Skoda still holds the record for the fastest seven-seat SUV around the Nürburgring with the pre-facelift, diesel-fueled Kodiaq RS. The Czech automaker part of the Volkswagen Group traveled to Sweden last month and attempt to set a different type of record with another one of its many SUVs. The fully electric Enyaq in top-spec RS guise was put through its paces on a frozen lake to try and claim the record for the longest continuous drift on ice.
Evo magazine's Richard Meaden hopped behind the wheel of Skoda's first electric SUV and managed to go sideways for 4.56 miles (7.35 kilometers). The tail-happy adventure on a circle with a diameter of 60 meters (197 feet) took 15 minutes and 58 seconds to complete, covering the icy circle 39 times. At one point, the Enyaq RS reached a peak speed of 30.25 mph (48.67 km/h) while the lowest velocity was 19.66 mph (31.64 km/h).
The vehicle was completely stock, save for the Michelin Däckproffsen front and rear Nokian Hakkapelitta studded tires for the original 20-inch wheels for better traction on the frozen Stortjärnen lake. On January 19, at Krokom in central Sweden, Skoda and Evo's Meaden successfully improved last year's ice drift record set by Wang Dongjang who drifted a Subaru WRX for 3.87 miles (6.22 kilometers).
Skoda points out its Enyaq RS technically took down two records as Guinness has separate categories for "Longest Continuous Vehicle Drift on Ice" and "Longest Continuous Vehicle Drift on Ice (electric car)". No fewer than 18 hours of drifting were completed in the five days prior to the record-breaking run.
Meaden is no stranger to setting records driving a Skoda, having hit 227 mph (366 km/h) in August 2011 with a modified Octavia RS. The fastest Skoda ever had 600 horsepower on tap from a custom 2.0-liter gasoline engine that helped it reach an impressive speed at the Bonneville Salt Flats. To celebrate a decade since the achievement, the Mladá Boleslav-based automaker fully restored the car in 2021.
