Rimac Nevera breaks Guinness World Record for... going in REVERSE at 171mph

As the new wave of electric hypercars look to continue their rich vein of form in breaking record after record, the Rimac Nevera has now furthered its list of achievements by driving fast enough to turn back time! We jest, though only just: the Nevera has set a new Guinness World Record... for the fastest recorded speed in reverse at 171.34mph.

This shatters the previous record of 102.58mph, which stood for 22 years and was set by a Caterham 7 Fireblade.

Madness, right? In a stunt that strikes a balance between satirical and downright phenomenal, Rimac has decided to set new records for fun by guiding a Nevera ‘Time Attack Edition’ to a world record by heading really, really very quickly in the other direction. No doubt next on the record hit list is a sideways speed attempt to complete the triumvirate.

The test was conducted at the Automotive Testing Papenburg facility in Germany, which incidentally is also where the Nevera broke over 20 other acceleration and braking records in just one day, including the magical 256mph top-speed run.

Nevera chief program engineer, Matija Renic, said: "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. The aerodynamics, cooling and stability hadn’t been engineered for travelling backwards at speed, after all.

"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 but we didn’t have much of an idea how stable it would be – we were entering unchartered territory."

Test driver Goran Drndak added: "You’re facing straight out backwards 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.

"You’re moving the steering wheel so gently, careful not to upset the balance, watching for your course and your braking point out the rear-view mirror, all the while keeping an eye on the speed."

Speaking of speed, Rimac - which also holds a majority stake in Bugatti - also set an outright Nürburgring electric car lap record of seven minutes and five seconds with the Nevera earlier this year. For some perspective, that’s eight seconds quicker than a Porsche 918 Spyder. Blimey.

This - and the reverse record - was of course achieved courtesy of the Nevera’s unique drivetrain, which consists of four liquid-cooled electric motors and a 120kWh battery. The result is a peak of 1,914bhp and 1,740 lb ft of torque.

The single-gear set-up also means the sprint from 0-200mph is dispatched in under 11 seconds. Rimac claims this translates to an 8.25-second quarter-mile time, which could just be enough to give Dominic Toretto and his Dodge Charger a run for their money. Judging by its ferocious turn of reverse-pace, Rimac could just send the Nevera back to 2001 to find out...