The engine from the Jesko was a challenge to make fit, but the solution is absolutely perfect.
While inaugurating its new Gipen Atelier facility, Swedish megacar manufacturer Koenigsegg revealed the customer-specification Gemera, boasting several notable changes over the pre-series versions first revealed at the start of the pandemic. The big news is that in addition to the standard three-cylinder variant, there's now a Gemera HV8 version available with a hot-vee twin-turbo eight-cylinder. As usual, this can run on E85 biofuel. But that's not the only change – the entire powertrain has been completely revised.
Originally, the Gemera was set to feature the Koenigsegg Direct Drive system seen in the record-breaking Regera, a transmission that effectively uses only one gear. But because this is Koenigsegg we're talking about, the pursuit of engineering perfection never stops. While development on the Gemera was ongoing, the Jesko project was also kicked off. This introduced the revolutionary Light Speed Transmission, and Koenigsegg couldn't pass up the opportunity to try to take things even further.
But that's not the only component to be borrowed from the Jesko.
“We could not resist exploring the possibility of incorporating these remarkable features and benefits into the Gemera production model, leading us down an exciting new development path – the Light Speed Tourbillon Transmission (LSTT),” explains company founder Christian von Koenigsegg. The transmission is so named because it wraps around the power unit in a beautiful package that mimics the intricacy and elegance of a high-end Swiss watch. Without this configuration, the LST would not fit.
The LSTT is complemented by the new Dark Matter electric motor, a patent-pending Raxial Flux e-motor producing 800 (metric) horsepower (789 bhp) and 922 lb-ft of torque. In the previous Gemera configuration, three Quark e-motors were mated to the Direct Drive System, but the Dark Matter e-motor makes the drivetrain “lighter, smaller, and even more engaging.”
What's more, the LSTT's all-wheel-drive system enables four-wheel torque vectoring and can be fed by either the e-motor, the twin-turbo Tiny Friendly Giant engine, or a combination of the two for a total of 1,381 hp and 1,364 lb-ft.
The system can make the car front-driven, rear-driven, or AWD as needed, which should be as good for enabling smoky drifts and burnouts as for reversing up a hill in the snow. “But I would never drive such a car in the snow,” we hear you say. Well, you just might. With better packaging, Koenigsegg was able to fit the world's largest fuel tank for a production car at 100 liters/26.4 gallons, which means you could start your weekend in Monaco having a relaxed cruise and end up in the Italian Alps without ever stopping for fuel.
Since there was more space available, Koenigsegg explored the idea of fitting the V8 from the Jesko. It simply couldn't fit in its standard form, so the team decided to try a hot-vee configuration, siting the turbos between the two cylinder banks. Remarkably, this worked, resulting in the aforementioned HV8. The engine alone generates 1,479 hp, and in combination with the Dark Matter e-motor, you get a world-record 2,269 hp and 2,028 lb-ft of torque.
“The Gemera HV8 is not only the most powerful and extreme production car on the planet Earth, with an astonishing 1,111 [metric] hp per kilogram, but it is also the most practical and user-friendly sports car ever created,” said Christian. “Its incredible response, handling, engine sound, crisp transmission, spacious interior, and four-wheel-drive systems combine to create an unprecedented and unparalleled driving experience, ready to set numerous records of performance around tracks and in straight lines. We are extremely proud to have brought the Gemera HV8 to life and very much look forward to delivering this new level of performance and technology to our esteemed clients and fans.”
All of this in a package that weighs “under two tonnes,” or 4,409 pounds, sounds very exciting indeed, and we look forward to seeing which records Koenigsegg breaks. We suspect the Nurburgring lap record is just one target…
Production of the Gemera will kick off at the Gripen Atelier at the end of 2024, with customer deliveries early in 2025. Which would you choose: the TFG or the HV8?
Keyword: Customer-Spec Koenigsegg Gemera Gets V8 AND I3 Engine Options