VW's Pikes Peak Challenger Is Here With 671bhp And A Giant Wing
The last time VW had a go at the formidable challenge of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, it involved a twin-engined Mk2 VW Golf. Now, the German car giant’s motorsport arm has revealed what is effectively the follow-up, and while not quite so noisy, it’s arguably just as unhinged.
It’s called the ID R, and it’s by far the most exciting thing VW has applied its burgeoning electric vehicle sub-brand to. Just look at the size of the rear wing!
The car was partially revealed a few weeks ago, but now we have some proper technical details to go on. Most importantly, what it’ll be powered by: it has two motors making a combined 671bhp and 470lb ft.
Sounds fairly modest compared to a lot of the bonkers electric hypercars we’ve seen lately, but the ID R is reasonably light: it’ll weigh “less than” 1100kg, making 0-62mph possible in 2.25 seconds. Not the most relevant stat for a car like this, but hey - it gives you a rough idea of how quickly this thing will scythe its way up the legendary course in Colorado.
The motors will be powered by a set of lithium-ion batteries, but where it gets interesting is energy recovery: the power generated under braking will make up a whopping 20 per cent of the total juice used by the ID R during the run.
VW isn’t targeting the outright record of 8:13.878 set by Sebastien Loeb aboard the Peugeot 208 T16 in 2013. Instead, driver Romain Dumas - a two-time Le Mans winner - will be gunning for the electric record of 8min 57.118sec. That time was set by Rhys Millen in the e0 PP100, a car with nearly two and a half times the peak power of the ID R. We can’t wait to see how this thing gets on.
The 2018 running of Pikes Peak will take place on 24 June.
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
“I am your father”
My biggest question: is no one gonna use ground force with lateral skirts despite having no restriction in Pikes peak?
*ground effect
It’s too bumpy. With the way the road freezes in the winter it cracks more and more every year and the surface is so bad now that it’s likely nobody will ever beat the record Sebastian Loeb set when it was first paved unless they fully repave the road
Like ah00t13 said, it’s too bumpy. In the F1 ground effect era, the smallest of bumps would unsettle the car resulting in a massive crash. Piles Peak is covered in bumps - so it’d basically be a death wish for any driver who dares to go flat out in a ground effect car. Of course, engineers can develop workarounds. I’m fairly certain Lotus experimented with having no suspension at all to minimise the unwanted side effects - but it would be very costly and virtually pointless to a manufacturer if this technology could not be applied to road use.
I may be wrong but ground effect cars aren’t good on bumpy tracks/roads, that’s why the ground effect F1/Group C cars struggled on tracks like the Nurburgring
I would love to experience such a car, even as a passenger
There’s probably no space for a passenger
I would like to call this disease the “919 virus” where every record- breaking car will look like the 919 and infects the host to program itself to break a certain record.
Dude, calm down. The 919 is not a bad car by any means.
It’s kind of cool to se an electric racecar with less than 1000HP
Well I mean it weighs 1100 kg so there’s no need for 1000 horsepower
LMP-E???
Will be anticipating in silence
Are Porsche going to send the 919 Tribute up there too?
Was looking for this
Front end looks like a Renault and idk how to feel about that