Škoda Enyaq RS iV Breaks Guinness World Record For World's Longest Ice Drift

Škoda has announced that it has broken two Guinness World Records with its electric SUV, the Enyaq RS iV. The record in question was the ‘Longest Continuous Vehicle Drift on Ice’, and on course of breaking the record, motoring journalist Richard Meaden behind the wheel of the Enyaq RS iV also broke the record of ‘Longest Continuous Vehicle Drift on Ice (Electric Car)’. The records were set on the frozen Stortjärnen lake near Östersund, Sweden, where Richard Meaden drifted the Enyaq RS iV for 7.351 km. Meaden had also set another record with Škoda before, when he set a new Southern Californian Timing Association (SCTA) Land Speed Record for a 2.0-litre forced induction production car, recording 227.080 mph driving a Škoda UK built Octavia RS on the Bonneville Salt Flats in the USA.

Škoda achieved the record run on a stock Enyaq RS iV with winter tyres.

“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”, Meaden said. “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.”

To achieve the record feat, Škoda used the standard Enyaq RS iV with 20-inch wheels. Multiple different tyre combinations were tried, and after testing and practicing for almost 18 hours over the course of 5 days, Skoda settled on Däckproffsen 245/35-R20 ‘event tyres’ on the front end, which were sourced from Michelin. Each of these tyres had 600 studs of 5 mm length to ensure traction and steering. On the other hand, Nokian Hakkapelitta 255/45-R20 tyres were fitted on the rear end, with only half as many studs just 2 mm long to ensure the perfect slip angle. The Enyaq RS iV did 39 laps around the drift circle in 15 minutes & 58 seconds, carrying speeds between 31.64 kmph & 48.59 kmph.

The Enyaq RS iV is the second all-electric Škoda to bear the RS badge. The electric SUV puts out 295 bhp & 460 Nm torque from its twin electric motors, and is capable to do a 0-100 kmph run in 6.5 seconds. The SUV gets a from its 82 kWh battery pack, of which 77 kWh is usable, and can be fast charged from 0-80% in just 36 minutes.