Skoda has slid into the record books yet again with its latest publicity stunt to promote the recently-revealed Enyaq RS iV electric SUV.
On January 19, 2023, motoring journalist Richard Meaden took a largely unmodified Skoda Enyaq RS iV and drifted continuously for a Guinness World Record-breaking 7.351 kilometres.
It beat the previous record set in China during 2022 by over 1.1 kilometres.
This record-breaking feat was conducted on a circular track measuring 188.496 metres in circumference on the frozen Stortjärgen lake near Östersund, Sweden.
The Enyaq RS iV set a new Guinness World Records title for the “longest continuous vehicle drift on ice”, as well as the “longest continuous drift on ice (electric car)”.
Guinness World Records adjudicator and international drifting judge David Kalas witnessed the drift, and the results have now been officially verified.
A total of 18 hours of drifting was put in across five full days in sub-zero temperatures.
Skoda set the record on its fourth day on location following a number of practice runs with different tyre combinations.
The record-breaking combination were 20-inch alloy wheels wrapped in Däckproffsen 245/35 R240 ‘event tyres’ at the front with 600 5mm studs, and Nokian Hakkapelitta 255/45 R20 tyres at the rear with 300 2mm studs.
It took the Enyaq RS iV 15 minutes and 58 seconds to complete the record-breaking drift, with it going around the circular track 39 times.
These two latest Guinness World Records bring the Skoda RS nameplate back to the limelight, as in 2011 Mr Meaden took an Octavia RS and achieved a Southern Californian Timing Association (SCTA) land speed record for a 2.0-litre forced-induction production car of 365.45km/h.
The Skoda Enyaq RS iV is the brand’s second all-electric RS-branded vehicle and follows the sleeker-looking Enyaq Coupe RS iV.
It’s based on the Volkswagen Group’s modular MEB architecture and is powered by a dual-motor all-wheel drive powertrain producing total system outputs of 220kW of power and 460Nm of torque.
Skoda claims it can do the 0-100km/h sprint in 6.5 seconds, and flat out you’ll be doing 180km/h.
This is mated to a 82kWh battery pack with claimed range of over 500km according to an undisclosed testing standard.
Thanks in part to the lowered chassis (15mm at the front and 10mm at the rear), the Enyaq RS iV has a drag coefficient of 0.265, compared to 0.248 for the coupe SUV version.
Skoda in March 2022 confirmed it plans to bring the SUV and coupe SUV Enyaq iV range to Australia, but production shortages mean it won’t be ready to start taking orders until the second half of 2023.
Based on the current timeline, deliveries probably won’t start until 2024.
It’s still unclear if Skoda plans to bring the high-performance RS variants.
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