I’m riding shotgun in a searing purple 2025 Porsche Taycan Turbo GT, lapping the Porsche Experience track in Atlanta with Tobias Stegmaier behind the wheel. Being Porsche’s Driving Physics/Performance Group Leader, he’s largely responsible for how this 2,200-kg all-wheel drive electric sports sedan appears to defy physics in the way it negotiates the tight, technical circuit. And shotgun is the appropriate term here – the Taycan Turbo GT accelerates like a proverbial blast of scattershot from a 12-gauge Remington.
Next-Level Power
It wasn’t that long ago when 500 hp in a road car seemed utterly ridiculous. Now, high-performance electric cars trade in straight-line speed like McDonald’s trades in empty calories, and the stakes have changed. With select Tesla and Lucid sedans boasting over 1,000 horsepower, did you think Porsche was going to loiter about? Before the Taycan’s 2025 mid-cycle refresh, the quickest model was the 750-hp Turbo S. Having driven that car, I questioned why anyone could possibly want anything faster. Nonetheless, the Taycan Turbo S gets juiced to 938 hp and 818 lb-ft for 2025. Using the same motors but with a specially developed 900-ampere silicon carbide pulse inverter on the rear axle, the Taycan Turbo GT pushes out a staggering 1,019 hp (1,092 hp with launch control) and 988 lb-ft of torque.
Two Models to Choose From
The Taycan Turbo GT and Turbo GT with Weissach Package will both carry a Canadian sticker price of $270,000. Standard carbon ceramic brakes, 21-inch forged alloys, and various carbon fibre pieces save weight. The Weissach Package makes the Taycan more track-focused, doing away with the rear seats and adding a fixed carbon-fibre rear spoiler that is good for 310 pounds of downforce. In lieu of the back seats, there’s a slick carbon-cladded storage compartment.
The Weissach Package trims about 75 kg from the Taycan Turbo S and is marginally quicker than the Turbo GT. Porsche claims the Turbo GT with the Weissach Package dispenses with the 100 km/h dash in 2.2 seconds, with the Turbo GT doing the deed in 2.3 seconds. The Weissach Package increases top speed to 305 km/h and helps the Taycan conquer the quarter-mile in 9.4 seconds. If you need to get to 200 km/h, that velocity flashes by in 6.4 seconds.
Attack Mode
A button on the steering wheel unleashes Attack Mode, giving a 10-second burst of 161 horsepower. Based on the push-to-pass function of other Taycan models, it can also be triggered by the GT’s right steering wheel paddle and can also be cancelled before 10 seconds is up, for more judicious use of the GT’s electrical reserves. The left paddle calls up more aggressive regenerative braking.
It’s Not All About Straight-Line Speed
As mind-bending as the Taycan Turbo GT’s speed is, Porsche’s aim, as it is with all its vehicles, is to create a balanced car – one that handles as impressively as it reels in the horizon. Model Line Vice President Kevin Giek says, “To prove your mettle on the track, it’s not enough to simply have as much power as possible. The overall package of accelerating and braking, cornering grip, aerodynamics, stability, and fine-tuning has to be right. In the Taycan Turbo GT and the Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package in particular, our engineers have achieved this in stunning fashion.”
The Turbo GT is fitted with Porsche’s trick new hydraulically activated Porsche Active Ride Suspension that makes its debut on the 2024 Panamera E-Hybrid models this year. It uses dual-piston dampers, powerful electric hydraulic pumps at each corner to control compression and rebound in real time, thus eliminating the need for anti-roll bars. With a battery of sensors measuring wheel travel, body movement, and lateral and longitudinal forces at a thousand times per second, the system’s reaction time is scant 50 milliseconds. The new system ensures the Taycan Turbo GT’s body is completely flat at all times – a rather uncanny sight when watching the sedan chew up the circuit with nary a hint of body roll. Also uncanny is watching the GT accelerate away from said bends, like someone has sped up the film on fast forward. Being inside the car? Well, it goes from uncanny to evil carnival ride. Not for the faint of heart or stomach.
Record Lap Times at the Nürburgring and Laguna Seca
The Taycan Turbo GT has been under development for over two years, and Stegmaier has spent the majority of that time the Nordschleife Nürburgring, where records are set and bragging rights are earned. It’s no secret that Porsche and Stegmaier has their sights set on the electric production car record. Mission accomplished when Porsche development driver Lars Kern set a new lap time of 7:07.55 around the ’Ring, a 26-second improvement over the Turbo S. At Laguna Seca, with a time of 1:27.87 minutes, Kern put in a faster lap than any other driver has before with a road-approved electric car.
Available Third Quarter of 2024
As stated earlier, $270,000 gets you in the Taycan Turbo GT game, be that the four-seat model or the two-seat Weissach Package. That choice will depend on how many of your friends or family you wish to terrify at once. And please pick the exclusive Purple Sky Metallic paint. It’s scarier.
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