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Mike Sinclair10 Oct 2019
REVIEW

Porsche Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S 2020 Review

Sports-car great’s first pure-electric models, the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Turbo S, will change the way the automotive world appraises battery electric vehicles
Review Type
International Launch
Review Location
Munich, Germany

With stunning straight-line performance, handling prowess never before exhibited in a production battery electric vehicle, proper fit and finish and concept car looks, the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Porsche Taycan Turbo S will change the way you think about electric cars. Although the price to play will be steep, these four- or five-seat four-doors are very much Porsches first and EVs second. Underpinned by an all-new electro-mechanical and chassis package that absolutely maximises the benefits that electric car architectures offer, the Taycans’ added dimension is the robust nature of their performance and execution. Repeatable, real-world performance – not a tweeted promise or internet claim. Instead, an iron-clad guarantee – from a brand that’s been breaking records for more than 50 years…

Porsche redefines electric

It's far from being melodramatic to categorise the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Porsche Taycan Turbo S as redefining electric performance cars. Despite the fact this is a proper four-door sporting saloon, the Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S deliver the type of performance that just a few years ago would have been tagged as close to, if not actual, supercar level.

We’re not just talking about 0-100km/h acceleration times. The Porsche Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S have a genuine 260km/h top speed, rolling acceleration that needs to be felt to be believed, and are no slouches in terms of cornering or braking. That they also have excellent ride characteristics is almost the icing on a very progressive cake.

This is also the car that introduces a whole new platform for the storied German sports car brand.

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We detailed at length the technical tour de force that is the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Turbo S via an in-depth engineering briefing Porsche delivered mid-year. Clean sheet is a term too often bandied about but with R&D and production facility expenditure that will amount to more than €6 billion ($A9.8 billion) by the end of 2020, this is as close as it gets in the modern automotive industry.

Suffice it to say, there has been innovation and deep engineering expertise at every step along the way. It’s in evidence from the active aerodynamics and extensive thermal management strategies at the Taycan’s pointy end, right through to the integrated rear motor and two-speed gearbox.

It's all wrapped in a handsome body that's probably as close as you can get to a 911 with four doors and room for luggage.

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A quick tech tour

Porsche Taycan Turbo and Porsche Taycan Turbo S effectively share their powertrains -- and yes, thanks Elon, neither has a turbo. The two motors and 94kWh lithium ion skateboard does, however, punch out a continuous 460kW, and respectively, a 2.5sec overboost mode producing power of up to 500kW and 560kW.

The Taycan Turbo can also call on a total system torque of 850Nm. This is impressive, until you consider the Taycan Turbo S has 1050Nm on call – a 23.5 per cent increase.

Performance numbers achieved by the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S are equally impressive. True to Porsche form, you can be confident they are conservative; this is diametrically opposed to the ‘shoot from the hip’ statistics we’ve become used to in the electrified space.

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Again, we detailed these in our technical review, but it's worth listing just a few to frame the argument (Taycan Turbo in brackets): 0-100km/h: 2.8sec (3.2sec); 0-200km/h: 9.8sec (10.6sec); 0-400m: 10.8sec (11.1sec); and a 2.5sec distance: 28.0m (25.5m).

The 260km/h top speed? I can personally vouch for it, with an indicated 269km/h held for a decent length of time…

In true Porsche style, to access this performance all you need do is select Sport Plus via the drive mode selector’s rotary dial and hit the loud pedal. There is no need for battery preconditioning, nor other ludicrous preambles. But what else would you expect from this company.

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How much will the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S cost?

Porsche insiders are very strongly hinting at a price of around $300,000 for the Porsche Taycan Turbo and closer to $350,000 for the range-topping Porsche Taycan Turbo S.

Full specification and pricing for Australian Porsche Taycan Turbo and Porsche Taycan Turbo S models will likely be announced in early 2020 at which time the order book for the cars will officially open. There’s already a significant number of $2500 expressions of interest on the books from Australian customers.

All going to plan, first deliveries will take place Down Under by the end of 2020.

What level of standard equipment will be fitted to each model is unclear. Big-ticket items such as the ceramic braking and rear-wheel steering system (itself borrowed from the Porsche Panamera) will likely be standard on the Porsche Taycan Turbo S, along with PDCC, Porsche’s 48-volt active anti-roll suspension system.

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There are also question marks over the level of charging hardware that will come standard in the local cars. This primarily affects the charging levels during 400-volt DC fast charging – at least until the 800-volt hardware is rolled out Down Under. For more on this read our tech overview.

Porsche Australia is yet to confirm any local ‘coupled’ third-party charging options or packages. It says it is still considering the Aussie EV charging landscape – which to be fair is somewhat of a moving feast.

In terms of 800-volt charging infrastructure, there have been recent announcements regarding a local rollout with high-profile supplier Jetcharge confirming it is committed to the fast chargers.

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There will likely be myriad cosmetic and amenity options as is Porsche’s normal modus operandi. Glass roof, dress up items inside and out, wheel options that give the car the full Mission E concept car look… You get the idea – it won’t be too hard to spend up big.

Our research shows a key concern of many electric vehicle buyers is the warranty provisions offered on their car’s battery. In the case of the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S that sits 70 per cent effectiveness at eight years or 160,000km. Porsche’s normal three-year/unlimited kilometre warranty is expected to apply on the rest of the vehicle.

Eventually, there will be cheaper (circa $200K) Porsche Taycan models and around 2021 the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo crossover/wagon family of models will be added to the local line-up.

The two Taycan models here are just the start of the Porsche EV story.

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The case for taking the Porsche Taycan plunge

Prestige performance four-doors do not come cheap. Porsche’s own Panamera requires a decent dive into the piggy bank, even in non-hybrid form, and so do other pure internal combustion competitors such as the Mercedes-AMG E and CLS-Class models, BMW’s M5 (and eventually M8 Gran Coupe) and the fastest big Audi RS models.

You will pay a further premium to play in this space in Porsche’s battery EV. But there are performance and dynamic benefits that will go some of the way to offsetting the extra cost.

One of the ways that the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S are game-changers is that this is arguably the first electric car line that enthusiasts will choose to buy purely on its performance credentials.

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There are myriad benefits that come along with an electric driveline. Physics says that electric motor will produce infinite torque from almost zero revs. In the real world, the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S deliver maximum torque at close to 0km/h – and keep on delivering it as speeds rise.

This means performance off the line is outstanding and overtaking times and distances are probably closer to motorcycle levels than any ‘normal’ cars we’ll drive. Even the outrageous performance of the other Germans’ turbo V8s struggle to match the instant urge of the new Porsche.

It’s the sprint to 120km/h or so that largely separates the performance between the two cars, and it’s here where the extra kW/Nm urge of the Turbo S is focussed. While the Porsche Taycan Turbo is very, very fast off the line, the Turbo S’s launch and progression is almost neck snapping…

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Along with this straight-line performance comes the new Porsche powertrain’s ability to respond to traction and stability control requirements at a much faster, almost granular level. The new electric Porsche has an all-wheel-drive system that can transfer anywhere between 0-100% of drive front-to-rear in milliseconds – apportioning torque five times faster than conventional set-ups – via a control system at inverter level. The traction control itself is around 10 times faster and finer in terms of its ability to meter out power and torque.

This means the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S have a whole new level of ability in the wet (and according to Porsche’s engineers, ice and snow). In our sampling, full Sport Plus launch control getaways were obviously slower on wet roads, but not as much as we expected. On dry bitumen, they are governed only by absolute tyre grip and are enough to make an unprepared head spin.

They are also addictive.

So it's just as well that Porsche says the Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S will take as many launch control starts in a row as you're willing to dish out. Repeatability, and continuous real-world performance are absolutely benchmarks that the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S engineering team wanted to set.

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Taycan Turbo is not just about the launch

But it’s not just the launch of these Porsches that’s impressive.

The initial batch of electric cars and the second or third generation of hybrids that are now on the road have remarkable levels of refinement – in the main. But there are few if any that have the glitch free steering, braking and power delivery mimicking the very best internal combustion engined vehicles.

The Porsche Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S are not entirely without some EV foibles. But the steering on both cars is entirely up to snuff, and the brake pedal feel is probably the best of any current electrified vehicle.

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The needs to combine quality mechanical and consistent regenerative electric braking is one of the most challenging aspects of building a performance EV. The Porsche system is complex but works well and has even benefited from the input of Porsche ambassador and multiple F1 GP winner, Mark Webber.

Webber drew on his expertise in refining the regenerative systems on Porsche’s Le Mans 24 Hour and World Endurance Championship-winning Porsche 919 Hybrid to provide feedback to the Taycan project team.

The effort was worthwhile but there remains a small but discernible difference – even on the road (note: there was no track component to this launch).

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It's hard to put succinctly in words; perhaps a slight springiness underfoot, a requirement to be even more careful to modulate the amount of pedal you asked for into a tightening corner… Even in the pre-production vehicles we sampled, however, the job was 95 per cent done. It just wasn't a 911 GT3 level of engagement.

There were also some other pre-production glitches in cars that Porsche’s on-site team suggests have been noted and remedied – although not on the cars we drove. There were some gremlins in the navigation systems (and especially the passenger side infotainment ‘repeater’ screen) and a resonance or vibration when on light levels of throttle was noticeable especially in the 60-90km/h range. Also, at times the downchanges of the two-speed gearbox were a little rugged.

Interestingly, the latter only happened under light load. Tip into a corner harder and the drivetrain’s software seemed to better match the twin electric motors’ revs to road speed. Again, Porsche says it’s noted the glitch and promised it will not be there on the production cars.

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Are you a Porsche Taycan Turbo customer?

After driving the pre-production cars more than 800km over two days in Germany last week, we can vouch for the fact that both the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S have decent real-world range.

We spared the cars little and operated them chiefly in their ‘thirstiest’ of the five drive modes (Range through to Sport Plus) – and indulged in full throttle blasts whenever we could. The power use we registered was in the 27.5-29.9kWh/100km range, which suggests the “worst case” range in Australian conditions should sit in the 280-305km region.

The official range, according to WLTP ratings, is 381-450km for the Taycan Turbo and 412km for the Taycan Turbo S.

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More charging details are in our tech overview. On our test drive we used Ionity’s 800-volt fast-charging network that yielded a 6-91 per cent top up in the time it took us to consume a burger lunch. Peak charging levels were around 200kW – Porsche claims up to a 270kW potential.

Around town the Porsche Taycan Turbo S will probably win every traffic light grand prix, if that's your thing. In the hills, both cars will be hard to beat on tight, winding stuff – you can thank the almost preternatural all-wheel-drive and traction control systems, along with the fact you'll never need change gear to access massive torque.

But there will be some more practical impasses that are imposed on buyers. While front and front quarter sight lines are excellent, rear three-quarter vision and the view directly astern are both truncated. Sure, there are parking assistants of various ilk (360 cameras and the like) but around town, it will pay to spend a little extra time on head checks.

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The cabin is beautifully finished and will appeal to the technically minded – although not those of us that are touchscreen averse. There’s barely a hard button to be seen – not even a volume knob. Of this aspect, I’m not a fan. Also the suggestion you need to use a menu to charge the direction of an air vent is worthy of ridicule – sometimes simpler is better.

Overall, both front occupants are quite spoiled. No doubt there will be various options but the test vehicles’ relatively simple, well-bolstered front buckets were hard to fault.

You sit low, which helps to connect you to the car, but equally getting in and getting out is not quite as elegant as say a Mercedes-Benz S or CLS-Class. You also sit further inboard than you might in some vehicles, which means there is not a lot of elbow room between front or rear pairings.

The centre console lid can’t be opened without acquainting itself with the driver’s elbow in left-hand-drive cars. Yes, it is annoying…

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Storage for smart phones and incidentals is at a premium. Despite the fact the centre console is an ascending ‘hollow’ design, no standard storage is available in the space liberated underneath. The dedicated inductive charging area for a phone is tucked away in the limited storage of the centre console bin – behind your elbow. This might seem like nit-picking, but given the generation of car and the connected lives of its drivers, smartphone integration should be at its very best.

The rear seat is best suited to just two and many Porsche Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S deliveries will be four-seaters. The high and mighty won't be all that comfortable in the rear seat despite the measures Porsche has taken to provide better foot room and sculpted headroom.

There is, however, decent luggage space, enough for three carry-on-sized suitcases (at least) in the rear, and a couple of soft overnight bags in the front.

As you'd expect in a car of this type, there is no spare tyre.

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Porsche credentials count

It's worth noting that the record-breaking lap of the Nordschliefe in an EV was set in a Porsche Taycan Turbo rather than a Turbo S.

Officially, this is due to the fact Porsche wanted to use the same vehicle that broke distance records at its Nardo high-speed test facility in southern Italy. But the lure of a little extra range and the fact that there is little if any performance difference between the Porsche Taycan Turbo and Taycan Turbo S at speeds above 100km/h probably sealed the deal.

It is a function of where the extra performance is delivered in the Turbo S that means the lesser model’s deficit is really only in the dragstrip numbers. That said, some of the components that improved handling and braking of the ’Ring car for the track record attempt (ceramic brakes, 21-inch wheels) will be serious extra money. That may be enough to convince people to spend the extra dough on the Turbo S.

We’ll have to wait for the final pricing and specification mix to make a recommendation.

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There’s no doubt in my mind, however, the Taycan is an inflexion point in the history of electric production cars. It is the first EV that delivers, repeatable, real-world high-performance: viciously fast point to point, yet comfortable and quiet when it needs to be; launch control starts, 10, 20, 30 in a row; and a 260km/h top speed not for one kilometre but dozens.

No longer are we hanging on a tweeted promise or internet claim… Rather, Taycan delivers an iron-clad guarantee from a brand that’s been rewriting rules and breaking records for more than 50 years.

Ultimately, it’s this overall genuine ability of the Taycan Turbo S that makes it a game changer. It is quiet, almost soothing one minute, but what lurks beneath is a supercar.

If this electric ‘wundercar’ is the future of automotive, I’m signed up…

How much does the 2020 Porsche Taycan Turbo and Turbo S cost?
Price: from $300,000 (see text – plus on-road costs)
Engine: Twin electric motor, 94kWh battery
Output: 500kW/850Nm (Turbo S 560kW/1050)
Transmission: Rear-mounted two-speed gearbox
Range: 453km (Turbo S 412km WLTP)
Safety rating: Not tested

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Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Expert rating
85/100
Engine, Drivetrain & Chassis
17/20
Price, Packaging & Practicality
15/20
Safety & Technology
17/20
Behind The Wheel
19/20
X-Factor
17/20
Pros
  • Stunning performance
  • Overall styling and finish
  • Real-world performance and charging
Cons
  • Some glitches still need ironing out
  • Pricing and equipment still to be finali
  • HMI complexity and lack of storage
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