VW ID R Obliterates Nurburgring EV Record With 06:05 Lap
Most of us were probably expecting VW to snag the electric vehicle record at the Nurburgring - it was just a question of the margin the ID R would beat the Nio EP9 by. Now, we have our answer - the gap is absolutely colossal.
The ID R - which had a record-breaking performance at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb last year - has set a hugely impressive 06:05.3 lap around the Nordschleife. That’s a whopping 40 seconds faster than the Nio, a car which has getting on for double the output of the VW.
It’s also nearly six seconds faster than Stefan Bellof’s famous run in a Porsche 956, which remained the outright record from 1983 up until last year when the 919 Evo set a 5min 19sec lap.
Like the 919, the ID R was extensively modified from its original guise to go record-hunting. The biggest change involved the rear wing, which was changed for a lower, smaller piece to reduce downforce by 20 per cent, dropped further still during parts of the run using an F1-style drag reduction. It also received a new floor, front splitter and battery management tweaks.
“For this evolved version of the ID R, the aerodynamic configuration was more strongly adapted to the highest possible speed, rather than maximum downforce,” said François-Xavier Demaison, the programme’s tech boss. A balance was struck between keeping the top speed along the Nurburgring’s long straights as high as possible, without harming cornering speeds too much. The car’s transformation was completed over just five months.
As with last year’s runs at Pikes Peak and the Goodwood Festival of Speed, French racing driver Romain Dumas was behind the wheel for the record-breaking stint. Looking at the onboard footage of the lap, we wonder if he might need a pay rise…
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
Now imagine telling someone in 2003 that the two fastest cars around the Nürburgring are going to be hybrid and electric. It’s beyond mad how we laughed at electric cars 10 years ago, and now the most powerful stuff needs electric power to either enhance it or just straight up run it.
I know many people aren’t, but I’m hyped for the future. (would love to see Rimac C_Two Tajima taking town the ID R).
People are not happy because they think the only good feeling coming from cars is directly related to how much noise it makes, but they forget that us humans that pleasure from a lot of things, and living on the edge on high speeds, things that electric cars can do too and faster, is one of the most pleasurable things some people can have.
When I say faster is from 0 to top speed.
Same with autonomous driving. When i get older, i won’t be bothered to drive. It’s a brilliant thing.
Electric power is the future, anyone who says otherwise is just living in denial.
Now imagine telling them its a Volkswagen
Holy moley! I knew it would smash the old electric record but beating Stefan as well! Now that’s a car!
I’m just glad the 919 got there first as that meant that the overall title stayed with Porsche.
where’s 5:11 coming from?
all I’ve seen is 5:19.55
Typo!
Cool technology, makes me sad though electrics taking over
awesome.