Porsche has claimed a new Guinness World Record, using an electric Taycan GTS to drift continuously for 17.503km (10.876 miles) on ice.
A special frozen circuit in Levi, Finland – around 93 miles north of the Arctic Circle – was the venue for the world record attempt.
Completing 132 laps of the track in a controlled drift, the Taycan entered the record book for the ‘Longest Continuous Vehicle Drift on Ice (Electric Vehicle)’.
The achievement means that Porsche’s performance EV now holds a total of four different Guinness World Records.
Sliding into automotive history
Porsche Experience instructor Jens Richter was behind the wheel of the 700hp Taycan GTS for the record-breaking drift.
Porsche has operated its Ice Experience in Finland since 1996. It allows participants to learn how to control their sports car on frozen surfaces. A Hermann Tilke-designed circuit forms the centrepiece of the current location in Levi.
For the record attempt, however, Porsche created a bespoke 59-metre drift circuit. Commercially available Michelin spiked tyres were fitted to both axles of the all-wheel-drive Taycan GTS. A GPS monitor tracked the distance, G-forces and driver inputs throughout the drift run.
Frozen with determination
Richter’s first attempt saw the ice track begin to deteriorate faster than expected, so he was forced to stop after 81 laps.
Fortunately, once the track had refrozen, Richter was able to make another attempt. He perfectly balanced the car’s throttle and steering inputs for 46 minutes in total.
This gave Porsche and Richter the record-setting distance of 17.503 km (10.876 miles), beating the previous record of 14.809 km (9.202 miles). It’s also notably further than the 7.351 km (4.568 miles) achieved by a Skoda Kodiaq iV vRS in 2023.
Completing 132 laps of the frozen circuit fully drained the battery of the Taycan GTS. This compares to the official range of up to 390 miles.
The Taycan’s latest world record
Christian Lehwald, managing director of the Porsche Arctic Centre, said: “Our experiential marketing approach involves always trying out unusual things. In the Porsche Arctic Centre, we find exceptionally good conditions for drifting on ice.
“With the new Taycan GTS, we have one of the most powerful electric vehicles on the market. So we were pretty confident that we could break the world record with this combination and accepted the challenge”.
The ice drift adds to the Taycan’s existing haul of records, which includes the greatest altitude change by an electric car – achieved in 2023.
Back in 2020, another Porsche Experience instructor, Dennis Retera, drifted a Taycan for 42.171 km (26.205 miles) at the Hockenheimring in Germany.
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