In a contest of pure automotive muscle, Koenigsegg has pitched their Agera RS into battle with the Bugatti Chiron.

The story began about a month ago. In the second week of September, Bugatti had put a Chiron to the test, and the non-speed limited vehicle rocketed to 273 MPH, displacing the record speed of 267 MPH previously held by their Veyron SuperSport, and establishing a new record time overall. Most importantly, the Chiron launched to 249 MPH then back to a stop in an astonishing 41.96 seconds, building to an acceleration peak of two G’s for pro driver Juan Pablo Montoya to endure. That’s what 16 cylinders, a quad of turbos, and the resulting 1,500 horsepower can do.

Koenigsegg though their Agera RS could do better, and in only a few weeks recorded that model’s 0-249-0 MPH time of 36.44 seconds.

The Agera RS is powered by a bi-turbo V8 that produces 1,360 horsepower. It is considerably lighter than the decked-out Chiron, tipping the scales at about 3,000 pounds to the latter’s nearly 4,400.

Of course, the relegation of supercar value to a contest of speed—a simple abstraction—is far from the whole story, despite the alpha DNA at work. These aren’t track machines, they’re two examples of the pinnacle of performance street-legal automotive design and craftsmanship, and two very different animals. The Agera RS is nearer to the track-car side of the equation, while the Bugatti capitalizes on the romance the brand’s classic jazz-age motorcars were known for: an entwinement of deluxe design ethos and contemporary tastes with a cheetah underneath the hood.

Whether or not this has other supercar designers itching for a crack at the title is the question now. Who’s next to the plate?