Skip advert
Advertisement

Koenigsegg One:1 active wing - Art of Speed

How do you keep a 1341bhp, 273mph car grounded?

Koenigsegg One:1 active wing

Koenigsegg. Twenty-one years old and mixing it with the big boys at the bleeding edge. Damn impressive. And it doesn’t try to be them, which is part of the appeal. So, no elements of single-seater in the bodywork (legitimate for Ferrari or McLaren, contrived for almost anybody else) or imitation of any sort. The cars have a laconic design but intense performance, like a fast-forward Nordic noir.

Advertisement - Article continues below

This month’s art is part of a mästerverk that starts with the cartoonishly quick Agera R and adds speed. Indeed, if you ever wanted to know what happens when your factory is at an airfield and you have 24/7 access to the runway, the One:1 is the answer. Naturally, its wing is huge; a proper whaletail, as curvaceous as it is shockingly broad. And like almost everything else on the car, its two tiers are made of carbonfibre.  

The One:1’s wing is conspicuously held from its upper surface to keep the downforce-generating underside smooth. The tapering buttresses that it hangs from may seem an extravagance but their raison d’être is a functional one. If the support stalks sit just in front of the wing, as is standard practice, they create small disturbances in the airflow. As such, the wing doesn’t realise its true potential. 

Skip advert
Advertisement
Advertisement - Article continues below

> 1600bhp Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut targets 300mph+ top speed

This might suffice for GT3 or DTM cars, but it won’t do for a machine that somehow has to harness 1341bhp and has a theoretical top speed of 273mph (limited by the wing itself). So the buttresses extend straight back from far in front of the wing and are cut away underneath to leave space for the airflow to reform before it gets sliced up. They also act as rudders, stabilising the chassis at speed. 

Overall it seems an immaculate solution, and everything, wing included, weighs just nine kilos. For a system that helps develop 610kg at 174mph (remarkably similar to the McLaren P1) that’s scarcely believable.

Sitting up at 25 degrees during braking (an angle that best balances drag and downforce) and lowering to minus six for big speeds, the wing is also mobile, or ‘active’. This might seem odd at first, as the thick pylons that manipulate wing angles on rivals such as the P1 and Veyron are absent. Why doesn’t Koenigsegg need such hardware? Because hydraulically actuated hollow-carbon pushrods fixed to the rear bulkhead are hidden within the buttresses and generate just enough force to overcome the mammoth pressures acting on the wing and alter its angle. 

Just another reason why the company’s motto is The Spirit of Performance, not Posing.

Skip advert
Advertisement
Skip advert
Advertisement

Most Popular

2026 BMW 3-series spied, with exhaust pipes
2026 BMW 3-series front
News

2026 BMW 3-series spied, with exhaust pipes

The next 3-series will ring in BMW’s ‘Neue Klasse’ and be electric, hybrid and ICE powered
18 Nov 2024
TVR Griffith (1990 - 2002): a pure and unadulterated sports car
TVR Griffith front
Features

TVR Griffith (1990 - 2002): a pure and unadulterated sports car

The Griffith established TVR as a genuine contender and transformed the company’s fortunes – and it’s still as exhilarating to drive now as it was in …
17 Nov 2024
Cupra Formentor Abt review – a 365bhp crossover for Mercedes-AMG A45 S money
Cupra Formentor Abt – front
Reviews

Cupra Formentor Abt review – a 365bhp crossover for Mercedes-AMG A45 S money

It’s farewell to the original Cupra Formentor with an Abt-tuned run-out package. It’s a quietly excellent car; just a shame about the price...
14 Nov 2024