The non-stop 17.5-km skid nets the electric saloon a highly specific Guinness World Record
Porsche Taycan GTS – drifting
Drifting. It’s not an easy skill to master, and the act of balancing steering and throttle to keep the back end sliding through even a single corner can be massively satisfying. But for nearly 11 miles in one go? We imagine Porsche Experience instructor Jens Richter is feeling rather pleased with himself after doing just that in a Porsche Taycan, setting a new record in the process.
Obviously, a low-grip surface helps here, which is why the record attempt took place at the Porsche Arctic Centre in the depths of northern Finland, well inside the Arctic Circle. The course was a perfect circle carved into the ice, 59 metres across, and the car was the updated GTS version of Porsche’s electric sports saloon, packing 596bhp (or 690bhp if you’re using the Launch Control function).
Porsche Taycan GTS – drifting
The only major change to the car was a set of commercially available spiked Michelin snow tyres, plus the fitment of a super-precise GPS tracker to measure not just the distance drifted but Richter’s inputs on the car.
After an aborted attempt saw Richter slide for a measly 11km – 6.8 miles – before the surface of the ice began to deteriorate beneath the Taycan’s tyres, the team waited until darkness fell – presumably at about 1pm in that part of the world in winter. Then, colder temperatures meant the ice would stay firm and slippery for longer.
Porsche celebrates Taycan GTS drift world record
132 laps and 17.503km – or 10.876 miles – later, an officially verified Guinness World Record belonged to the Taycan. It’s quite a niche record, mind – the longest uninterrupted drift for an electric car on ice. The old record, apparently, was 14.809km, or slightly over nine miles.
Still, overly specific accolades aside, it’s a good excuse to look at some pictures of a car getting extremely sideways in a gorgeous wintry landscape. Not that we really need an excuse.
The first full sentence spoken by an infant Mike was a review of the ride quality of a Volvo 850. It was “Daddy’s car goes bumpy-bump on a bumpy road,” so would probably need proofreading a bit, but it was a start.
