A Škoda Enyaq RS iV electric SUV broke two Guinness World Records by drifting around a frozen lake near Östersund, Sweden, for nearly 16 minutes.
The vehicle set the records for Longest Continuous Vehicle Drift on Ice and the Longest Continuous Vehicle Drift on Ice (Electric Car) by drifting around a circular course carved into the ice at Stortjärnen lake.
Škoda, a Czech subsidiary of Volkswagen, spent several days practicing the drift with different tire combinations, and settled on Däckproffsen 245/35-R20 event tires with 600 5mm studs on the front, and Nokian Hakkapelitta 255/45-R20 tires with 300 2mm studs on the rear.
Experienced racer and automotive journalist Richard Meaden drove the car for the record-setting run. The Enyaq circled the drift course 39 times in 15 minutes and 58 seconds, covering 4.568 miles. The drift was relatively slow, with the Enyaq running between about 20 and 30 mph.
“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 in a statement.
The British driver in 2011 set the Southern Californian Timing Association Land Speed Record for a 2.0-liter forced induction production car in a Škoda UK-built Octavia RS.
“Im incredibly proud to be part of a record-breaking team again 12 years on – who would have thought wed be here drifting an electric car on ice? It shows just how much the automotive world is changing, and how exciting it is too,” Meaden said.
