One of the problems with owning any of Koenigsegg’s->ke43 obscenely powerful cars is that you can only scare the bejesus out of one of your friends at a time. But during a conversation with Top Gear at the Geneva Motor Show,->ke228 company boss and founder Christian Von Koenigsegg revealed that this issue might be addressed with a four-door Koenigsegg in the near future.
"Yes, I can imagine a car like that," he told Top Gear when asked about the possibility of a Koenigsegg sedan. "Maybe within the next five years, possibly earlier than that."
Such a car could require a new chassis or a stretched version of the carbon fiber monocoque architecture the company has been using for years, but considering the pace at which Koenigsegg moves compared to other car companies (seriously, it seems like there’s another newer, faster Koenigsegg every other week), that doesn’t seem outside the realm of possibility.
Continue reading to learn more about Koenigsegg's future four-door sedan.
Why it matters
This isn’t the first time Koenigsegg has flirted with the idea of a four-seater. You might remember the company unveiled a solar-electric super-sport sedan called the Quant at the 2010 Geneva Motor show. Co-developed with NanoFlowcell, Koenigsegg quietly withdrew from the project, but NanoFlowcell has since continued development on its own.
The Quant seemed like a flight of fancy when it was introduced, but a sedan that uses some of Koenigsegg’s fundamental technologies could be an interesting car. No one seems to know what kind of shape such a car would take, but a four-seat hyper sedan with 1000+ horsepower would certainly stand alone in the market.
Moving on from the four-door, the always-candid Mr. Koenigsegg was keen to talk more about the future of his company, both long- and short-term.
First, Koenigsegg has no intention of moving down-market by building cars that compete with the Porsche 911 or Ferrari 488. "Everyone is trying to kill each other,” he told Top Gear when asked about less-exclusive segments. “I'm happy way out here, away from that in my little blue ocean. I'm not interested in getting into that fight." Though he was quick to add that Koenigsegg would be able to compete if the inclination was there.
Koenigsegg has a reputation for pushing the engine technology envelope, and one of its more fascinating projects is cam-less engine technology. It’s something Koenigsegg has been working on for the last 14 years and it could be the salvation of the internal combustion engine.
Instead of using cams, valves are controlled with electronically actuated hydraulic valves. This allows the engine to replicate an infinite number of cam profiles, which has the potential to work miracle when it comes to efficiency and power delivery. "The way I see it,” he told Top Gear, “if you view the engine as a piano, and the valves as keys, with a camshaft, you're playing the piano with a broomstick."
Koenigsegg says the technology is almost ready to see the light of day and that the company is speaking with larger mainstream companies that could implement the technology for wider use.
Oh, and he says as soon as the snow clears in the Eifel Mountains this summer, they would be sending a One:1 to the Nürburgring for on all-out assault on the production car (and maybe overall given the One:1’s ridiculous numbers) lap record. Now that’s something I would like to see.