Golf GTI

Make
Volkswagen
Segment
Hatchback

There's no shortage of automakers vying for lap records at the Nürburgring, but it's the members of the Volkswagen Group that have been claiming the bragging rights in each category. And now the Volkswagen brand itself is gunning for another.

The German automaker has announced plans to take its ID R prototype to the Green Hell, where it will attempt to take the lap record for electric vehicles. And considering what the sleek, high-tech, battery-powered prototype and its star driver have accomplished so far, we're left with little doubt that it will succeed.

The VW ID R was built to tackle the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, which it accomplished last summer when Romain Dumas finessed the machine up the Rocky mountain to cross the line in a record 7:57.148, becoming the first driver of any vehicle of any kind to complete the course in under eight minutes.

Now the same two-time Le Mans winner will take the electric prototype to the Nordschleife in pursuit of another trophy. VW will be fine-tuning the aero package over the course of the coming months before undertaking the record attempt next summer.

To take the EV lap record, VW will have to beat the 6:45.9 set by the Nio EP9 two years ago. Fortunately it has considerable expertise to draw on to help get it there. Volkswagen's own Golf GTI Clubsport once set the front-drive lap record (before losing it to the Honda Civic Type R). Porsche's 919 Evo owns the outright lap record record at 5:19.546, and has over the past few years been trading bragging rights with sister-brand Lamborghini for the fastest street-legal car to hustle around the track. And various Skoda and Seat products have also claimed lap records in their own categories.