Last week it was Bugatti beating the record for the world's fastest production car at 304.77mph and this week VW in their electric ID R have broken yet another record. After Pikes Peak, Goodwood Hillclimb and the Nurbrugring Nordschliefe, VW have taken a red ID R up the Tianman Shan Big Gate Road in China in a new record time of 7 mins 38.5 seconds. With 99 corners and a total distance of 6.776 miles and Romain Dumas again piloting the 670bhp electric beast, the current record set in a Range Rover Sport P400e of 9 mins 51 secs had no chance at all. VW have not indicated what their next test will be, I think getting around the M25 as quickly as possible. Whilst on the topic of electric cars, the Porsche Taycan is currently the fastest production electric car around the Nurburgring with a time of 7 mins 24 secs, but Elon Musk has challenged them to a duel. Next week, a Tesla Model S P100D will attempt a timed lap of the Nurburgring to knock Porsche off of their metatphorical 'high horse'. The Taycan has been revealed in the last few days to have 700bhp so good luck to Tesla beating that.
The Frankfurt Motor Show is this week and this means there are a lot of new models shown for the first time. The Lamborghini Sian which I talked about last week has received a new name in the Sian FKP 37 which tributes the late Ferdinand K Piech, born in 1937. This name will be on the nameplate of the car, however it will be known as a Sian. BMW have shown to the public for the first time the new BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe which, like every 8 Series, looks absolutely stunning. It will go on sale in the UK this September with the choice of either a straight six or a V8. Sticking with BMW, to an extent, we have the new Alpina B3 Biturbo Touring which is Alpina’s vision of what would happen if BMW made an M3 estate, fitted with the 6 cylinder engine and adding a twin turbocharged set up to produce 463bhp and Alpina say it will be good for 186mph which would make it one of the fastest estate cars on the market. Alpina will begin taking orders in early 2020. BMW have confirmed that they will be working on making a successor to the now 41-year old BMW M1 as signature designs of the M1 were found in the new M Next Vision concept. The M1 signature double rear shield feature is shown to be in the design as well as the rear engine cover which is similar to the original car. However due to the radical and beautiful design of the concept, BMW will likely never put it into production as they tend not to make the beautiful concepts, more rather they would hide them in their museum. Mercedes, in another collaboration with luxury manufacturer Maybach, have come to the show with a luxury edition of their GLS SUV. At a price of £150,000, it will be produced to rival the Bentley Bentayga, Range Rover Vogue SV Autobiography and the Rolls Royce Cullinan. And at half the price of the Cullinan and all of the luxury, I know my choice. The Frankfurt Motor Show in conclusion provided a lot of interesting, important and unique cars for the future of motoring, some of which I hope to see in the near future.
Porsche have had a habit of taking it's hardest charging models and giving them the prestigious 'RS' badge. RS, standing for RennSport, has been a pinnacle of Porsche since the 2.7 Carrera RS of 1973 first wore the RS badge for road cars. Since then there have been many cars to wear the RS badge, and all of them were 911s. There's been the 993, 996, 997 and 991 generation of GT3 that have worn the badge as well as the 993, 996, 997 and 991 generation of GT2. These have been the only cars that have worn the RS badge, until now. Spotted at the Nürburgring last week was a modified version of the new 718 Cayman GT4 featuring the bonnet air intakes of the 991 GT2 RS, a lowered stance and a strange looking rear wing. Porsche have not yet ruled out an RS version of this generation GT4 and as the Clubsport has already been released so this could be the RS we've been waiting for. If it is, it has been predicted to have 500hp there or thereabouts and with the 4.0 flat 6 from the Porsche 911 GT3, it could be one of the fastest track day cars around.
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