Porsche added its name to the Guinness World Records book by drifting a Taycan electric car for 42 km straight (26 miles).
No. That’s not a typo.
They used a Porsche Taycan RWD, which is a lot easier to drift than the all-wheel-drive version, but the version of the performance electric vehicle is only available in China.
The world record took 55 minutes to complete by driving in a watered drift circle:
“The scene of the world record was the Porsche Experience Centre (PEC) Hockenheimring. Porsche instructor Dennis Retera did 210 laps on the 200 metre-long drift circle without the front wheels ever pointing in the same direction as the curve: after 55 minutes the sideways expert had covered a total of 42.171 kilometres. By completing this marathon distance, Retera secured the world record for the longest continuous drift in an electric car. The average speed was 46 km/h. The record was achieved with the rear-wheel drive version of the Taycan, which is already on sale in China.”
As you can imagine, it’s extremely difficult to maintain a car drifting for such a long period of time.
Retera commented on his exploit:
“When the driving stability programmes are switched off, a powerslide with the electric Porsche is extremely easy, especially of course with this model variant, which is driven exclusively via the rear wheels. Sufficient power is always available. The low centre of gravity and the long wheelbase ensure stability. The precise design of the chassis and steering allows for perfect control at all times, even when moving sideways. Nevertheless, it was also very tiring for me to keep my concentration high for 210 laps, especially as the irrigated asphalt of the drift circuit does not provide the same grip everywhere. I concentrated on controlling the drift with the steering – this is more efficient than using the accelerator pedal and reduces the risk of spinning.”
Porsche shared several images of the world record drift, and a video is expected to be released shortly.
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