Following months of development and testing, Volkswagen has officially unveiled the updated ID.R race car that will attempt to a set a new lap record for electric vehicles on the Nurburgring Nordschleife.
Since the Nurburgring is a lot different than Pikes Peak, designers and engineers have made extensive modifications to vehicle. Some of the biggest changes occur on the outside as the model has been equipped with new aerodynamics package which allows the car to hit higher speeds.
As Volkswagen Motorsport technical director François-Xavier Demaison explained, the ID.R will need to travel at an average speed in excess of 112 mph (180 km/h) during its run. The model is also capable of hitting speeds up to 168 mph (270 km/h) on the straights.
Besides the new aerodynamics package, which incorporates some knowhow from Formula 1, the ID.R has a revised powertrain that has been specially “adapted” to meet the demands of the Nurburgring. In particular, Volkswagen said they optimized the car’s energy management system which controls the output of the electric motors and the regenerative braking system.
Speaking of the powertrain, it produces a combined output of 671 hp (500 kW / 680 PS) and 479 lb-ft (650 Nm) of torque. It enables the all-wheel drive race car to accelerate from 0-62 mph (0–100 km/h) in 2.25 seconds before hitting a top speed of 168 mph (270 km/h).
The record setting attempt will be made by Romain Dumas and he’ll have to beat the current record of 6:45.90 minutes which was set by the NIO EP9 in 2017. In order to do this, Volkswagen will begin testing the ID.R on the Nurburgring tomorrow.
Dumas has been spending a lot of time in simulators and the company is bringing that experience to fans with a free game called RaceRoom. The game can be downloaded here and it allows users to race the ID.R on the Nordschleife as well as compete against Dumas.
