Power Plant

I love the internet. Especially when it works. Because I was (again) paying catch up on my reading and came across something I wanted to blog about, but thought I'd missed the e-window online. But, no. A few clicks and there it was, lovingly preserved. And allowing you to wonder why on earth I'd want to have anything to do with the Koenigsegg CCX, as reviewed a week ago by one J. Clarkson.

Well I don't really want one, if that's a help. Sideways at 180mph is not high on my 'must-have' list for a car. I have a wife, 2.2 kids (trust me, they eat 110%) and aspire only to get from A to B with my family and/orstuff in comfort and safety. Ok, I want to do it fast and fun too, which is why I'm still keen on a Saab Aero, because they do all the necessary and still squirt past a lorry nice and easy. I doubt a Prius does. But the minute something like it does, along with all the other requirements of domestic and business travel, I'm up for it (in fact I have a vague recollection that Saab do have such a thing).

And then there's the small matter of cost. Forgetting about buying for a moment, the other major bit is fuel. Which is what brings me to the Kthingie review. two things caught my eye.

One was that it did 16.6mpg. Which is not great. Except my R-reg Volvo does only about twice that, and has an engine about 1/3 the size producing 1/4 the power. It also cost about 1/20th as much, so everything is relative, but it just seemed pretty efficient is all.

But the thing that really perked me up was seeded (pun intended) in the middle: 'now with their own Swedish-made twin-supercharged 4.7 litre V8, the CCX. This is a very powerful engine. On normal petrol you get 806bhp. But here’s the good bit. If you tune it to run on eco-friendly biofuel, you get more than 900bhp.'

Not only is it good for the environment, but it's good for the adrenaline junkies too. Now, let's hope we see a bit more of this in a car I can actually aspire to owning.