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Volkswagen
2018 was a record year for hybrid and electric vehicles showing their products. At the end of June, Porsche – during its farewell tour after canceling its program at Le Mans the year before – destroyed the all-powerful Nürburgring Nordschleife's lap record with its 919 Hybrid. For 35 years, the best lap of this road ribbon in the Eifel Mountains in Germany was 6: 11.13, set by Stefan Bellof and a Porsche 956 in qualifying for the Group C race which was in 1983. But in 2018, Porsche returned to one of the scariest circuits in the world in order to beat Bellof's time. with Timo Bernhard at the wheel, the 919 Evo took almost a minute late, completing a circuit in 5: 19.55.
Five days earlier, Porsche's Volkswagen group had done something similar, with a battery-powered electric car. Romain Dumas set a new world record for best mountain time during the annual rise of Pikes Peak International. Here too, a record deemed unbreakable by many people – Sébastien Loeb clocked 8: 13.878 in 2013–was overshadowed when Dumas finished the 19.9 km race to the clouds in 7: 57.148.
That day, I was on the mountain and I asked more than one representative of VW they were considering taking their new electric monster to the Nordschleife. The similarities were too obvious not to ask questions: similar distances, similar terrifying reputations, and so on. At the time, the question was quickly solved and VW engineers would notice that despite apparent similarities, there were also significant differences.
The Pikes Peak course starts at 2,882 meters (9,000 feet) and rises to 4,300 meters (14,000 feet). This altitude gives an electric car a real advantage over a car that requires air to breathe. Although the Nordschleife has many ups and downs, the total vertical drop over all 12.8 miles is 300 meters, with the highest point only 620 meters above sea level. equipped with an internal combustion engine – although it is hybrid like the 919 Evo – no problem to fill the lungs.
And when the 919 Evo's electric motor and the turbocharged V4 work together, it's significantly more powerful than the I.D. R model: 1160hp (910kW) versus 670hp (500kW). In addition, the Porsche was designed to reach a top speed of 321 km / h (200 mph); at Pikes Peak the Id. Vmax of R was much slower. But in Colorado, the VW electric posted a considerable strength of support, which would not be as important in Germany. Therefore, VW will focus on the optimization of the aerodynamics of the car for this new attempt at registration.
As with Pikes Peak, VW is cautious about messaging. Even as Dumas begins his ascent in the mountains, VW simply declares that his goal is to beat the existing electric record, not the fastest time. And the company still says the same thing: its goal is (allegedly) to beat 6: 45.90, set by Peter Dumbreck and the Nio EP9 in 2017.
Once again, Romain Dumas will be responsible for driving the Id. A. He's no stranger to the track, with four wins in the 24-hour annual race among his list of wins. "The idea of driving the R ID on the Nordschleife is already enough to give me goose bumps.I know the track very well, but the R ID will be a completely different challenge, with its extreme acceleration and huge cornering speeds, "said Dumas. "I can not wait for the first tests, breaking the existing electric record will certainly not be a walk in the park."
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