But as a way of marketing new technology, especially one perceived to lack both speed and excitement, Volkswagen created the ID.R. It is the single most insane electric car ever made, Rimac included because it can rearrange the driver’s vital organs like nothing short of a Formula One car.
Actually, in a straight line, or at least from rest to 200kph, the leccy VW might have the legs on a current F1 car – it accelerates from standstill to 200kph in under five seconds. In the time your brain has acknowledged the violence of this AWD-assisted mayhem and sent a strongly worded message to your voice box indicating that some kind of vernacular outburst might be in order, you’ve hit the 240kph speed limiter. It’s the most accelerative car I’ve ever driven.
The most intimidating too. You enter through an access hatch in the roof and squidge down into the carbon tub. Cables and connectors that look the correct diameter for a power station sit a few inches from your right arm with warning stickers emblazoned with what looks like men being fried. The cabin and steering wheel is littered with buttons and switches that mostly don’t apply to the occasional driver like me.
The ID.R starts by powering the low-voltage circuit, then waiting for the high-power circuit to prime, accompanied by a whoosh of cooling fans - after that, you simply hit a button labeled ‘drive’. There are only one gear and two pedals.
This story is from the November 2019 edition of Top Gear South Africa.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the November 2019 edition of Top Gear South Africa.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Variety Show
We’re in a golden age of fast cars. This is going to be blast, unless, of course, there’s a slight medical emergency...
Heat Seekers
Welcome to the world of wind-in-your-hair motoring... presuming you have hair, that is...
Stage Craft
A GP circuit, all to ourselves... so what do we do? Head off and find some dirt roads. Because rally
Hot Wings
Move over, road-legal minnows, it’s time for the serious machinery to pound the circuit...
Drives - S'Charged Thunder
Let’s start with the name: Velar SVAutobiography Dynamic, or SVAD for short.
Circuit Breaker
Petrol A45 AMG takes on electric Model 3. Now, who turned out the lights?
The Need For Speed
Breaking the 480kph barrier has become an obsession for the hypercar manufacturers. Here’s the story of how Bugatti got there first
Man On The Moon
How TG faked our Moon landing – not with Stanley Kubrick, but with a trip to Cancún.
Voltswagen The People's EV?
Ten years down the line, will the answer to every car-buying question be “Just get an ID.3”?
Rover's Return
Carrying the Defender into the modern century is intimidating but those put off by Discovery’s looks can now stay within the brand.