The next version of the all-electric Porsche Taycan can lap the Nürburgring in just 7:07.55. That’s an eye-popping 17.68 seconds faster than the Tesla Model S when equipped with its optional Track Pack. If that statement sounded like gibberish, we’ll try to help.
A Common Marketing Move
High-performance automakers these days compete for buzz by driving laps around a particular racing circuit in southwestern Germany. The Nürburgring complex includes several race courses. But the hypercar world’s obsession concerns its northern loop (or Nürburgring Nordschleife).
It packs 154 turns into just under 13 miles — enough back-and-forth that short slides permitted by an almost-perfect suspension system will translate into long lap times. It also features more than 1,000 feet of elevation change — enough air pressure variation to tax any engine’s tuning.
Carmakers now routinely boast of ‘Ring times — usually self-timed without any third-party judges present. Car enthusiasts know they’re marketing ploys and completely unverifiable. As soon as an automaker posts to social media that they shaved one second off a rival car’s time, questions begin about whether the tires were modified, what the weather was like, and if anyone, anywhere, still cares.
But an Impressive One This Time
But 18 seconds? That’ll wake up the cynics.
The cynics’ first questions will be about the model of the car.
Porsche says development driver Lars Kern made the lap in a “pre-series Taycan.” The prefix is doing all the work there. Pre-series suggests that this is a car in development for eventual sale.
In its press release describing the lap, Porsche doesn’t mention that it beats the record for a production electric vehicle (EV) set by the Track Pack-equipped Model S back in June. Instead, it points out that the time is 26 seconds faster than Kern managed piloting a Taycan Turbo S Sport sedan in August 2022, which was the last time he set a record time.
That matters because the Turbo S is the current top of the Taycan line. So Porsche is working on a new high-performance version of its electric sedan and, in the process, working on buzz.
Might Be Called the Taycan Turbo GT (Even Though Electric Cars Lack Turbos)
Both Car and Driver and MotorTrend claim it will be called the Taycan Turbo GT, to match the top of the Cayenne performance line. That’s a little silly — electric cars lack turbochargers — but it would fit the brand’s new marketing strategy to differentiate its Turbo models with a unique look.
MT suspects it will use three electric motors — two in the rear and one up front — and claim about “1,000 electrified horsepower.”
A photo of the run shows a large rear wing and new aerodynamic treatments low on the sides. The photo is strategically taken with the tires shadowed — surely designed to spur discussion on internet forums about whether or not they’re street-legal.
We’ll know more this spring. Porsche says it will release the on-board video of the run in March, likely a sign that the automaker will leak more details on the probable-Turbo-GT around then for a summer release.
