Teenager Shatters Guinness World Record For Fastest Vehicle Slalom Aboard A Porsche 718 Spyder

The Guinness World Record for fastest vehicle slalom was shattered recently by 16-year-old American karting sensation Chloe Chambers, and she did it piloting a bone-stock 2020 Porsche 718 Spyder. Amassing more than seven years of karting experience, Chambers set a time of 47.45-seconds on August 21, 2020. It was good enough to beat the previous record of 48.11-seconds achieved by Jia Qiang in a Chevrolet Camaro back in 2019.

"I really enjoy driving, I think it's fun," said the bubbly Chambers. "It looks easy, but it's really not – to weave between 50 cones as fast as possible, trying to beat a record time and knowing I couldn't touch a single one for the run to count – I definitely felt the pressure."

Unlike other forms of racing, slalom demands an entirely new discipline. The key is finding the right balance and maintain sufficient momentum as the vehicle weaves between the cones. Pushing too hard may induce oversteer, while too much understeer will push the nose wide past the cones.

Professional surveyors measured the position between each of the 50 cones laid out on a small airfield in Solberg Airport, New York City using GPS. After a couple of warm-up runs, Chambers put on her bright turquoise sunglasses and boarded her GT Silver Metallic Porsche 718 Spyder for the record attempt. "Everything came together on my final run; the car worked beautifully, and I found the grip I needed. Thank you to my family and Porsche for supporting and believing in me," added Chambers.

Without a doubt, the 2020 Porsche 718 Spyder is the perfect car for the job. It has a mid-mounted naturally-aspirated 4.0-liter boxer-six producing 414 horsepower. Equipped with a brisk six-speed manual gearbox, it accelerates to 60 mph in 4.4-seconds. The 718 Spyder also has Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) with adaptive dampers and a lowered ride height.

"From the whole Porsche family we send our heartfelt congratulations – we're pleased to have been able to support Chloe with her ambitious record attempt and share her relief that it was successful," said Klaus Zellmer, President and CEO of Porsche Cars North America.