The Origins of Koenigsegg's Engine: A Story of Disruption and Innovation

Koenigsegg, one of the world's leading supercar manufacturers, has always been known for its innovative approach to design and engineering. However, few people know about the company's humble beginnings and the unusual engine that was once considered as a power unit for Kernig Zags. In this article, we will delve into the story behind Koenigsegg's engine and how it came to be.

The Suburu Flat 12: A Formula One Fiasco

In the 1990s, Subaru decided to take its rallying success to the next level by entering the Formula One grid. The company partnered with the Italian outfit Matauri Moderne, which was tasked with producing a flat 12 engine that would justify the Subaru badge on the side. However, the project proved to be a disaster. The 3.5 liter boxer engine, known as the 12:35, made its debut at the 1990 US Grand Prix but failed to impress in Brazil, San Marino, Canada, and Silverstone. The large flat engine's dimensions proved to be incompatible with the ground effect venturi tunnels that were dominating the track landscape by 1990, rendering it redundant.

The Engine Finds New Life

After its demise in Formula One, the Subaru 12:35 found new life in other racing applications, including LeMond and the one-off Giotto Capito supercar. However, this was not a satisfactory outcome for Koenigsegg's founder Christian von Koenigsegg. Christian was determined to create a supercar that would surpass all others, but he needed an engine that could deliver. Initially, it seemed as though Audi's 4.2 liter V8 would be the chosen power unit, but after signing a deal with a supplier, Christian pulled the plug on the engine.

A Chance Encounter and the Subaru 12:35

Christian's fortunes changed when he met a friend of a friend who knew the guys at Matauri Moderna. This acquaintance introduced him to the Subaru 12:35 engine, which had been modified by the Italians for use in their Formula One car. Christian was impressed by the engine's potential and saw an opportunity to create something truly unique. He purchased the rights to the engine and set about modifying it to produce a viable power unit for his creations.

A Modified Power Unit

Christian worked with his team to modify the Subaru 12:35 engine, upping its displacement to 3.8 liters while stroking it and inserting longer intake tracks. The resulting engine produced 580 brake horsepower, a respectable figure that would have been sufficient for most cars but not quite enough for Koenigsegg's ambitions. However, Christian was undeterred, and the modified engine became the power unit for his initial supercar design.

The Original Engine Placement

When designing the Koenigsegg CC type, Christian deliberately placed the Subaru 12:35 engine at its center, nestled beneath the rear axle. This unique design choice gave the car a low center of gravity and added to its aggressive stance. However, Christian later acknowledged that this was a mistake.

The Downside of the Engine

In hindsight, Christian realized that the Subaru 12:35 engine would never have been enough to propel Koenigsegg's cars to the level of performance they eventually achieved. The engine's limitations became apparent when it reached around 750 horsepower, after which its potential was exhausted. Instead of pursuing further development of the flat-12 engine, Christian opted for a supercharged Ford Modular V8.

A New Power Unit Emerges

The Ford Modular V8, used initially in the Koenigsegg CCR, became the foundation for Koenigsegg's future engines. Over time, this block was modified and upgraded with various sport car Nasik parts to create a bespoke engine that would eventually become one of the most powerful on the market.

A Legacy Revisited

Fast-forward to today, and it's likely that Christian will never have the opportunity to retrofit a Subaru 12:35 engine back into one of his creations for old times' sake. However, the company still holds onto its Subaru engines as a memento of its humble beginnings. Koenigsegg's legacy is built upon innovation and disruption, and its story serves as a reminder that even the most unusual power units can become the foundation for something truly extraordinary.

If you liked this article, give it a thumbs up and tell us in the comments what cool car stories you'd like us to cover.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enaren't be lucky living in a world where a company like Koenigsegg exists a producer of supercars that consistently snuffs out any and all competition from larger companies through innovation perseverance and straight-up horsepower it has time after time manufacture some of the fastest cars in the world currently holding the production car top speed record Christian von Koenigsegg has accomplished much of his company's success through the use of a twin turbocharged v8 there's traditionally spat at numbers well past 1000 brake horsepower but a few unpick these supercars and dig deeper into their story you'll find that an incredibly random engine was once the chosen power unit for kernig zags when the company first started would you believe it if we told you that Koenigsegg nearly used a Subaru Formula One flat 12 in its cars neither would we until you look back at the company state of affairs in the 1990s in fact let's go further back from that to find the origins of this mysterious engine Subaru had managed to accumulate plenty of publicity through rallying but the bosses decided that getting into Formula One was the way to take things up a notch setting its sights on the f1 grid Subaru decided to employ the experienced Italian outfit Matauri Moderne in keeping with the way Subaru does things the Italians were asked to produce a flat 12 engine justifying the Subaru badge on the side by keeping it a boxer orientation Subaru was trying to rid itself of the conservative but solid image as it grew and through its rope cars and so decided it would supply its new f1 engine to the Kalani Formula One team for the 1990 season sadly the engine was a complete disaster the 3.5 liter boxer called the 12:35 debuted at the 1990 US Grand Prix but the engine proved to be an unsuccessful companion with a also failing at Brazil San Marino Canada and Silverstone the large flat engine got in the way of the ground effect venturi tunnels that were dominating their pond landscape by 1990 thus rendering the engine a little redundant after its fall from grace in Formula One the Subaru engine found its way into a LeMond racer as well as the one-off Giotto capito supercar how does all this time Koenigsegg been well while all of this was going on our main man Christian was setting up a supercar company he needed an engine initially it seemed set to be an Audi 4.2 liter v8 there needed to be plenty scope for tuning and boosting and that v8 seemed like a good start despite nearly signing a deal already pulled the plug on the engine shearing stalks leaving Koenigsegg with nothing to treat in a chassis Christian has said I went to OD and they were surprisingly positive about it until I mentioned I was going to to net he then stumbled upon the Subaru 12:35 and somehow decided it was the one through a friend of a friend he knew the guys at Matauri moderna and bought the rights to the Subaru engine after the company folded the italians modified the engine for him to produce 580 brake horsepower by upping the displacement to 3.8 liters stroking it and inserting longer intake tracks and christian decided they would make a viable engine for his creations the original Koenigsegg CC type has the Subaru f1 engine nestled within it at some point during his development when later asked about the engine via his Koenigsegg blog he stated when we first designed the Koenigsegg monocoque it was designed for that engine and it was the first engine we put in there the engine main positions for that engine are still used in the Agera today the whole engine block was under the centre of the rear axle which gave us a super low center of gravity and looked very cool when you open the rear hood of the car so what made Koenigsegg changes mind about the Subaru block well he said the downside of that engine is that it would never have taken us to the level we are at now it would have been good up to about 750 horsepower with a terrible but that would have been about it as it turns out the engine package we finally went for in 1998 has allowed us to go much further than we could have with the flat well instead he opted to go with a supercharged Ford modular v8 used first in the Koenigsegg CCR that block was then modified again and again with the sport car Nasik parts over the years until it became a fully bespoke in-house engine one that has taken the company to the top of the hypercar tree so really it was a bloody good job that Koenigsegg switched to the v8 leading eventually to the powertrain that you find in its current vehicles boosted to the high heavens with a couple of turbochargers still sitting somewhere on a shelf and the Koenigsegg factory are a couple of Subaru engines along with their dyno sheets and engineering drawings maybe just maybe one day Christian will retrofit one of them back into one of his creations for old times sake mr. Koenigsegg it's over to you if you like this video give it a thumbs up and tell us in the comments what cool car stories you'd like us to coveraren't be lucky living in a world where a company like Koenigsegg exists a producer of supercars that consistently snuffs out any and all competition from larger companies through innovation perseverance and straight-up horsepower it has time after time manufacture some of the fastest cars in the world currently holding the production car top speed record Christian von Koenigsegg has accomplished much of his company's success through the use of a twin turbocharged v8 there's traditionally spat at numbers well past 1000 brake horsepower but a few unpick these supercars and dig deeper into their story you'll find that an incredibly random engine was once the chosen power unit for kernig zags when the company first started would you believe it if we told you that Koenigsegg nearly used a Subaru Formula One flat 12 in its cars neither would we until you look back at the company state of affairs in the 1990s in fact let's go further back from that to find the origins of this mysterious engine Subaru had managed to accumulate plenty of publicity through rallying but the bosses decided that getting into Formula One was the way to take things up a notch setting its sights on the f1 grid Subaru decided to employ the experienced Italian outfit Matauri Moderne in keeping with the way Subaru does things the Italians were asked to produce a flat 12 engine justifying the Subaru badge on the side by keeping it a boxer orientation Subaru was trying to rid itself of the conservative but solid image as it grew and through its rope cars and so decided it would supply its new f1 engine to the Kalani Formula One team for the 1990 season sadly the engine was a complete disaster the 3.5 liter boxer called the 12:35 debuted at the 1990 US Grand Prix but the engine proved to be an unsuccessful companion with a also failing at Brazil San Marino Canada and Silverstone the large flat engine got in the way of the ground effect venturi tunnels that were dominating their pond landscape by 1990 thus rendering the engine a little redundant after its fall from grace in Formula One the Subaru engine found its way into a LeMond racer as well as the one-off Giotto capito supercar how does all this time Koenigsegg been well while all of this was going on our main man Christian was setting up a supercar company he needed an engine initially it seemed set to be an Audi 4.2 liter v8 there needed to be plenty scope for tuning and boosting and that v8 seemed like a good start despite nearly signing a deal already pulled the plug on the engine shearing stalks leaving Koenigsegg with nothing to treat in a chassis Christian has said I went to OD and they were surprisingly positive about it until I mentioned I was going to to net he then stumbled upon the Subaru 12:35 and somehow decided it was the one through a friend of a friend he knew the guys at Matauri moderna and bought the rights to the Subaru engine after the company folded the italians modified the engine for him to produce 580 brake horsepower by upping the displacement to 3.8 liters stroking it and inserting longer intake tracks and christian decided they would make a viable engine for his creations the original Koenigsegg CC type has the Subaru f1 engine nestled within it at some point during his development when later asked about the engine via his Koenigsegg blog he stated when we first designed the Koenigsegg monocoque it was designed for that engine and it was the first engine we put in there the engine main positions for that engine are still used in the Agera today the whole engine block was under the centre of the rear axle which gave us a super low center of gravity and looked very cool when you open the rear hood of the car so what made Koenigsegg changes mind about the Subaru block well he said the downside of that engine is that it would never have taken us to the level we are at now it would have been good up to about 750 horsepower with a terrible but that would have been about it as it turns out the engine package we finally went for in 1998 has allowed us to go much further than we could have with the flat well instead he opted to go with a supercharged Ford modular v8 used first in the Koenigsegg CCR that block was then modified again and again with the sport car Nasik parts over the years until it became a fully bespoke in-house engine one that has taken the company to the top of the hypercar tree so really it was a bloody good job that Koenigsegg switched to the v8 leading eventually to the powertrain that you find in its current vehicles boosted to the high heavens with a couple of turbochargers still sitting somewhere on a shelf and the Koenigsegg factory are a couple of Subaru engines along with their dyno sheets and engineering drawings maybe just maybe one day Christian will retrofit one of them back into one of his creations for old times sake mr. Koenigsegg it's over to you if you like this video give it a thumbs up and tell us in the comments what cool car stories you'd like us to cover\n"