Audi RS6 sets new ice-speed record

There was more good news for owners of bombastically quick super-saloons stationed in iced-off corners of the globe with a penchant for speed: an Audi RS6 has set a new ice-speed record.

Finnish tyre manufacturer Nokian Tyres equipped a previous generation Audi RS6 with a set of studded winter tyres - measuring a whopping 20in in size - and stormed a really big and really cold bit of lake in Finland's Gulf of Bothnia. It's really ruddy cold up there.

See more pics of the Audi RS6 setting a new world record on ice

Nokian's Audi RS6 - itself packing 572bhp and four-wheel-drive and a little bit of sheer terror - made two passes of the 7.5-mile untreated ice surface within the hour at "extreme speeds"; when travelling in this spirited manner, the RS6 was doing over 93 metres per second, with the studs on the tyres ploughing the ice 43 times per second.

The final top speed? Driver Janne Laitinen - who secured Nokian's last world record in the same spot - managed to hit 208.602mph (335.7km/h), which smashes his previous top speed... by 2.6mph. At one point during the run, Nokian's very own ‘Iceman' hit 211mph. Probably best not to remind him to keep the tyres warm though, as we suspect he knows what he's doing.

Have a watch of the video below, and click through the gallery for pictures from the record-breaking run. Mr Juha Kankunnen, are you and your Bentley SS paying attention? Over to you...