Volkswagen wasn’t kidding around when it said it wanted to take on the record for fastest electric car on the annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb—that was obvious when it showed renderings of its “I.D. R” race car. But now the real car is ready to go, and Volkswagen said it’s faster than a Formula One car.
Another day, another reminder that our future is straight out of a sci-fi movie. This Volkswagen race car looks beamed in from a not-so-distant future where the rich zoom from place to place in electric supercars with glowing company logos while the rest of us choke on the air quality left by the gas guzzlers of…
If you’re not yet familiar with Rod Millen’s Leadfoot Festival, you really ought be. In the same vein as Goodwood’s Festival of Speed hillclimb, Rod Millen has crafted his own hillclimb in New Zealand on his own property, which he lovingly refers to as ‘Leadfoot Ranch’.
The Pikes Peak hillclimb is one of the most dangerous and challenging events in racing. The course is 12.4 miles long and climbs 4,700 feet to the summit of the mountain at over 14,000 feet above sea level. Volkswagen is making an all-electric race car to compete in the hillclimb next year.
Travis Tollett was amazing. I met him my first year at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 2010 and we have been friends since. He lost the ability to walk in a racing crash, and when he realized he couldn’t drive anymore, he started co-driving for his friends. At least he still went to the top of the mountain…
Last year, the Tesla Model S P90D shot up the 12.4-mile, 156-turn Pikes Peak International Hill Climb course in well under 12 minutes and set the record for the fastest “production” electric vehicle on the course. But this year, the long-doubted Faraday Future destroyed its time by more than 23 seconds.
“That escalated quickly.” I know it’s a cliché, albeit a fitting one for a hill climb race. But it’s all I could think about after our car—a salvage-title C7 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 street car transformed into a race car in just a few desperate weeks—not only survived the Pikes Peak Hill Climb but finished just one…
Here’s our man Robb Holland’s finished Pikes Peak salvage Corvette Z06. We’re disappointed he went so conservative on the front splitter, but otherwise it looks incredible.
I have spent most of my career helping to develop racecars. I have helped develop racecars for several manufacturers and top race teams. This, by far, has been the hardest, most stressful project I have ever done. The first challenge is the insanely short timeline to complete the build before the race. The second is…
My plan for this series was to break down the build of a Pikes Peak race car and make it nice and orderly. It’d start with buying a salvage donor car, designing a roll cage, then go through making carbon fiber parts and finish up with engine and performance upgrades before the race. Well, any plans of nice and orderly…
Last time you saw me, I had just picked up a brand new, salvage-titled Corvette Z06 and had less than three months to turn it into a Pikes Peak Hill Climb contender. I know you are all chomping at the bit to hear about all kinds of engine mods that will make 80 gazillion horsepower, but I have something more crushing…
It would be too easy to ask this question of any era, with oddities like the Chaparral 2J “sucker car” in the mix. So, I’ll ask it of today’s race cars: what’s the most incredible, ridiculous race car currently in use?
If you’re a petrolhead like me, then at some point in life you’ve driven past some clapped-out heap at the side of the road and dreamed of turning it into the most badass car on the planet. I’ve been there. Now that dream is real.
The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is the most prestigious mountain race in the world. Faraday Future is a car company(?), or at least a company that aims to make cars. Now the two will (?) meet this year in competition.
After owning a host of the usual track rats, including an Elise, an Exige, an Atom, and a Westfield kit car, Dennis Palatov figured that he could improve upon the superlight track-warrior. So, he started making his own kits, including one Pikes Peak-worthy beast that accelerates from 0-60 mph in 1.8 seconds.
What’s the best way to follow up winning the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans? Winning the 100th anniversary Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is pretty far up the list. That’s what Porsche 919 driver Romain Dumas did a week after Le Mans, and his bone-shakingly rough PPIHC onboard video is simply unreal.
Two weeks after redefining my standard for batshit crazy at the Isle of Man TT, I found myself sitting at the foot of Pikes Peak, about to blast off up the hill to try to best the record for front-wheel-drive vehicles. And not kill myself in the process.
