At the end of last week, one day after the revised version of the ID R electric racer was presented, driver Romain Dumas took the machine on its first official spin around the Nürburgring track.
As he is getting ready to shatter the record for electric cars on the world famous circuit, Dumas drove two different Volkswagen ID R chassis as he tried to see what additional work needs to be done to the racer.
“It was a great moment to drive the ID R on my favorite track for the first time,” said in a statement Romain Dumas. “The cornering speeds in the ID R are much higher than I am used to in GT race cars."
“But I feel good in the cockpit and that is really important here. The Nürburgring-Nordschleife has larger and more numerous bumps than the race tracks on which we have tested so far. So, we have concentrated on adapting the shock absorbers and the ride height to suit the unique characteristics of this track.”
The record the driver and car are aiming for belongs to Peter Dumbreck and was set in 2017 on board an NIO EP9 electric car.
Overall, the ID R which will be taking on the challenge at a yet unspecified date is the same as the one used about a year ago to set the all-time record on the Pikes Peak climb: the ID R’s powertrain is the same combo comprising 680 ps twin electric motors and a battery pack.
The car’s aerodynamics have changed though as a means to handle the challenges of this particular track. For instance, the use of an oversized rear wing was dropped in favor of a smaller one.
With last week’s track tests Volkswagen says it has completed most of the work on the car and is now getting ready to have the record-setting run.
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. Full profile
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