Announced by police-like sirens and an eerie whine, Volkswagen’s I.D. R might’ve not been the most sonorous machine to grace the 2018 Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, but it was the fastest. Looking more space-age than just about anything to ever summit the famous mountain — and that includes the wild creations from Monster Tajima and Rhys Millen. This wing-laden rocket shows the value of both downforce, as well as a powerplant that doesn’t require oxygen — which is quite sparse at the top of the 14,114-feet peak.

Warning: Lots of appropriate profanity in the above footage.

The massive diffuser hurls dust and debris into the air and allows the winged prototype to carry speed through faster bends like few have before, even Sebastien Loeb, who, in 2013, set the fastest record in his 3.2-liter twin-turbo Peugeot 208. Since then, nobody had been able to crack the searing 8:13.878 run, though Le Mans-ace Romain Dumas certainly tried.

Dumas’ History at Pikes Peak

During the last two years, it was Dumas who had turned the greatest number of heads in his turbocharged Normas. The 2016 car, a Norma M20 RD, boasted 450 horsepower from a force-fed Honda K20A weighing in at just 1,350 pounds. The following year, a revised Norma RXX RD propelled him up the mountain with even more grunt. Thanks to new engine maps and a larger turbocharger, the RXX RD deployed some 600 horsepower, which helped compensate for an additional 350 pounds; the body was lengthened and widened to provide even more downforce.

Their exotic looks, wild behavior, and searing speed were what drew eyes, but their speeds were what wrote the headlines. Both years, Dumas took the victory — 8:51.445 and 9:05.672 in 2016 and 2017, respectively. However, the records, as impressive as they were, were still well off of Loeb’s overall record.

As Loeb enjoyed Peugeot’s backing that year, he could be said to have enjoyed an advantage in equipment, at least until this year. When Dumas returned for 2018, he brought Volkswagen along with their newest EV racer. Now armed with factory backing and an electric motor, he stood a good chance of dethroning the King of the Mountain.

The last time a Volkswagen car entered the event, it didn’t end so well. In 1987, Jochi Kleint’s twin-engined Golf was within spitting distance of crossing the finish line first before retiring with suspension failure, which is never good for morale. To recover from this low point in the company’s history, it brought in a selection of clever engineers to build the new car, named the I.D. R, as light and as powerful as possible.

The I.D. R came suited perfectly for the conditions. Four-wheel drive assisted in administering the instantaneous grunt through the numerous hairpins. All the aerodynamic grip of an LMP car gave the car a definite edge on the dirty surface; no car could brake later than the I.D. R. One could argue, its greatest strength is the electric motor, which isn’t severely affected by the thin air near the summit. As efficient as turbocharged engines are at altitude, they still rely on a steady intake charge to make power.

Analyzing the basic stats, the I.D. R doesn’t seem all that incredible. At 2,425 pounds, it’s almost twice the weight as Dumas’ 2016 car, though that’s understandable. Simply put, current batteries weigh more than a combustion engine producing the same amount of power. The 670 horsepower the I.D. R’s two motors (one to handle each axle) make isn’t all that much, compared to some cars which have raced Pikes Peak.

However, the I.D. R aimed to make the most of the thrust available. By combining a slippery body with astounding aerodynamic effects, the I.D. R was able to reduce drag while generating immense downforce — even at the peak where air is immensely thin and downforce harder to come by. That said, Dumas had to trust the grip generated by those wings, and with no runoff area whatsoever, it took faith to put in the performance he did.

The Run

As testing is strictly limited prior to the event, with drivers only able to cover thirds of the course at a time, Dumas never was able to get a clean run through all 156 corners in succession before race day.

His plan was to push in Sector 1 and eke out a gap where the car had a comfortable downforce advantage. Sector 2 was complicated somewhat by unhelpful weather halfway up the mountain, where the cloud layer had left some moisture on the road and the fog limited visibility, causing him to drive conservatively. Entering the final third of the course, Dumas extended himself once again — eyeing the lap timer letting him know only two minutes remained between him and his target time.

The traits amounted to a new all-time record — obliterating Loeb’s former record by a full 16 seconds. Dumas’ new record of 7:57.148 will take another serious manufacturer’s involvement and resources to beat.

There’s a good reason (other than demolishing records) for why the German marque decided to get involved. Volkswagen adopted a practical aim regarding their charging technology: the goal being to charge the car as quickly as possible with minimal environmental impact. The time was specified by the rules. In case the race was suspended, it had to be possible to completely charge the car through the generators at the base of Pikes Peak in under 20 minutes. Clearly, there are some real-world applications in mind here.

Since Pikes Peak is one of the last no-holds-barred events in the world of motorsport, it is one of the few which showcases new and innovative forms of technology. Seeing a manufacturer dedicate the time and resources to produce such a spectacular car, and witnessing a driver with the talent and the trust in the machinery to get the absolute most of everything, is a rare treat that even those bored by racing cars can’t help but appreciate. Plus, with the clouds rolling over the course like a river of thick, airborne pea soup, the 2018 Pikes Peak International Hillclimb certainly lived up to its moniker of “Race to the Clouds.”