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KC Hill
Craig Hill
Oracle of DelphiKoenigsegg CCX
February 5th 2008 17:22
The Koenigsegg CCX is a mid-engined roadster from Swedish car manufacturer Koenigsegg, to replace the Koenigsegg CCR. CCX is an abbreviation for Competition Coupe X, the X commemorating the 10th anniversary, being the Roman numeral for ten, of the completion and test drive of the first CC vehicle in 1996. The CCX is intended to be suitable for the United States market and thus engineered to comply with US regulations. A base model CCX costs approximately US$900,000 (€700,000) but with all optional extras the car costs US$1,000,000 (€800,000).
The CCX was first unveiled on February 28, 2006 at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show although its existence was announced earlier. The CCX is also available as the CCXR, the difference being that CCXR's engine is tuned to run on biofuel. The different fuel and tune allows the CCXR to produce 25% more power than the CCX.
Koenigsegg began the CCX project with the aim of entering the world market, though particularly the United States car market. Development engineer Magnus Jaasund said "We wanted to go into the world market, but we couldn’t do it with the old car." To sell cars to the North American market many alterations were made to the design of the CCR; the previously used Ford Modular engine was replaced by a Koenigsegg engine designed to run on 91 octane fuel, readily available in the United States, and to meet the Californian emission standards.The front bumper of the CCX is designed to be safer in low speed collisions than previous Koenigseggs and the whole body is 3.46 in (88 millimeters) longer to comply with the United States' rear impact regulations. Additionally the CCX can display United States or European number plates.
The CCX is 1.61 in (41 millimeters) taller than the CCR and, combined with the carbon fiber reinforced plastic sports seats by Sparco, the CCX allows for 1.97 in (50 millimeters) of extra headroom that Autoweek reviewer Mark Vaughn hypothesises is "to accommodate U.S. NBA stars." The electronic control unit has also received an upgrade over the CCR meaning that the CCX is without physical fuses and it is lighter than the previous system.
The CCX can accelerate from stationary to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.2 seconds and 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) in 7.7 seconds. It can complete a standing quarter mile in 9.9 seconds with an end speed of 146 miles per hour (235 km/h). According to Koenigsegg it has a top speed of 245 miles per hour (395 km/h), but it has not officially been tested on a long enough straight to confirm its maximum speed. The CCX has a turning circle of 36 ft 1.1 in (11 meters) and can turn at 1.3 lateral gs (13 m/s˛).
The Koenigsegg CCX was the fastest car to complete a lap of the BBC Top Gear circuit for 18 months, in a time of 1 minute 17.6 seconds. It originally went around the course in 1:20.4, but was then fitted with a non-standard rear spoiler to provide downforce, after The Stig spun the original version off the track. The Stig purportedly recommended this modification, correctly predicting that the car would then be the fastest ever round Top Gear's track. Koenigsegg themselves state that the improvement was due to adjustments other than the spoiler.
The Koenigsegg CCX was passed by the Caparo T1 on the November 11, 2007 show, but Clarkson took it off the board, saying "You know the rules, James. If a car can't go over a sleeping policeman, it can't go on that board." This refers to Top Gear's rule that any car on the board must be able to go over a normal speed bump, something the Caparo would be unable to do because of its low nose. The Caparo was then taken off, and the Koensigsegg CCX remained the fastest road legal car for the next month until it was beaten by the Ascari A10 with a time of 1:17.3
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