Skoda still holds the record for the fastest seven-seater SUV around the Nürburgring with the pre-facelift diesel Kodiaq RS. The Czech automaker part of the Volkswagen Group traveled to Sweden last month and is seeking to set a different record with one of its many SUVs. The all-electric Enyaq in the guise of a high-spec RS was raced on a frozen lake to try and claim the record for the longest drift on ice.
Evo The magazine’s Richard Meaden hopped behind the wheel of Skoda’s first electric SUV and made it sideways for 4.56 miles (7.35 kilometers). The tail-happy adventure on a circle with a diameter of 60 meters (197 feet) took 15 minutes and 58 seconds to complete, covering the circle of ice 39 times. At one point, the Enyaq RS reached a top speed of 30.25 mph (48.67 km/h) while the lowest speed was 19.66 mph (31.64 km/h).
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The vehicle is completely stock, save for the front and rear Michelin Däckproffsen studded tires Nokian Hakkapelitta for the original 20-inch wheels for better traction on the frozen Startjärnen lake. On January 19, at Krokom in central Sweden, Skoda and Evo’s Meaden managed to better last year’s ice drift record set by Wang Dongjang driving a Subaru WRX by 3.87 miles (6.22 kilometers).
Skoda demonstrated its Enyaq RS technically set two records as Guinness has separate categories for “Longest Continuous Vehicle Drift on Ice” and “Longest Continuous Vehicle Drift on Ice (electric car)”. No less than 18 hours of drifting were completed in the five days prior to the record breaking.
Meaden is no stranger to Skoda driving records, having hit 227 mph (366 km/h) in August 2011 in a modified Octavia RS. The fastest Skoda ever has 600 horsepower from a dedicated 2.0-liter petrol engine that helps it reach impressive speeds on the Bonneville Salt Flats. To celebrate a decade since the milestone, the Mladá Boleslav-based automaker is fully restoring the car in 2021.
