VW's Record-Smashing Pikes Peak Car Looks Mind-Bendingly Fast

Romain Dumas obliterated the outright Pikes Peak International Hill Climb record aboard the VW ID R, and the road-side footage is astonishing

The fearsome Pikes Peak International Hill Climb has a new record holder: French Le Mans winner Romain Dumas, who did the deed aboard VW’s bonkers fast ID R. The time? Seven minutes, 57.148 seconds - some 16 seconds that the previous outright record set by Sébastien Loeb and the Peugeot 208 T16 in 2013.

But you won’t get a decent impression of the speed of Dumas and the ID R from VW’s own video from the event (below), which is all aerial shots, Hans Zimmer-style orchestral music and deep voiceovers. Nope, you want to look at road-side footage like the Twitter-posted video above. Doesn’t it look astonishingly fast?

The purpose-built race car is powered by a pair of electric motors, giving an output of 671bhp and 470lb ft of torque. Plenty in a car that weights around a tonne. 0-62mph is predictably brisk: it’ll do it in under 2.25 seconds.

Remote video URL

Now we know the ID R can last for at least eight minutes at full chat and going uphill, we can’t help but wonder how fast it might go around the Nurburgring. Well, VW hasn’t announced any future plans for the thing, so why not?

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Comments

smitt.e.man

VW is coming back again next year. They said it a 2 year thing. It’s gonna be even more insane!

06/25/2018 - 17:02 |
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Anonymous

Enter your comment…

06/25/2018 - 17:52 |
0 | 2
Anonymous

Please have in mind that the electric engines don’t suffer from diluted air. That’s how the record was set.

06/25/2018 - 19:38 |
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Hertie

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

the engine isn’t but, the downforce is.

06/25/2018 - 21:15 |
1 | 0
Daksh Pat

sounds like a jet engine jeez

06/26/2018 - 00:09 |
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Anonymous

Ricers be like
“Close enough”

06/26/2018 - 04:39 |
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EpiCon

Even more when you charge it with lemons

06/26/2018 - 15:01 |
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HDose

Now let see how it preforms on dirt roads.

06/27/2018 - 00:01 |
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Anonymous

Koenigsegg: “Hold my beer!”

06/27/2018 - 08:22 |
0 | 0
Anonymous
06/27/2018 - 09:45 |
1 | 0