Skip to main content

The VW I.D. R Races to 60 Faster than an F1 Car

Volkswagen’s motorsport division was in the French mountain town of Alès for the reveal of the I.D. R, its latest racer and Pikes Peak record hopeful.

Shown in naked carbon fiber, with only a scant few sponsor stickers on it, VW finally revealed that the I.D. R will make 680 hp and 480 lb-ft of torque. That power will be sent to all four wheels, but thanks to its electric power supply, torque will be fed to the wheels that need it most, for active torque vectoring.

That should help it get its 1,100 kgs (2,425 lbs) up the famous hill climb in a hurry and, indeed, gets it to 60 mph in just 2.25 seconds, faster than most current F1 and Formula E cars. That will be important if they hope to earn the electric record at Pikes Peak (8:57.1, set in 2016).

The question of weight was an important one, since VW decided that they wanted to prioritize out and out pace over everything else. To run an electric motor ragged requires a lot of power and, by extension, a lot of batteries. To keep things light, though, the I.D. R will generate about 20% of the power it uses during the race, through regenerative braking. 

As with most Pikes Peak cars, the I.D. R bears some pretty ridiculous aero elements. These aren’t just there because the sport gives engineers the freedom to do whatever they want, aerodynamically, but also because at altitude, the air density requires more aggressive spoilers and wings.

Since Pikes Peak is still a public road for the next little while, VW will be conducting its testing in Alès, which is at the foot of the Cevannes mountain range in France.

After about two weeks, it will be onto Colorado, where VW will finally be able to run some tests in situ. There it will have the great advantage of having Romain Dumas, three time Pikes Peak winner and two-time Le Mans winner, behind the wheel.

The post The VW I.D. R Races to 60 Faster than an F1 Car appeared first on VWVortex.



from VWVortex https://ift.tt/2vyYCxg
via IFTTT

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Saying Goodbye to the CC V6

For all its size and its global reach, Volkswagen is still, in many ways, a deeply human company. There was, for instance, the Bugatti Veyron an ego project if ever there was one. Then the purchase of Ducati, a move most called folly. And then there was the Phaeton, the Volkswagen that most folks can’t afford. Not only were these moves all strange, I’m sure that they made VW’s accountants furious. None of them made good business sense, but they were all deeply interesting and they all are evidence of the heart that beats at the center of VW. Among these follies is the CC, a car that everyone agrees is rakishly handsome, but that no one really wanted to buy. The car couldn’t last, but the world is brighter for its having been in it. With the approach debut of the Arteon, it seems like a good time to look back on its sadly departing predecessor. The version I drove, because I live in Canada, is a V6 Wolfsburg Edition, which apparently isn’t available in the States. Nor is the V6, not as...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mitsubishi admits it lied about MPG ratings for all vehicles in Japan

Filed under: Government/Legal , Green , Mitsubishi , Fuel Efficiency , Japan Mitsubishi says its shady fuel-economy test practices may have been used on all vehicles it sells and has sold in Japan. Continue reading Mitsubishi admits it lied about MPG ratings for all vehicles in Japan Mitsubishi admits it lied about MPG ratings for all vehicles in Japan originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 11 May 2016 12:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink  |  Email this  |  Comments from Autoblog Volkswagen http://ift.tt/21X3bHv
Post a Comment
Read more

More 3.0-Liter TDI Settlement Details Expected by January 31

Volkswagen and the TDI Plaintiff’s Steering Committee were in court today for another status conference following the agreement in principal reached earlier this week. Little new information was given at the conference held before Judge Charles Breyer today, but the court ordered the parties to develop a formal settlement agreement, class action notices, and a class notice plan by January 31, 2017. For now, though, owners still don’t know how much to expect in compensation. Elizabeth Cabraser, lead Counsel for the Plaintiff’s Steering Committee reaffirmed in a statement today that the compensation would be “substantial.” The potential cost to Volkswagen is widely reported to exceed $1 billion, though, with an additional $225 million going into an environmental trust to help offset excess emissions. Buy back offers are still only expected for the oldest 20,000 of the roughly 80,000 VW Group vehicles sold in America with the 3.0-liter TDI engine. Those vehicles are mostly SUVs, like ...
Post a Comment
Read more