The Volkswagen I.D. R continues to secure record-breaking times with another crown at Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Last year, the Volkswagen I.D. R debuted at Pikes Peak International Hillclimb in Colorado and set a record time of 7:57.148, the first car to ever run Pikes Peak in under 8 minutes. Last June, the I.D. R broke the Nurburgring record for fastest electric vehicle by setting a time of 6:05.336, defeating the 1,300 hp Nio EP9.
And last weekend, the I.D. R continued to break records at Goodwood, posting the fastest time the track has ever seen.
On the first day of Goodwood, the I.D. R already shattered the previous record, held by the McLaren MP4/13 Formula One Car, but running a time of 41.18 seconds (compared to the McLaren’s 41.6 seconds). This from a car that ostensibly has less power than the Formula One racer and weighs almost twice as much.
Then on Saturday, driver Romain Dumas broke his own record with a time of 39.9 seconds up the short course. There was next to no drama either: the I.D. R seemed almost glued to Goodwood's winding road, hardly braking at all as its tires were screaming up the track.
How did Volkswagen do it? To start, the I.D. R's twin electric motors produce a combined 680 hp and 479 lb-ft of torque, but as an electric car, all that power is ready at the push of a button. This means acceleration from zero to sixty takes as little as 2.25 seconds, and that the I.D. R can merely tap the brakes, head into a corner, and then regain that lost speed almost immediately.
It also weighs less than the usual 2,500 lbs thanks to some tweaks by VW’s engineers. According to Motorsport, since Goodwood is such a short course they removed several of the I.D. R’s batteries to save weight. This resulted in an even faster, more nimble hillclimb racer.
We’ve no idea where the I.D. R plans to go next, but we’re sure it will set a record wherever it sets its sights.