hillclimb – Pulpaddict

Porsche Taycan sets new benchmark at Shelsley Walsh

The all-electric Porsche Taycan has claimed two records at the world’s oldest motorsport venue.

In the hands of journalist Dan Prosser, the Taycan Turbo S Sport Turismo set the fastest times in both the Series Production Electric Vehicle and Estate Car classes at Shelsey Walsh Hill Climb in Worcestershire.

The 762 PS Taycan recorded a time of 31.43 seconds over the challenging 0.57-mile course, breaking the previous estate car record of 32.41 seconds, achieved with an Audi RS 6 Performance in 2016.

The Taycan then set an all-new record at the venue for production electric vehicles. In fact, it came within a second of the overall electric car record of 30.46 seconds, set by an electric single-seat Formula E race car in 2018.

In order to qualify for the road-car record, the Taycan remained as it left the factory in Zuffenhausen, Germany, right down to its road-biased Pirelli P Zero tyres.

Only a ‘beam breaker’, to accurately record the time of the run, and number stickers marked it out.

Underlining the road-going specification of the car, Dan drove the Taycan to Shelsley Walsh from his home on the day of the event.

Hill climbs are one of the earliest forms of motorsport, and Shelsley Walsh is the oldest motorsport venue in the world to still run events on its original course, having first been used in 1905.

The 914-metre course snakes its way up a rural hillside, and over that distance climbs by 100m.

It gives the course an average gradient of more than one in 10 – and at points it’s steeper still, up to 1:6.24.

At just 3.7-metres wide – narrower than a typical two-way road – and with little run-off area, the course demands precision driving. These factors combine to make hill climb racing particularly thrilling and addictive for competitors and spectators alike.

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Wicked Audi R8 Hillclimb Car has 2.0-Liter Engine

Audi R8 Hillclimb Car

Adding displacement is great. But as Lotus founder Colin Chapman knew, subtracting weight can be an equally potent trick.

In American enthusiast circles, it’s popular to talk about how there’s no replacement for displacement. And while Ma Mopar has basically made an entire company based around jamming the biggest engine possible into everything it makes, displacement isn’t the only way to make speed. As Lotus founder Colin Chapman knew, subtracting weight can be an equally potently recipe. That’s the strategy Keith Murray employed with his Audi R8 hillclimb car — and the results are nothing short of spectacular.

In place of the the eight or ten pot Ingolstadt installed at the factory, in this featherweight, power comes from a heinously stoked 2.0-liter mill. As the description on YouTube states, the unit is “sort of an hybrid between the 2.0 L ALT 20v aluminum block with a 16v ABF head from a Mk3 Golf,” and thanks to a Garret HTA turbo, the force-fed engine is producing a whopping 650 horsepower. For the record, that’s about 50 more than any flavor of the R8 pumps out in factory spec, even if the engine note isn’t as robust.

The best part of the engine swap, of course, is the weight savings, and as you’d expect, it was tremendous. All told, this purpose-built beast tips the scales at just over 2,100 pounds, which is crazy considering that stock versions of the supercar range from 3,594 to 3,913 pounds. Having driven the R8, and experienced warp speed of launch control, I can’t even fathom have frightfully quick this machine must feel, and watching Murray rip up the circuit at Osnabruck Bergrennen is pure joy. This baby looks like a slot car!

Of course, the dyno runs at the start of the clip are there own flavor of awesome, and it’s wild to see just how little room that 2.0-liter motor takes up in the engine bay. Unfortunately, this car hasn’t raced since 2019, but given the amount of work that went into the build, and the fact that the world — knock on wood — seems to be getting somewhat back to normal, I’d expect we’ll see lots more of it in the future. So what do you think? Is swapped R8 a sacrilege or a masterpiece. Hit me up and let me know!

Photos: YouTube

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Former S3 IMSA Car Becomes 550-HP RS 3 Pikes Peak Climber

Audi RS 3 Pikes Peak

Piloted by Robb Holland, RS 3 dubbed “The Sledgehammer” brings 550 horses to reclaim front-wheel drive record at Pikes Peak.

Audi is no stranger to Colorado’s Pikes Peak. After the end of Group B rallying in the mid-Eighties, the ur-Quattro and Sport Quattro both took on the 12.42-mile climb into the clouds, smashing records and scoring trophies along the way. Audi even sent up a TTS with autonomous technology in 2010 to prove such tech could make the climb up and down the famous course in the first place.

In more recent times, Robb Holland wields an Audi of his own for Pikes Peak, an RS 3 dubbed “The Sledgehammer.” Hoonigan AutoFocus‘s Larry Chen spent some time at this year’s gathering to learn more about Holland’s Audi, and all that goes into taking it up the mountain.

Audi RS 3 Pikes Peak

“It was an S3,” said Holland. “Full all-wheel drive; that’s how it ran in IMSA. Then, we converted it to front-wheel drive because we set the front-wheel drive record in the TT RS, the one that we won the 25 Hours of Thunderhill with. Brought it here, set the record. Then, two years later, Acura brought their full factory effort, and took the record from us by six seconds.”

The conversion to front-wheel drive also turned the now-RS 3 into an Unlimited-class car. Though it is outclassed by everyone else in said class, Holland’s main goal is to take back the record from Acura. In 2020, they fell three seconds short, due to the bumps.

Audi RS 3 Pikes Peak

“Right now, this is the two-liter motor,” said Holland. “We’d love to run the 2.5-liter […] But for right now, we’ve developed this as a 550-horsepower– it works. It’s designed to work at Pikes Peak. It’s designed to work at altitude.”

To put all the power to the ground, Pirelli Supersofts handle the task at hand. Since it’s already cool in the mornings, though, tire warmers bring them up to a piping hot 200 degrees. That said, the higher the elevation, the harder it is to keep the tires warm. Thus, the softer compound.

Audi RS 3 Pikes Peak

“The guys at Bluewater Performance, who built this car […] they wanted a car that was closer to their customer cars,” said Holland, “as opposed to some one-off prototype or whatever. It’s worked out really, really well. It just goes to show how far you can push a street car, and the level of performance you can get out of it.”

Images: Larry Chen (screenshots by author)

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Cameron Aubernon

Cameron Aubernon’s path to automotive journalism began in the early New ’10s. Back then, a friend of hers thought she was an independent fashion blogger.

Aubernon wasn’t, so she became one, covering fashion in her own way for the next few years.

From there, she’s written for: Louisville.com/Louisville Magazine, Insider Louisville, The Voice-Tribune/The Voice, TOPS Louisville, Jeffersontown Magazine, Dispatches Europe, The Truth About Cars, Automotive News, Yahoo Autos, RideApart, Hagerty, and Street Trucks.

Aubernon also served as the editor-in-chief of a short-lived online society publication in Louisville, Kentucky, interned at the city’s NPR affiliate, WFPL-FM, and was the de facto publicist-in-residence for a communal art space near the University of Louisville.

Aubernon is a member of the International Motor Press Association, and the Washington Automotive Press Association.