Can we set an electric car LAP RECORD in the BYD Seal?
I’m going to set an electric car lap time in this now between you and I that’s going to be a series production electric car track record here at Castle [ __ ] we have got the right tool for the job we got the byd seal Excellence all-wheel drive makes
523 brake horsepower does n to 62 in 3.8 seconds and that is super Saloon performance [Applause] Boom if you’re wondering who byd is the initial stand for build your dreams and this Chinese maker was founded in 1995 and makes everything from batteries to electric buses alongside its electric cars in late 2023 BD overtook Tesla to become the world’s biggest EV maker and
Hopes its scale can cool the Earth by 1° C but today it’s all about that zero emissions lap record so let’s head out for some sighting [Music] laps the first thing to say about this circuit is just how fast it is obviously it’s an old RAF Airfield and this is the Perimeter
Road so it’s just a big circle around the outside of an old Airfield 1.85 Mi really really quick nice smooth surface generally but there are a few lumps and bumps underlying sort of the surface especially in like bra braking zon stuff like that that can unsettle the car
And the circuit tends to fall away from you a bit and there’s not very much runoff here at all the seal has got a couple of things to help us out with that one of them is intelligent torque
Adaption control or itac for sure and that just helps juggle the torque and the power front to rear and side to side across the axles and just make sure the power is going down as cleanly as possible the other thing is we’ve got semi active suspension on this Excellence
All-wheel drive model and that’s constantly reacting to the road surface and just picking up on those lumps and bumps I mentioned and just trying to keep the car nice and stable Under the Skin the byd’s e platform 3.0 and an 82.5 KW Cobalt free battery called
Blade there’s also 50/50 weight distribution a double Wishbone front axle and a multi-link rear entry-level design spec gives you 230 KW performance with 354 M of range our tops spec Excellence all-wheel drive is just £3,000 more at 48,6 195 it still
Has 323 Mi a range but crucially adds all-wheel drive and has 390 KW byd is so proud of the 3.8 second n to 62 time it’s put it on the boot lid now it’s a nice refined car it’s really weird to be on a circuit and have such a quiet relaxed
Feeling car rides nice and smoothly as well you can feel that suspension doing its thing keeping the body nice and flat but you’ve got this accelerator under my right foot that feels absolutely primed with energy very very fast car on a fast circuit and I think as I do my
Faster lapse I’m just going to have to feed in that power gradually and carry the momentum I think and just build up to this fast lap we have got Eco contact tires and they’re really good for range but not so good for grip at the limit so I’ve just got to moderate
That a little bit but yeah I’ve got all that power at my disposal so let’s see what we can do trying to keep my vision far ahead down this circuit car is moving pretty rapidly now already as we’re building up yeah I think the difference between being a little bit early
On the braks here and being a little bit too late it’s probably quite a narrow little window that’s just the uh emergency braking kicking in those brakes are going to keep just triggering those Hazard warning lights you can feel the itac system actually moving stuff around helping
Us to tuck into Corners here the brakes are having a little bit of a Grumble there but the hauling is down very nicely just nice and smooth through this bit cu the track Falls away from us
And again here just got a bit wide to deal with that adverse camber opening it out here coming back over ready for this very fast hammer down section look it’s quite quick we just still got
Quite a bit of a damp surface here that I have to watch just in those really deep breaking zones puts the power down really actually juggles went full to the floor there full acceleration they actually dealt with that really well overall really stable really
Smooth the steering’s nice and accurate as well so it feels like quite a look urious quick car when you get into it but actually over over the circuit it’s not fall into bits of to it’s actually turning in nicely getting the power down really nicely so if I can work
With this car bring all those kind of strengths to the FL we should get quite a good result here Castle Kum opened in 1950 and has a few Eco credentials of its own there’s a solar Farm in the infield and rather than create an all new racetrack this one’s
Been recycled from an old RAF base with those CER laps in the bank and the team from timing experts race Logic on hand it’s time to see what the byd seal can do I’ll do five laps
In total including an out laap and a cooldown lap then put our fastest time into the record books but just as we get set up the weather closes in making it Race Against Time to grab some laps while we
Can so it’s just started to rain a little bit here so um made a start on the laps through the uh hammer down here really quick Corner hopefully it’s not got any greasier seems to actually have a decent amount of bite and quite like the way the Tails moving around into that
Corner oh overcooked it a little bit there is that going to affect my [Applause] time great again there we go ah I need more more wipers more wipers now oh [Applause] [Applause] quite like how adjustable is you can flick it into that chicane and get the back moving around
Yeah I think that’s it 132 it looks like that’s the best I can do but after a short break the weather improves and I grabbed the chance to do one last [Music] lap fastest bit here through this late Apex going up to aen rise this is called where
The car gets quite unsettled let thread it over here aim for the traffic lights hard on the brakes early in but quite a late Apex as well so just keep it tucked in and then down towards this first chane
Here as late as we dare on this bit just roll off a little bit earlier than the last lap to get it in get back on the power as the track Falls away into the chicane
Here over the curb there to hug this corner short on the lap as much as we can and then we’ll back down to the final Corner before the start finish straight here so it all comes down
To one last squeeze of the brakes one last Apex and one last Full Throttle Dash to the finish a glance at the race logic data shows we’ve done it our time of 1 minute 31 seconds is more
Than 1.5 seconds up on our previous best and sets the series production electric car record here at Castle [Applause] [ __ ] it hasn’t all been plain sailing the weather hasn’t played ball our Eco tires are designed for maximum range not minimum lap time and there’s no escaping that the
Luxurious seal EV is heavier than a petrol Super Saloon it’s a car designed for Rapid driving with refinement not Flatout racing that said having so much of its weight took down low between the axles and so little hanging over the nose keeps it balanced under breaking and helps
It turn in much more eagerly than expected it also puts its power down fuss-free thanks to a combination of all-wheel drive and the clever itac system that constantly juggles power Around so there you have it 1 minute 31 seconds from the byd seal is the series production all electric record at Castle [ __ ] Oh
#BYD #BYDSeal #LapRecord
Watch as CAR magazine goes for Castle Combe circuit’s electric lap record in a BYD Seal! Our reviews show the Seal is a capable and relaxing road car but what’s it like on track? Watch the video and you could WIN £5000 by entering out BYD prize draw at https://byd.carmagazine.co.uk/
Chapters:
0:00 – Intro
0:45 – Who is BYD?
1:22 – Sighting laps at Castle Combe
2:28 – BYD Seal stats, power, price, range & 0-62mph
3:12 – BYD Seal impressions
4:01 – Initial practice runs
6:07 – Fast laps
10:16 – Did we get the record?
Want to stay up to date with CAR’s videos? Subscribe here:
https://www.youtube.com/user/CARmagazineTV/?sub_confirmation=1
Read the full review here: https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-reviews/byd/seal-ev/
Get the latest reviews and news from CAR magazine here:
http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/
Follow us at:
X: @CARmagazine
Instagram: carmagazine
Facebook: CAR Magazine
CAR is the online edition of CAR magazine, Britain’s oldest monthly motoring mag. It’s the UK’s best and fastest online motoring news service, providing a constant stream of scoops, first drives and official pictures of new cars.
With thanks to Racelogic, Adrian Flux Specialist Insurance and Castle Combe
