Skoda has set two new Guinness World Records with its electric Enyaq iV RS model by smashing the Longest Continuous Vehicle Drift on Ice record on a frozen lake in icy central Sweden.
The record attempt took place on a circular track outside the town of Krokom, with the motoring journalist Richard Meaden behind the wheel. With the track's circumference measuring just over 188 metres, Meaden was able to hold the Skoda in a controlled slide for almost 16 minutes over a distance of 7.351km, blitzing the previous record of 6.231km set in China in 2022. The attempt was monitored by an adjudicator from Guinness World Records as well as David Kalas, an international drifting judge. Given that the Enyaq is a battery-electric vehicle, Meaden and Skoda were able to claim two records - Longest Continuous Vehicle Drift on Ice and the same record in the electric car category.
The record was set on Skoda's fourth day on location in Krokom after numerous test runs, some 18 hours of drifting in total amid the sub-zero temperatures and murky twilight days of the Swedish winter. Over the course of the run, Meaden circled the track 39 times, reaching a peak speed of 48.69 km/h and never falling below 31.64 km/h.
Unmodified car
The vehicle used for the record attempt was almost entirely unmodified, with the same 82kWh battery pack and twin motors developing the same 299hp as any other standard production Enyaq RS model. Just as is the case with the standard RS, the record-breaking car employed a sports suspension set 15 mm lower at the front and 10mm lower at the rear than the non-RS Enyaq, with all of the same styling cues such as sportier bumpers and black exterior detailing as the production model. While the record-breaker may have sat on a set of standard 20-inch alloy wheels, the rubber in which they were shod isn't especially likely to be found on many examples of Enyaq RS when the model arrives in Ireland later this year.
Specialist tyres
At the front and specially sourced from Michelin were a set of 245/35/R20 tyres with 600 5mm studs across the surface, enabling greater traction and steering input on the frozen lake. Finnish Nokian Hakkapelitta 255/45/R20 tyres graced the rear wheels with 300 2mm studs across the tyre surface, allowing the rear enough slippage to maintain the drift across the 40cm-thick ice.
This isn't the first time Skoda and Meaden have collaborated on a record attempt. In 2011, Meaden set a new land speed record for a forced-induction production car, taking a Skoda Octavia vRS to an impressive 365km/h on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in the United States.