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Volkswagen ID R Readies for Virtual Simulation Before Nurburgring Record Attempt

When it announced the ID R last year, Volkswagen hinted the car was built for only one purpose: beat the record electric car record on the Pikes Peak hill climb. It even got a name to match its purpose: ID R Pikes Peak.
Volkswagen ID R getting in shape for new record attempt 4 photos
Photo: Volkswagen
Volkswagen ID RVolkswagen ID RVolkswagen ID R
The run on the famous climb went incredibly well, and the Germans not only beat the electric car record but set the best time ever, regardless of vehicle: 7:57:148 minutes. This achievement prompted a change of strategy, and two more challenges were devised for the vehicle this year.

Its first new outing will take place this summer on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. There, the ID R will once again try to enter the history books by setting the record for fully-electric vehicles. Later in the year, a similar attempt will be made to set the fastest – and only – time on the Chinese Tianmen Shan Big Gate Road.

For the track run on the Nürburgring, some changes had to be made to the vehicle to increase its efficiency.
Overall, the car will retain its electric powertrain made of 680 ps twin electric motors and a battery pack, but the aerodynamics will change, especially by eliminating the big rear wing that served its purpose so well on Pikes Peak.

Over the past few months, German engineers have been hard at work trying to test those changes, an effort that pretty much concluded this week at the French racetracks in Le Castellet and Alès.

“The 2019 evolution of the race car has taken every aspect of the technology to the next level,” said François-Xavier Demaison, Volkswagen Motorsport Technical Director.

“The most recent tests in Le Castellet and Alès focused on this software, alongside the new aerodynamics of the ID. R. Next up is the first test session on the Nordschleife.”

Up next is the virtual testing of the vehicle, as well as further live testing in Spain and France, before the car goes for the record, driven by the same man who controlled at Pikes Peak, Romain Dumas.

The pair will try to beat the current record of 6:45.90 set by Peter Dumbreck and an NIO EP9 car in 2017.
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About the author: Daniel Patrascu
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Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies.
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