8 replies to this topic

[MSwiss]

The electric VW cracked the 8 minute mark, beating the old time by a whopping 16 seconds.

Volkswagen's Electric Car Just Broke The All-Time Record At Pikes Peak

 

"Yeah, that just happened. Romain Dumas climbed behind the wheel of Volkswagen’s electric I.D. R and just beat the all-time Pikes Peak record from Sebastien Loeb by setting the first-ever time under eight minutes.

Loeb’s record, a 8:13.878 set in 2013, seemed unbeatable—especially by an electric car. For a while, it’s been internal combustion engines versus an electric powertrain with the latter just considered to be slower, no matter what. But Romain Dumas and Volkswagen have just teamed up to smash down all of those preconceptions and Loeb’s record."

Click title above to read the complete story.

[Half Fast]

That's some wing on the back of that 'lectric VW

 

Cheers

[MSwiss]

Big spoilers are common, especially on the unlimited cars.

Here's the past record holder;

[Dave Crevie]

I don't suppose that the road being mostly paved now helps. LOL. It's been paved for a while, but I miss the old broad-sliding days. My Dad drove me up it in 1965, scary trip back then. I wish I had my licence, I bet I could have scared the begeezus out of him.

[garyvmachines]

Hi all,
 
Our wing cars are looking closer to scale all the time!!!
 
I love all the little winglets... all over!!!
 
GAV

[Tim Neja]

Well, IMHO they screwed up this climb by paving it all the way to the top!! It used to be dirt/gravel for most of it!! So all the records are different nowadays.

 

I loved the old spit dirt and fly to the sky design!! Pikes Peak has been ruined!

[Tom Eatherly]

Tim, not sure it's ruined, just different now. Went a couple of times in the '80s. Would watch from the ski area, Gilly's Corner or something like that, about halfway up. Friggin' wild! And loud!

[MSwiss]

Yes, the memories of seeing pics of Parnelli Jones winning races in the '60s, on the unpaved part, was really cool.

Last year, we had family camp in Colorado, but much to my chagrin, I didn't realize when the race was, and instead of driving straight there, to catch it, my wife and I stopped at Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse.

They say it's actually more dangerous now, paved.

And it was paved due to environmental concerns.

From Road & Track.

"What's likely less understood is how and why the road, built in 1888, only got fully paved in 2011. It has nothing to do with the race. Rather, since the Peak is one of Colorado's biggest tourist attractions, drawing a half million visitors a year, to the tune of $12 a head meant tens of thousands of cars traveling to the summit every summer, which created a lot of runoff. So in 1999, the Sierra Club brought a lawsuit against the city of Colorado Springs, the custodian of the road, saying that having it made of dirt was causing serious environmental damage. The city settled, and the paving began."

I was OK with it being completely paved.

I was able to easily break the record for a Honda Element, with a screaming woman in the car.

[Dave Crevie]

Well, after all Mike, it was her car! Ladies can sometimes be, shall we say, nervous riders.

 

I took the Genie to a track day at Blackhawk Farms, and a girl friend (not girlfriend) came along. The car had the real passenger seat required by the rules under which it was built, and she had been nagging me for a ride.

 

I told her all morning to make sure she went to the bathroom before the ride along. But being that the outhouses at the track back then were a little less than inviting, she skipped it. A mistake she would never make again.