Mladá Boleslav, 1 February 2023 – ŠKODA has set two official world ice drift records with the ENYAQ RS iV SUV, the brand’s second all-electric sporting model. The records for the ’Longest Continuous Vehicle Drift on Ice’ and the ‘Longest Continuous Vehicle Drift on Ice (electric car)’, have been verified by GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS. They were set by motoring journalist Richard Meaden on a circular track measuring 188.496 m in circumference on the frozen Stortjärnen lake near Östersund, Sweden, on Thursday 19 January 2023.
The first record broken by ŠKODA on the Stortjärnen
lake was for the Longest Continuous Vehicle Drift on Ice. Driving the recently
launched ŠKODAENYAQ RS iV SUV, Richard Meaden set a new officially-verified
record by holding the car in a controlled slide for more than 15 minutes and
7.351 km. Meaden’s drift beat the previous record of 6.231 km, set in China in
2022. In breaking the first record, Meaden and the ŠKODAENYAQ RS iV SUV set a
second record for the ‘Longest Continuous Vehicle Drift on Ice (electric car)’.
With a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS adjudicator
present and international drifting judge David Kalas as a witness, ŠKODA set
the record on the brand’s fourth day on location following numerous practice
runs with different tyre combinations. A total of 18 hours of drifting were put
in across the full five days in sub-zero temperatures to achieve the perfect drift.
The ENYAQ RS iV SUV held its own under
demanding conditions and powered round the drift circle 39 times during the 15
minutes and 58 seconds of its record-breaking run. It achieved a top speed of
48.69 km/h and was travelling at 31.64 km/h at its slowest point.
The standard production car used to complete
the record was fitted with 20-inch alloy wheels. The Däckproffsen 245/35-R20
‘event tyres’ (sourced from Michelin) on the front had 600 5 mm studs, enabling
an even better traction and steering input on the frozen grip-less surface;
whilst the Nokian Hakkapelitta 255/45-R20 tyres fitted on the rear wheels had
300 2 mm studs across the tyre surface, which proved the ideal combination on
the 40 cm deep ice surface.
The setting of two new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS
titles returns ŠKODA, the new record-holder Richard Meaden and the RS nameplate
to the record books. In 2011, the British driver set a new Southern Californian
Timing Association (SCTA) Land Speed Record for a 2.0-litre forced induction
production car of 227.080 mph. Driving a ŠKODAUK-built Octavia RS, the record
was set at the legendary Bonneville Salt Flats in the USA.
Meaden said of the triumph: “Being back
behind the wheel of another record-breaking ŠKODA is pretty special, going from
the Bonneville Salt Flats of the USA to a frozen lake in Scandinavia – setting
two different records in two very different cars. I’m incredibly proud to be
part of a record-breaking team again 12 years on – who would have thought we’d
be here drifting an electric car on ice? It shows just how much the automotive
world is changing, and how exciting it is too.”
The ENYAQ RS iV features sports suspension 15
mm lower at the front over the standard ENYAQ iV, and 10 mm lower at the rear. Furthermore,
progressive steering and Drive Mode Select as well as optional Dynamic Chassis
Control for an adaptive damping system enable even better traction. Further
enhancements include characteristic RS sports bumpers, gloss black exterior
detailing, as well as sports seats with black leather upholstery extended to
the steering wheel and dashboard trim.
The ENYAQ RS iV SUV is the second
all-electric ŠKODA to bear the RS badge, offering 299 PS and 0-100 km/h in just
6.5 seconds from its 82 kWh (77 kWh net) battery and twin electric motors. With
one on each axle, the ENYAQ RS iV produces 460 Nm of torque, with instant
acceleration and powerful performance. The vehicle can be fast charged at
speeds of 135 kW, meaning an 80% charge can be achieved in as little as 36
minutes.