All-electric VW ID R makes its public debut ahead of the 2018 Pikes Peak Hill Climb
VW’s ID R race car has been displayed for the first time, at the Pôle Mécanique Alès Cévennes race circuit in France, as Volkswagen gears up for the car’s attempt at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb course record on June 24 2018. VW also disclosed headline performance figures for the all-electric racer, which will undergo a period of testing before heading out to the US.
671bhp, 479lb ft of torque and a sub-1,100kg weight are the startling stats posted by the VW ID R, which is said to be capable of sprinting from 0 to 100 kph in 2.25 seconds. VW hopes the staggering performance will propel the electrified tour de force to a (an all-electric) class-victory and deliver a new Pikes Peak course record in the process.
Our first opportunity to lay eyes on the VW ID R in the metal has served up few surprises. By and large, the aesthetic previewed by previous renderings of the car has been carried over but the ID R now looks race-ready, clad in its grey livery.
The new colour scheme aside, the biggest differences between the computer generated images of the car and the finished version are a collection of aero elements. New winglets, supported on stanchions, have been added to the front splitter, which itself no longer wraps up around the front apron.
More aero-honing has delivered the louvered arches and the air inlets located behind the curved windscreen, which will reduce lift and increase cooling capacity respectively. The rear wing is mounted differently from the one on the initial images, too.
Immediately after the car’s reveal, VW pressed the ID R into testing as it prepares for the famous hill climb event in a few weeks time, where Romain Dumas will be in the driver’s seat gunning for glory.
Despite its LMP1-like shape, the ID R features many of the design cues seen in other ID products, such as the full-width lighting and sloping C-pillar. These design elements will start being seen on the roads at the end of 2019, when VW’s first ID electric car reaches production.
But VW’s effort at Pikes Peak hill climb is also for a slightly more philosophical reason, as this will not be the first time VW has entered the event with a factory-supported race car. In 1987, the company contested a 652bhp twin-engined Golf, which narrowly missed out on an overall win. Of the new attempt, VW motorsport director Sven Smeets said, ‘It is about time we settled the score,’ rationalising the amount of effort that the firm has put into this exercise.
The bad press generated by dieselgate prompted VW to drop nearly all forms of motorsport to pursue a new, cleaner electric car agenda. As that agenda comes closer to fruition, the ID badge should gain a worthy bit of kudos if Volkswagen does indeed succeed in breaking through that dusty ceiling.
This article originally appeared at evo.co.uk
Copyright © evo UK, Dennis Publishing
