A trip of 17.5 kilometers is enough for a place in the Guinness Book of Records, where Porsche is now listed for the world's longest drift on ice.
Porsche has set a new Guinness World Record for the world's longest drift on ice with an electric car. The electric Taycan GTS covered 17,503 kilometers in a so-called 'controlled skid' on an ice rink in Finland.
The record attempt took place on January 14, 2025 at the Porsche Arctic Center in Levi, Finland. About 150 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle.
Porsche Experience instructor Jens Richter sat behind the wheel of the factory-original Taycan GTS.
The German brand writes this in a press release .
The first attempt had to be aborted after 11 kilometers when the track became more worn than expected under the extreme conditions.
– Under the extreme continuous load of the drifting Taycan, the ice track deteriorated faster than expected, says Jens Richter.
The second attempt was successful. The team switched to shorter studs on the tires and took advantage of the falling temperatures as darkness fell.
Jens Richter managed to keep the Taycan GTS in a controlled drift for 17,503 kilometers or 132 laps. He used only the accelerator and steering wheel to control the car.
With this distance in the bank, he secured the world's longest drift on ice with an electric car, surpassing the previous record of 14,809 kilometers.
– With our new title on ice, the Taycan has once again proven its driving abilities. Even when going sideways, says Jens Richter.
– And this time even with all-wheel drive. That the Taycan GTS can be controlled so well, even in extreme conditions, says a lot about its excellent chassis and balanced performance, says the instructor
To measure the distance accurately, the car was equipped with an advanced GPS unit. It not only documented the short distance, but also recorded the instructor's actions and behavior behind the wheel. Such as steering wheel movements, acceleration and braking, as well as the G-forces that affected the car.
The record attempt was supervised by an official judge from Guinness World Records, Carl Saville. After a successful attempt, he presented the record certificate to Jens Richter and Christian Lehwald, Managing Director of the Porsche Arctic Center.
– Our experience-based marketing approach always involves trying out unusual things. At the Porsche Arctic Center we find exceptionally good conditions when operating on ice.
"With the new Taycan GTS, we have one of the most powerful electric cars on the market. So we were pretty sure that we could break the world record with this combination and accepted the challenge," says Christian Lehwald.
The Porsche Experience team had created a circle with a diameter of 59 meters, which the car stayed within, for the record attempt.
The Taycan GTS was equipped with standard Michelin winter tires with one-millimeter long studs on both axles.
BMW set the world's longest drift in general back in 2018. And the distance hasn't actually been beaten since. Read more about it here .