A speed of 294.8 kph might seem short of the figures that a Bentley Continental GT (321.65 kph) and the Audi RS6 (335 kph) have managed to clock on ice. But the Nissan GT-R has done something which the two cars haven’t i.e. doing it all in stock form.
Whereas the Bentley Continental GT with Finnish WRC champion Juha Kankkunen behind the wheel managed the feat with a rollcage, Nokian snow tyres and various aerodynamic tweaks to avoid the Bentley going ice-skating, the Audi RS6 driven by another Finnish driver Janne Laitninen managed to break the Bentley’s record running on Nokian snow tyres. What makes the Nissan’s performance applaudable is the fact that the Russian Nissan team apart from keeping the car completely stock, refused even the luxury of snow tyres. But with the thermometer reading -22 degrees, it was imperative that non-standard fuel was used to cope up with the extreme conditions.
Russian racing driver Roman Rusinov floored the Nissan GT-R on the frozen Baikal lake clocking a speed 294.8 kph. Rusinov said “Every moment you drive you should adjust the steering wheel, the slightest gust of wind makes the car lose the track. All 7 kilometres of the route you are fighting against the power of nature.”
This performance makes the Nissan GT-R the unofficial record holder for being the fastest car on ice in production form. Needs to be seen if the record is officially granted entry into the books or we have someone already chalking plans to crack it.
The video of the sprint should get you excited: