Porsche Taycan Turbo Laps Hockenheim GP Circuit Faster Than GT500
Electric Porsche may not be your first choice for taking on Hockenheim. However, the Taycan Turbo proves it belongs there.
The electric car era has begun and is here to stay. Porsche will begin to produce more and more vehicles powered by electricity. Wait a minute, isn’t Porsche known for dominating motorsports? Electric cars have instant torque for sure, but can they lap a racetrack? Yes, and yes. Porsche may go electric but there are not giving up on their roots. The Taycan Turbo models have been impressing since they have been released. They produce big power and staggering acceleration. That is fine and dandy for taking on the locals down at the drag strip. However, a racetrack is a very different animal. You need acceleration for sure, but also brakes, and handling. It also can’t run out of juice halfway around the circuit. Porsche knows this better than anyone. The Hockenheim GP circuit, however, is no joke. How does the first all-electric Porsche handle around there?
The well-known German auto magazine Auto Sport was wondering the same thing. They recently took a Taycan Turbo to the famed racetrack for some hot laps to see how it would do. Thanks to their YouTube channel we can see exactly how it did. It did just as you would expect a Porsche to do. It managed to complete the 2.8-mile lap in just 1:54.1.
Let’s give that a little context. That is about half a second faster than the top dog Mustang, the Shelby GT500. Back in the day saying a Porsche beat a Mustang around a track may not be big news. But this Porsche is an electric luxury sedan that weighs over 5,100 pounds. The GT500 is a track-focused monster. The Ford has about 150 more horsepower and weighs a half ton less than the Porsche.
This is not meant to dump on the GT500 as it is formidable track car in its own right. To be fair, the time the Taycan Turbo posted is basically the same as a 718 GT4. The GT4 is touted as a precision track machine, and even it could not really distance itself from the Taycan.
How does this electric car do it? Well, it is not easy. You have probably all seen the video by now of the RUF “Yellow Bird” lapping the Nürburgring. If you haven’t yet, then do yourself a favor and watch it as soon as you are done reading this article. Now, the Taycan is not quite the handful the RUF is, but it is fun to see the modern electric car being thrown around. Even if all you hear is wind and tire noise.
It is not clear exactly how this Taycan Turbo is equipped but rear axle steering is available. That is not something the Shelby offers. The Shelby also does not come with the advanced all-wheel drive system in the Taycan Turbo.
At one point in the video, you can see the driver hit 160.9 mph, which is right on top of the claimed 161 mph top speed. There is not much more to give. The fact that a car like this can compete on the circuit with cars that have a more singular purpose is truly impressive.
We wonder how much faster the Taycan Turbo S could have gone with its additional 80 horsepower. We also wonder how much charge was left at the end of the lap. In any event this is a hell of a first effort for Porsche and their electric cars. If they can just somehow make it sound like the 3.4L twin-turbo flat-six from a certain yellow car from the ‘80s.
Then they would really be onto something.
Join the Rennlist forums!
