This past Saturday, Koenigsegg had the Nevada Department of Transportation shut down a section of Route 160, north of Las Vegas, so it could chase down the production car top speed record. The 267 mile-per-hour record, set by the Bugatti Veyron Supersport, fell to the might of the 1,360 horsepower Agera RS, which, with the road to itself, ground five records into dust. The averaged top speed of the car’s two-way runs totaled 277.87 mph, 10.01 higher than the Veyron SS’s top speed, and it set the record for the highest speed ever recorded on a public road, at 284.55 mph.
The top speed record was averaged between a pair of runs, one downhill with a tailwind, and the other, uphill with a headwind.
The Agera RS also beat its own 0-400-0 record, set in October, raising the bar from 36.44 seconds to 33.29 seconds. The records for the fastest flying kilometer and mile on a public road fell too, each set by the Agera RS in the 276 mile-per-hour range. All five of the records were set on the same quarter of Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires.
As if hardly taking its own record attempt seriously, Koenigsegg proclaims in its own documentation of the event that the factory test driver, Niklas Lilja, did not even use full throttle until he had already reached 190 mph, so as not to stress the engine unnecessarily. The above video released by Koenigsegg supports this claim, with telemetry exhibiting a noticeable spike in acceleration around this speed.
How long will the Agera RS’s record stand, though? Road & Track speculates that the 1,500 hp Bugatti Chiron can do 288, and Texas tuner John Hennessey insists his Venom F5 will have 1,600 hp and do 301.
When it comes down to it, few will believe either of these claims until the cars are tested, onboard videos are posted, and Guinness World Records prints it.