2024 Porsche Taycan Turbo GT – 1,108 PS, 1,340 Nm, fastest production EV on Nürburgring, Laguna Seca

Porsche has had enough of the Tesla Model S Plaid stealing all the “fastest production electric vehicle” plaudits and has come back with a vengeance with the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT. Based on the facelifted Taycan, this souped-up four-door has taken the likes of the already pretty serious Turbo and Turbo S variants and dials them all the way up to 11.

As with the Cayenne Turbo GT, the combination of the hallowed “Turbo” and “GT” names combines the bruising performance of the former with the lightweight focus of the latter. To that end, Zuffenhausen has extracted the maximum amount of power from its dual motors – and no, the company did not see the need to go down the triple-motor route, as per the Plaid and the Lucid Air Sapphire.

Instead, a more powerful rear motor – replete with an amped-up inverter with more efficient silicon carbide semiconductors – has resulted in a combined output of 789 PS (580 kW). That doesn’t seem like much when a Taycan Turbo S makes 932 PS (685 kW) on overboost, but the Turbo GT has all this power at its disposal all the time, and with launch control this jumps to 1,033 PS (760 kW) for up to two seconds.

At their peak, the motors produce a staggering 1,108 PS (815 kW) and 1,340 Nm of torque. Some of this is reserved for the new Attack Mode, which builds on the push-to-pass feature on the facelifted Taycan. This gives you an additional 163 PS (120 kW) to use for up to ten seconds, accessible through either a push of a button on the rotary drive mode selector on the steering wheel or by pulling on the right paddle.

Despite the increased performance, the Turbo GT is only a tenth of a second quicker from zero to 100 km/h, which it completes in 2.3 seconds. But it’s at higher speeds where the improvement is most felt – it drops more than a second from the zero-to-200 km/h sprint, taking just 6.6 seconds. And unlike the Plaid, there’s no trickery at play here – no prepped surface, no subtracted one foot of rollout. The top speed is some 30 km/h higher than the Turbo S at 290 km/h.

Allied to the power boost is a weight-saving exercise that includes making the B-pillar trim, door mirror caps and side sill plates out of carbon fibre, as well as the standard fitment of carbon bucket seats, lighter boot trim and the removal of the powered boot lid function.

You also get 21-inch forged alloy wheels with milled reliefs for weight saving and brake cooling, plus redesigned carbon ceramic brakes that alone shave two kilograms. All in all, however, the diet has pulled just five kilograms compared to the Turbo S, and with a kerb weight of 2,290 kg, it’s still not a lightweight.

For a bigger weight saving, you’ll have to turn to the Weissach Package, which jettisons the rear seats (a carbon storage shelf takes its place), Sport Chrono clock, some of the insulation and even the carpets. There’s also only one manually-opening charge port door on the passenger side, while lightweight glass and a pared-back sound system without rear speakers have been fitted. All this to shave another 70 kg on a car that still a porker at 2,220 kg.

Be that as it may, the Weissach Package car manages to be tangibly quicker than the standard Turbo GT. It shaves a further tenth of a second off the century sprint (2.2 seconds) and another two tenths from the double ton (6.4 seconds). Its top speed is also higher at 305 km/h.

This is the specification in which development driver Lars Kern set the production EV lap record at the fearsome Nürburgring Nordschleife with a time of 7 minutes and 7.55 seconds – a whopping 26 seconds faster than a Turbo S – which also makes it the fastest four-door at the Green Hell. Kern duly repeated his performance in late February by smashing the production EV lap record on the Laguna Seca with a time of 1 minute 27.87 seconds.

On the outside, the Turbo GT sits mean and low, riding on retuned Porsche Active Ride air suspension. Building on the sharpened looks of the facelifted Turbo and Turbo S, a sizeable front splitter with built in flics and a carbon fibre Gurney flap on the active rear spoiler. The Weissach Package swaps the latter out for a fixed rear wing and introduces underbody deflectors and a front diffuser, all together generating up to 220 kg of downforce.

Inside, you get leather and Race-Tex microfibre upholstery, as well as the aforementioned buckets with “Turbo GT” embroidered into the headrests and a special badge on the centre console. The Weissach Package adds another badge in front of the driver. Deliveries are due to kick off this spring.

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