2020 Porsche Taycan First Drive | Turbo and Turbo S performance, electric range, driving impressions
HAMBURG, Germany – 2020. The Porsche Taycan Turbo S, which was riding an electric blast, burns the German highway on its way to Hamburg. The projected area becomes dangerously small, which is to be expected given that I see 268 km / h on the dramatically curved digital dashboard. That equals 167 km / h and I haven't dipped below 100 in the last half hour. As you pull off the freeway, another type of EV speed is on display: inhaling DC at nearly 270 kilowatts, and filling Taycan's 93 kWh floor battery from 8 to 80 percent capacity in exactly 20 minutes. Based on my run and metrics, it adds almost 50 miles of range for every five minutes of maximum charge, resulting in the fastest "opportunity charge" of EV. The expansive fast-charging network of VW Group's Electrify America is the other half of this equation, and represents a key response to Tesla's currently unmatched Supercharger network.
Still, the prevailing, cage-match narrative that pits Porsche's new EV against the Tesla Model S is largely irrelevant. For all but the wealthiest buyers, these electric sedans for unsafe prices are considered direct competitors. Taycan Turbo starts at $ 1[ads1]53 510; Turbo S kicks things for $ 187,610. Relax a few options on the Turbo S – a virtual security for any Porsche buyer – and you can look at a $ 210,000 electric sedan, easily. By contrast, the Tesla Model S starts at around $ 80,000 and tops around $ 110,000.
Given that price and its much newer design, Porsche's damned well should be better than Tesla, and it is, though The electric range – probably 230 or 240 miles – really falls disappointingly over Tesla's 300-mile heights. What you get for the high price is a four-door supercar GT, a technical and performance wonder that suggests the impending decline and obsolescence of Porsche's traditional, gasoline-powered cars.
Yes, this gorgeous, provocative 911-box sedan weighs more than 5,100 pounds, which is as much as a full-fledged Cayenne SUV. With as many as 750 four-wheel-drive horsepower available during automated launches or rapid overboost bursts, Taycan Turbo S orders the company's current top dog, the 911 Turbo S, in a 0-60 mph sprint – 2.6 seconds against 2.8. In fact, it almost matches the 2.5-second time of the company's legendary, Spyder Hybrid, $ 845,000 918.
A quarter mile is emitted in 10.8 seconds with the Taycan Turbo S, or 11.1 seconds with the Turbo. The top speed is apparently limited to 161 mph, but we found that the Turbo S would sneak as high as 167 mph.
In normal driving, the Turbo S delivers 616 horsepower and 774 kilo-meters of torque, while the Turbo produces 616 hp and 626 lb-ft, good for a “just” 3.0 second sprint to 60 mph with takeoff control. The lower performance is due to a smaller amplifier of 300 amps, versus 600 amps for the Turbo S. The rear axles of both cars have their own electric motor and converter, along with a unique two-speed gearbox that changes almost imperceptibly.
During an addictive series of launch mode trainings, we learned the importance of pushing skulls into the headrest before releasing the NASA-style disaster to avoid whiplash. Still, it also highlights a not-so-subtle point of comparison that Porsche is trying to make with regard to Tesla: that the Taycan systems and components are more reliable, and that its resulting performance is infinitely repeatable. In addition to inherent differences in design and proofing, Porsche's assumed advantage is partly due to a groundbreaking 800-volt electric architecture (twice the size of the 400-volt Model S) that offers many benefits: dramatically reduced charging times, less battery charge and thermal control during charging, even high performance from electric motors and greatly reduced weight and space requirements for high voltage cables.
Still, I hesitate to focus on the stop light, when 0-60 km / h times are flooded by fools. A straight-line drag race doesn't tell the whole story: as enthusiasts and skilled drivers know, it's more to do than just stomp the accelerator and go "Wooo!", And that's what sets Porsche Taycan of 2020 apart from all four-door EVs – Tesla or otherwise. This car feels like a true technological descendant of supercars and cyclists like 918 and 919, because that's it. The electric steering may be more sensitive, and the piggy curb weight is noticeable in the sharpest turns, but this is a car that requires room to drive, and when it does, be careful. Driveway and road holding are fantastic, and Porsche suddenly feels more like a £ 4100 super sedan. That tranquility at furious speeds will be familiar to any Porsche owner, and naturally it comes from Porsche's arsenal of chassis-enhancing technologies, including four-wheel steering and the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control active roll stabilization system.
The brakes deserve their own chapter. Porsche claims class-leading levels of braking energy recovery, and that 90 percent of stops in daily driving can be achieved through rain alone, without activating friction brakes via a longer, firmer pedal stroke. But when you do, mammoth brakes (including 10-piston calibration fronts like the Porsche Cayenne and Lamborghini Urus) stop Taycan with face-pulling power. Carbon-ceramic rotors are standard on Turbo S and optional for Turbo.
However, the brakes lack a selectable, strong rain setting that allows the EV fans to love the single pedal. I absolutely missed it while driving our first day. The other day, but I got it: Even an electric Porsche is supposed to drive like a Porsche, and that includes a creepy mimic of traditional throwing or engine braking when taking off the accelerator pedal. In addition, there is an excellent set Auto mode for the rain, which uses a camera to monitor the cars ahead and use more rain when quickly closing the gap.
Furthermore, Taycan sends most of its power to the front wheels when in "Range mode" to save energy, as the electronic clutch disconnects the rear axles for free throwing. If you press the accelerator harder or change the mode, increasing force bolts are called in from behind. Kicking things into Sport or Sport Plus mode makes Porsche an electric beast, a strong eye terminator. It completely changes the experience of passing slower cars, even when compared to two-seater gasoline supercars, which still need a few punches to respond to gas control commands. In Taycan, passing becomes more like teleportation: other cars disappear, and you wake up in a new zip code and wait for your physical molecules to contract again.
Visually, Taycan is similarly exotic: the dramatic lighting and wheels; cheerful just-a-Porsche rear end; the tumbling hood; they bumped the fenders and the fast roofline. It is Porsche's most aerodynamic production model, checking in at a .22 drag coefficient, aided by an extended rear spoiler and tower-shaped air curtains under the headlights that carry air through the bodywork and wheel arches. A smooth, three-chamber air suspension lowers the car over two stages at high speeds to further reduce its aerodynamic profile.
High-tech minimalism controls the interior, including a dramatically curved instrument cluster and the two center touchscreens, which are a modified version of Audi's latest dual-screen MMI system (rather than the simple wide screen found in other Porsches). Each hard key is effectively replaced by "touch response" screen controls with haptic feedback from your fingertips. It's lovely to look at, but as in various Audis, it's a steep learning curve, and I'll be able to miss the reliable old MMI button. Taycan shares Panama's electrically operated climate control valves, which are literally high-tech, but it is also easier to reach out and hide a traditional valve.
Shoppers will definitely be paired with the optional "Co-Driver" passenger display that is more useful than Ferrari Portofino's similarly placed but tuned display. Passengers are given full control over features such as sound, navigation or climate – or can follow their own personal speedometer and performance readings.
Taycan's 12.9 cubic trunk will swallow three large rollers, with room left for odds and ends. The Tesla's are significantly larger, but frunk is marginally smaller than Taycan's 2.86 cubic feet. Both can hold a small suitcase.
On paper, the back of the Model S offers more square footage, leaving three rear seat riders in a pinch. The Porsche has a standard two-bucket arrangement (you can add a third seat belt as an option, but the seat itself probably stays vestigial), and the narrow rear doorway and tapered roof line require a body-twisting entry and exit. But when I was ensconced, I thought the Porsche rear seat was more comfortable. It has more supportive, better reinforced seats and a more natural position versus the annoyingly low seat cushions and kneeling-up attitude of the Model S. Porsche carves out just enough headroom for tall adults, and we discovered at Taycan & # 39; s reveal that two Footers of 6 plus can sit front and back.
Nevertheless, Taycan is not expected to challenge a Cayenne for comfort and convenience. Instead, the most important question Porsche cognoscenti seeks is: Is Taycan fun to drive? Hell yeah. Both in the traditional sense and in the newly acquired entertainment value that can be attributed to its technical novelty, physics-defying torque, giggle green vibes and other worldwide silence in an EV. If you are now addicted to the scales chasing a superstar engine or still completely chilled to change car – be it with three pedals or Porsche PDK shifters – another Porsche or high-powered luxury sedan may seem more involving to drive .
Of course, that addiction to combustion also leaves you, and the world, hooked on a gas nozzle and all the nasty, polluting business that entails. Finally, Hamburg arrives, ending our fast-driving when police barricades and sirens guide us appropriately, around a climate change protest. We found ourselves wondering: If we had been let through, would the masses of green-minded people who traditionally despise performance and luxury cars, think they love the all-electric Taycan, or at least cut it a little slack? Tesla has certainly earned such an award. Maybe we have answers on time, but for now we are sure that people who actually love performance and luxury cars will love Taycan. The biggest bummer is that several of them can't afford one, even when Porsche manages to bring a less expensive, less powered version to the market.
But for people who can take the bill, Taycan will instantly become one of the world's must-have cars.
