Onboard with the I.D. R - and others

Volkswagen finally delivers the footage we've been waiting for...

Ask and ye shall receive. Just the other week we were deploring the lack of onboard footage from the I.D. R's record-breaking run at Pikes Peak, now Volkswagen gives us 'all angles' of the 7:57.148 hill climb. It even features a bit of "holy smokes!" American commentary to get you in the right frame of mind.

The real pleasure though, as we suspected, is the sight of Romain Dumas wrestling 680hp of all-wheel-drive electric car up the course. As before, Volkswagen treats us to the internal whine of the motors, although it's interesting to hear the track side commentators talk of 'hearing practically nothing' as it goes by. It was a similar score at Goodwood last weekend, where, of course, the car repeated its record-setting trick.

We won't argue with the technical prowess required to pull off the I.D. R, nor its ability to thrash the pants off everything else in sight (although a balls-out 919 Evo run at FoS might have tested that scenario) but it does still seem like there are more evocative ways of getting up a hill. Like, for example, in a 616hp Flying Lizard Motorsport McLaren 12C with 23-time Pikes Peak winner Clint Vasholtz driving. Or in a Norma M20 SF PKP - the constructor Dumas used to represent - with Simone Faggiloli. Categorical reminders both that there is no school like the old school...