior as well as pick out what additional options we’d want on our make-believe Agera. Of course, this configurator doesn’t do a whole lot except to exercise our imaginations and while it’s not on the same level as having the resources to actually buy one, a lot of us realize that this is about as close as we can get to playing with the Agera. | Find us on Facebook | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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