The Nevera has been lighting up the performance world since it made its debut. The Crotian firm’s latest hypercar has been lauded for its incredible performance. Now Rimac reset the reversing record, just for the fun of it. 

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Quick Reminder

The Rimac Nevera already holds several acceleration records (as you can read by clicking this link) but all of them for going forward. The all-electric hypercar has just over 1 400 kW of power on tap from four electric motors. This output allows for truly exceptional acceleration. Among its impressive stats is a 0-100 km/h time of 1,82 seconds and an 8,26 second quarter mile. 

New Record

This week Rimac reset the reversing record, as witnessed by the folks from Guinness World Records. This means the Nevera now holds the title for the fastest speed in reverse. The Nevera was driven to a top speed of 275,74km/h. The run was achieved at the Automotive Testing Papenburg facility in Germany. Darren Manning set the previous record of 165,08 km/h in 2001 driving a Caterham 7.

Most cars would be limited by the ratio of reverse gear. However, the drivetrain of the Nevera has no gears. The four individual motors either go backwards or forwards. This means the car can go as fast in reverse as aerodynamics, and the driver’s nerve, allow.

In Their Own Words

Matija Renic, chief program engineer: “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 (241 km/h) but we didn’t have much of an idea how stable it would be – we were entering unchartered territory.”

Goran Drndak, Rimac test driver: “On the run itself, it definitely took some getting used to. 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. Despite it being almost completely unnatural to way the car was engineered, Nevera breezed through yet another record.”