How A Shop In The UK Beat The Nürburgring's Van Lap Record In A Diesel Volkswagen
None of Jalopnik's full-time staffers have kids, and yet, we're still about as pro-van as a transportation site gets. I mean, what can I say? They're just so darn practical. Maybe you don't put much stock in Nurburgring lap times, but van lap times? Now that's some Very Important News. For the last several years, the record to beat was Guy Martin's time of 9:28 in a 700-horsepower Ford Transit Super Van. Now, that record has been beaten, too, and Road & Track recently talked with Dan Silvester, the guy who recently lapped the 'Ring in 8:27. In a diesel Volkswagen van.
As you can imagine, Silvester's Volkswagen Caddy is a far cry from the stock Ford Transit that Sabine Schmitz set a time of 10:12 on "Top Gear" back in 2005. Still, it isn't quite as powerful as you might assume. There's no electric powertrain yanked out of a wrecked Tesla or supercharged V8. Instead, it's just a 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel engine that makes 356 hp and 470 pound-feet of torque. The modifications required to turn it into a Nürburgring record-holder came from Darkside Developments, a British tuning shop that specializes in diesels. As Road & Track put it:
At a glance, the Volkswagen Caddy is a utilitarian work van, but Darkside Developments's expertise turned the part-VW Touran, part-VW Golf machine into a proper track car. Upgrades range from a Wavetrac limited-slip differential up front and KW Clubsport suspension all around to a 4Motion AWD conversion kit from an Audi, Porsche Cayenne brakes, and the requisite bits of interior racing kit. In other words, it's a shell of its former self, much like the Ford Transit that Martin took into battle back in 2021.
Read more: These Supercars Lose Value So Quickly, They're Almost A Steal
According to Silvester, part of the reason you don't see more extensive aero mods on the outside of the van has less to do with keeping it anonymous and more to do with achieving a higher top speed. As he told Road & Track:
I don't know if it's just the shape of the van itself because it had plenty of power, and, if you put that power plant in a Golf, it'll probably do 160 mph. But the van just really didn't want to go much more. I think we got up to 140 mph on the back straight. We had no aero on the van at all either. We didn't put any splitter or a spoiler on it because we thought we wanted to use all the power we've got without causing too much drag, and we didn't want to ruin the profile of the van and keep it looking like a van.
Despite not being able to hit the top speed they may have liked, they still smashed Guy Martin's time by a full minute. That said, it doesn't technically count as a new official lap record because it was set on a public track day, and the lap time wasn't officially confirmed. They may have used a VBox system to time the lap, so there's no reason to believe Silvester didn't lap the 'Ring as quickly as he claims, but still. You have to jump through all the necessary hoops if your want your Nurburgring van lap record to be officially official.
It's also a fascinating interview, so be sure to head over to Road & Track to read the whole thing. Or just give them a click so Hearst knows you want to see more van content. Because, in a world full of SUVs, the car world deserves more van content. If you want more details on the build, you can also take a look at that here.
Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox...
Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
SUV drivers should pay more tax, Sadiq Khan told
Sir Sadiq Khan is under pressure to tackle 'car-spreading' by hitting bigger vehicles in London with even higher taxes and parking fees. In a motion passed by the London Assembly, the Mayor has been urged to write to the Government to demand higher vehicle excise duty for heavier vehicles and tighter restrictions on car sizes. Assembly members, 11 of 25 of whom are the Mayor's Labour allies, also urged him to write to councils across the capital to ask them to adopt higher parking fees for bigger cars – a policy some have embraced already. The motion blamed larger cars for clogging up London's streets, putting pedestrians at greater risk of injury or death and causing road surfaces to wear down more quickly. Elly Baker, the Labour assembly member who proposed it, said the capital's streets 'weren't designed for larger vehicles like SUVs'. She said: 'Their greater size, weight, and higher bonnets put vulnerable road users at greater risk, reduce available parking spaces, and cause more wear and tear on our roads. 'It's time we took sensible steps to manage the impact of oversized cars and ensure our streets remain safe and accessible for everyone.' A spokesman for the Mayor said on Friday: 'The Mayor, Transport for London and borough partners are working to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on our roads, by expanding the cycle network, making road crossings and junctions safer, reducing speed limits on our roads, and making larger vehicles like HGVs and buses safer. 'This year the Mayor will be refreshing his Vision Zero Action Plan, to restate his commitment to reducing road danger and responding to new and emerging risks on our roads'. The assembly's call comes after several English local authorities have proposed higher charges for larger or heavier vehicles, amid complaints they occupy more space, produce higher levels of pollution and take a bigger toll on road surfaces. Such charges have been proposed in Haringey, Bath, Oxford and Bristol, among other places, with many councillors taking a lead from Paris, where Left-wing French politicians have launched their own crackdown on SUVs. Sir Sadiq currently lacks the formal powers to introduce such charges himself but has said he is watching developments in the French capital closely. 'SUVs take up more space and we know there's issues around road safety, we know there's issues around carbon emissions and so forth,' he said in February. 'We know some councils in London are taking bold policies in relation to parking fees, in relation to your tickets and so forth. It's really good to work with those councils.' SUVs have grown in popularity in recent years, with many drivers favouring their higher seating position. They accounted for a third of all new car registrations in the UK last year, compared with just 12pc a decade earlier. SUVs are generally taller, wider and heavier than traditional cars, and less fuel-efficient. The increase in the size of cars has been described as car-spreading. However, Edmund King, the president of the AA, said it should be 'up to Londoners to choose the type of vehicle that best fulfils their needs'. He said: 'It is not really the role of the London Assembly to dictate what cars individuals should drive. 'Some larger families may well need bigger vehicles with more passenger seats, whereas a driver conducting most trips alone may well choose a city car. 'London's streets were developed around the horse and cart, so of course our infrastructure needs modernising to keep up with change.' A recent study found that pedestrians and cyclists are 44pc more likely to die if they are hit by an SUV or similar-sized vehicle rather than a traditional car. The analysis produced by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Imperial College London stated that the figure rises to 82pc for children. Meanwhile, research by the campaign group Transport & Environment has previously found the average width of cars in the UK was growing by about half a centimetre per year. A typical car was 180.3cm wide in 2023, up from 177.8cm just five years earlier.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
How A Shop In The UK Beat The Nürburgring's Van Lap Record In A Diesel Volkswagen
None of Jalopnik's full-time staffers have kids, and yet, we're still about as pro-van as a transportation site gets. I mean, what can I say? They're just so darn practical. Maybe you don't put much stock in Nurburgring lap times, but van lap times? Now that's some Very Important News. For the last several years, the record to beat was Guy Martin's time of 9:28 in a 700-horsepower Ford Transit Super Van. Now, that record has been beaten, too, and Road & Track recently talked with Dan Silvester, the guy who recently lapped the 'Ring in 8:27. In a diesel Volkswagen van. As you can imagine, Silvester's Volkswagen Caddy is a far cry from the stock Ford Transit that Sabine Schmitz set a time of 10:12 on "Top Gear" back in 2005. Still, it isn't quite as powerful as you might assume. There's no electric powertrain yanked out of a wrecked Tesla or supercharged V8. Instead, it's just a 2.0-liter four-cylinder diesel engine that makes 356 hp and 470 pound-feet of torque. The modifications required to turn it into a Nürburgring record-holder came from Darkside Developments, a British tuning shop that specializes in diesels. As Road & Track put it: At a glance, the Volkswagen Caddy is a utilitarian work van, but Darkside Developments's expertise turned the part-VW Touran, part-VW Golf machine into a proper track car. Upgrades range from a Wavetrac limited-slip differential up front and KW Clubsport suspension all around to a 4Motion AWD conversion kit from an Audi, Porsche Cayenne brakes, and the requisite bits of interior racing kit. In other words, it's a shell of its former self, much like the Ford Transit that Martin took into battle back in 2021. Read more: These Supercars Lose Value So Quickly, They're Almost A Steal According to Silvester, part of the reason you don't see more extensive aero mods on the outside of the van has less to do with keeping it anonymous and more to do with achieving a higher top speed. As he told Road & Track: I don't know if it's just the shape of the van itself because it had plenty of power, and, if you put that power plant in a Golf, it'll probably do 160 mph. But the van just really didn't want to go much more. I think we got up to 140 mph on the back straight. We had no aero on the van at all either. We didn't put any splitter or a spoiler on it because we thought we wanted to use all the power we've got without causing too much drag, and we didn't want to ruin the profile of the van and keep it looking like a van. Despite not being able to hit the top speed they may have liked, they still smashed Guy Martin's time by a full minute. That said, it doesn't technically count as a new official lap record because it was set on a public track day, and the lap time wasn't officially confirmed. They may have used a VBox system to time the lap, so there's no reason to believe Silvester didn't lap the 'Ring as quickly as he claims, but still. You have to jump through all the necessary hoops if your want your Nurburgring van lap record to be officially official. It's also a fascinating interview, so be sure to head over to Road & Track to read the whole thing. Or just give them a click so Hearst knows you want to see more van content. Because, in a world full of SUVs, the car world deserves more van content. If you want more details on the build, you can also take a look at that here. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Yahoo
Mercedes Electric Semi Truck Delivers Backwards Load To Break New World Record
This week Mercedes-Benz Trucks set a new record for driving a load over the road entirely in reverse, as well as a closed course record for continuous reversing. The driver, Marco Hellgrewe, described as a German Armed Forces officer and "truck enthusiast" was picked to reverse the brand new all-electric Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 to set the records, and absolutely delivered. The day began at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben where Marco pushed the truck in reverse for a new record of 124.7 kilometers without stopping. Once that record had been achieved, Marco drove out onto the public streets, still in reverse, and drove over 30 kilometers from Oschersleben to the new Daimler Truck Global Parts Center in Halberstadt. The key to breaking a new record in reversing a tractor trailer is taking your time and having a police escort. The 30 kilometer drive in reverse took around two hours to complete, meaning the truck was travelling at just under 10 miles per hour for the entirety of the journey. "For me, a big dream has come true: to drive a long distance in reverse on public roads with an all-electric truck and semitrailer. And even being able to do it with the electric flagship eActros 600 from Mercedes-Benz Trucks – which has now become my second home, so to speak," says Hellgrewe. Read more: These Are The Most Annoying Things About Your Cars This isn't the first time a reverse record has been broken in recent years, though it's probably the biggest and heaviest of the ones we have covered. Back in 2018 Audi and ABT Schaeffler built an electric RS3 that went 130 miles per hour in reverse, which was absolutely trounced by the Rimac Nevera in 2023 setting a reverse top speed of 171.34 miles per hour. The prior tractor trailer reverse distance record was set by an Irish farmer in 2017, running almost 21 kilometers backing up. Mercedes-Benz Trucks worked with the mayor of Halberstadt for this project with both parties seeking attention for road safety, electrification, and "truck driver image." Truck drivers are essential to the mechanics of everyday life, bringing the things we need to live from wherever they're made to wherever we are. The job is a tough one with long hours and challenging working conditions, and truckers are vital to any functional economy. The talent that it takes to drive a big rig in the tight confines of any European city must be commended, but to do the whole thing in reverse must be on a completely different level. I'm seriously impressed, how about you? Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
