Croatian electric hypercar manufacturer Rimac has set a Guinness World Record for the fastest car traveling in reverse with a speed of 275.75km/h while driving backward. The Rimac Nevera electric hypercar already holds the record for the fastest production electric car traveling forward.
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The test took place on 7 October at a facility in Germany, with Guinness World Records witnessing the event so it can be verified as an official world record. The new benchmark is more than 110km/h faster than the previous record which was 165.08km/h set by Darren Manning in 2001 driving a petrol-powered Caterham Fireblade sports car.
Setting the new record in the Rimac Nevera electric hypercar was 22-year-old test driver Goran Drndak. With only one gear for forward motion, the Nevera—which also holds the production-car acceleration record of 1.81 seconds for 0-100 km/h—left the engineering team wondering what the hypercar could accomplish in reverse. Nevera Chief Program Engineer, Matija Renic, said in a statement:
“It occurred to us during development that Nevera would probably be the world’s fastest car in reverse, but we kind of laughed it off. But then, we started to talk about how fun it would be to give it a shot. Our simulations showed that we could achieve well over 150mph [241km/h] but we didn’t have much of an idea how stable it would be – we were entering unchartered territory.”
Renic went on to reveal that the aerodynamics, cooling, and stability hadn’t been engineered for traveling backward at speed. Meanwhile, test driver Drndak explained that the record-setting drive was less than conventional, but that the vehicle was not difficult to control. He said:
“On the run itself, it definitely took some getting used to. You’re facing straight out backward watching the scenery flash away from you faster and faster, feeling your neck pulled forwards in almost the same sensation you would normally get under heavy braking.”
Setting records has become instinctual to Rimac; in 2023, the company set more than 20 records, the latest of which is the fastest reversing title. This includes beating Tesla in August to win the all-time lap record for electric vehicles at the renowned Nurburgring circuit in Germany.
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