[Smitty11]

Car Magazine's European editor Georg Kacher reviewed the Taycan Turbo by getting a ride with Porsche’s chief engineer Stefan Weckbach.

Based on the article the Taycan Turbo comes with:

• 96 kWh lithium-ion battery that weighs 650kg.
• 212 bhp/221 lb-ft motor on the front axle.
• 402 bhp/406 lb-ft motor on the rear axle.
• It has 649 lb-ft of peak torque, or 738 lb-ft in the 10 second overboost window.
• 0-60 in just over 3 seconds and to 124 mph in less than 10 seconds.
• It can cruise to 162 mph for miles without the battery overheating.
• Standard air suspension (not on base car) and regenerative braking system that can be controlled on the steering wheel.
• 275/40 ZR20 tires
• All-wheel drive (rear drive for base car)

As for what it's like in the Taycan Turbo, here are some great lines from the review.

We leave Porsche’s Weissach test centre, strike out onto the road, and the very first g-force attack feels like a cocaine bomb that hits the brain before the nose.

In launch-control mode, it’s as though your eyeballs are being squeezed to the back of your skull. Porsche claims just over three seconds from take-off to 62mph, and to 124mph in sub-10 seconds. Acceleration is brutal enough to shred the driveline if it weren’t for the protective torque limiter, the two-speed transmission that can block first gear to prevent mechanical disintegration, and the electronic rear diff lock.

Genetically, this DNA is more closely related to the 992-generation 911 than the Panamera. In fact, the Taycan actually sports an even lower centre of gravity than its rear-engined brother, in large part because more than half a tonne of batteries are mounted low down and cooled by a liquid circuit integrated into the floorpan.

The chassis’ one de-merit is a lumpy ride, despite the potentially calming effect of the generous 2910mm wheelbase (shorter than a Panamera, longer than a Macan, much longer than a 911) and substantial kerbweight (estimated at just under 2100kg, which is in the Cayenne’s ball park). In so far as you can tell anything from the passenger seat, this ride leaves no doubt that the Taycan will handle like a true Porsche.

So what is the provisional verdict from this shaken and stirred front passenger? Well, the Taycan is good looking and solid as a rock even at ludicrous speeds, a remarkable high-performance GT that can’t wait to set the seat of your pants on fire but leaves behind a virtually invisible CO2 footprint.

The car’s motions are subtly coherent and nicely fluent, following the driver’s instructions with aplomb, and the expertly tuned electronic back-up brigade acts in a subtle and sensitive fashion. The one asset that sticks in the memory more than any other dynamic virtue is the amazing tarmac-hugging flatness. For all the Taycan’s deviations from Porsche tradition, that single, crucial quality shows that the same high standards are being followed. From a brand that left behind air-cooled flat-sixes only two decades ago, the Taycan looks like a highly convincing leap to a fully electrified future.

 

[MPawelek]

For the majority of buyers that will not be buying the turbo edition when will we get information on specs?

 

[Smitty11]

For the majority of buyers that will not be buying the turbo edition when will we get information on specs?

The article does briefly mention some of the specs of the base Taycan and other Taycan trim levels.

Porsche Taycan model range as we know it

This much we do know: the base Taycan is rear-drive only, sports a 80kWh battery and is powered by a choice of 322bhp or 376bhp motors. The next model up, which for now we believe will be badged Carrera 4S, is equipped with a 96kWh battery pack, and offers 429bhp or 483bhp. The top model – the ‘Turbo’ we’re driving – will cost perhaps £120,000. All-wheel drive and the bigger battery are standard on the more powerful two versions. An even more potent 724bhp Turbo S and a lighter rear-drive GTS are still to be signed off.

 

[St00k]

Interesting. Those tires are MUCH smaller than the ones we spied on a test mule recently. It had 305s.

 

[TEV31]

My biggest concern will be with the tires.

With the torque and horsepower numbers, along with how these electric motors deliver it, i'm sure people looking for an even better sorted out Taycan, will go that route.

 

[Smitty11]

Interesting. Those tires are MUCH smaller than the ones we spied on a test mule recently. It had 305s.

Yeah I'm surprised about the tire size too. I wonder if there will be different sizes offered by Porsche.

 

[James8955!]

"the very first g-force attack feels like a cocaine bomb that hits the brain before the nose." What a brilliant way to describe driving a car like this. ?

 

[Alexmore01]

I need to find a professional car magazine that I can access online (like Transmission Digest.) I have a report and presentation due tomorrow morning at 7 AM, but I have been SO sick and by the time I was really able to start working on it, all the articles from the recent editions of magazines had already been selected by other students. I have to write and report about an article related to suspension, in particular. It can't be a hobby magazine, so no hot rod or four wheeling magazines. Please help! I have like four hours to write this report and prepare a presentation.