"VW ID R Pikes Peak: everything you need to know..." (Car magazine)
► VW Pikes Peak electric car
► Trying to beat EV record in 2018
(22 May 2018)
Volkswagen is set to take on the Pikes Peak hillclimb in 2018, but it’s using an all-electric racing car to do it. Called the ID R Pikes Peak, after the company’s family of electric ID concept cars, the electric racer promises to have performance comparable to a Formula E car.
Specs and performance figures have been scarce until now, but VW has just released interesting insight about the development of the car. With that in mind, here’s everything we know about VW’s electric hillclimber.
VW ID R Pikes Peak: aerodynamics
From the outside, the ID R Pikes Peak looks like an LMP1 or LMP2 car – but unlike those prototypes, VW’s car will reach a top speed of just 149mph – much less then it’s actually capable of. That means engineers have been able to pile on the downforce without worrying about reducing top speed. ‘We concentrated mainly on achieving optimal cornering speeds,’ said François-Xavier Demaison, technical director at Volkswagen Motorsport. 'The entire chassis is designed to generate as much downforce as possible, without causing too much aerodynamic drag.’
Unlike F1 or WEC, the Pikes Peak hillclimb has relatively loose regulations, and that’s also given VW far more scope to design in extra downforce. And it’ll need it, because as the altitude of the course increases, air density lowers, and the downforce generated at any given speed is also reduced.
‘The altitude on Pikes Peak means that the air we are driving through is on average 35% thinner,’ explains Willy Rampf, technical consultant to the project. ‘As a result, we lose 35% of our downforce compared to a racetrack at sea level. The huge rear wing allows us to compensate for some of this lost downforce.’
As you’d expect from a VW Group project, the ID R Pikes Peak project also had a little help from VW’s friends in Weissach. Most of the aerodynamics of the car were proven in the Porsche development centre, and more than 2000 parts were printed to be tested in the wind tunnel.
VW ID R Pikes Peak: engine and cooling
VW says the ID R Pikes Peak will put out 500kW, or 671bhp, but will only tip the scales at 1100kg. That means it’ll be able to hit 0-62mph in just 2.25 seconds, and should be on track for beating the existing Pikes Peak record of 8min 57.118sec for electric cars.
Most of the car’s outward appearance is shaped by aerodynamics, and the rest is down to cooling. Interestingly though, VW says the car’s twin electric motors don’t require anything like the same amount of cooling as a similarly powerful combustion engine. However, because of the changing density of the air, the inlets will still be bigger than needed at sea-level.
Pikes Peak hillclimb: a history lesson
VW last took on Pikes Peak in 1987 with a twin-engined Mk2 Golf. The ID R Pikes Peak will be piloted by three-time Pikes Peak winner and double Le Mans 24hr winner Romain Dumas, and you’ll be able to watch him try and beat the EV Pikes Peak record on 24 June 2018.
‘Volkswagen’s goal is to reach the pinnacle of electromobility with the ID family. As such, Volkswagen’s involvement on Pikes Peak not only sets the trend for our future in motorsport, but is also of great symbolic significance in the truest sense,' said Volkswagen’s Dr Frank Welsch R&D supremo. ‘The hill climb on Pikes Peak will definitely be a real acid test for the electric drive.’
Link: https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-news/first-official-pictures/volkswagen/volkswagen-pikes-peak-electric-prototype-2018-pics-and-details/