Porsche Taycan Turbo GT review: The most powerful Porsche

Wednesday 16 July 2025 5:52 pm
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Wednesday 16 July 2025 5:53 pm

Porsche’s GT division is the superglue that connects the corporate’s street and racing automobiles. Since 1999, its autos have persistently set the benchmark in opposition to which others are judged, incomes it plaudits from the press and a cult following amongst lovers. Go to a Touristenfahrten observe day on the Nurburgring and each second automobile is a 911 GT3.

That popularity underneath risk when, in 2021, the GT division revealed its first SUV. But in opposition to the chances, the 640hp V8-powered Cayenne Turbo GT was good – much more thrilling to drive than a Lamborghini Urus or Aston Martin DBX707. My assessment concluded: ‘Whereas all of us recognise the inherent contradictions of a track-focused off-roader, I discovered it unattainable to not benefit from the Cayenne Turbo GT. It’s each lethal critical and really foolish, all on the identical time. Proof, maybe, that Germans do have a way of humour.’

Now the hard-working folks of Weissach will probably be within the firing line as soon as once more, as GT launches its first EV. Priced at £189,200, the Taycan Turbo GT propels the now-familiar electrical saloon into hypercar territory, with a ferocious 1,108hp making it essentially the most highly effective manufacturing Porsche ever. Nevertheless, the flagship Taycan wants extra than simply prodigious energy to be worthy of a GT badge… 

And that’s a wrap

First issues first: the zebra stripes aren’t obligatory. They’re a part of the ‘Taycan Design Car Wrap’ that can value you, ahem, £8,239. Perhaps simply spend the cash on a few good holidays as a substitute?

In contrast, the Weissach Bundle fitted right here is definitely a no-cost choice. What’s the distinction? Properly, a regular Turbo GT has 4 seats, weighs 2,290kg, blasts from 0-62mph in 2.3 seconds and may attain 180mph. Choosing the Weissach Bundle means the again seats are binned, saving an extra 70kg, shaving 0.1 seconds off the sprint to 62mph and including 10mph to the highest pace. 

In fact, the modifications go deeper than the obvious one: changing the rear bench with a carbon fibre cowl. Porsche additionally saves valuable grams with cast alloy wheels, light-weight glass and fewer sound insulation, and by deleting the Sport Chrono clock on the dashboard, the rear audio audio system, the boot mat and the electrical motor to open the charging flap. 

Lastly, there’s a brand new entrance diffuser, extra sculpted underbody and glued rear wing, which improve complete downforce to 220kg. The trade-off is further drag: a coefficient of 0.31, versus a slippery 0.22 for the Taycan Turbo S.

Springing into motion

The positive aspects is perhaps incremental, however on a racetrack they actually add up. Porsche improvement driver Lars Kern posted a time of 7min 7.55sec across the Nurburgring in a Weissach Bundle automobile – a scorching 26 seconds faster than his file lap in a Taycan Turbo S. It makes the Turbo GT formally the quickest four-door saloon across the Nordschleife. 

All that oomph comes courtesy of a 105kWh battery (97kWh usable) and an electrical motor to drive every axle. Most energy of 1,108hp is simply obtainable for 2 seconds utilizing launch management. More often than not, you will need to ‘make do’ with 789hp – or 952hp for 10 second bursts when you choose Assault Mode (primarily a racing-style ‘push to move’ operate). 

The Taycan’s twin-chamber air suspension contains a recalibrated model of the Energetic Trip system – additionally used on the Audi RS E-Tron GT Efficiency – which proactively counteracts body-roll, together with acceleration squat and brake dive, to ‘guarantee an nearly excellent connection to the street’. The brakes themselves are PCCB carbon-ceramic discs, with light-weight calipers painted in natty Victory Gold.

Driving the Taycan Turbo GT

A automobile with opening again doorways and no rear seat does appear a bit foolish, however no one will purchase a Turbo GT as their daily-driver, or certainly to point out off their eco credentials. That is the GT division flexing its muscle tissue and displaying what an EV is able to – and considered by means of that lens the last word Taycan makes a form of sense. Certainly, its steely focus is arguably worthy of a Porsche with an RS suffix.

It begins with carbon fibre 918 Spyder seats that lock you in place, then continues with a soundtrack that doesn’t filter out the press of actuators, the whoosh of air springs or the whine of highly effective electrical motors. What you lose in typical EV refinement, you acquire in a more in-depth, extra visceral sense of reference to the automobile. 

The Turbo GT is what Richard Parry-Jones, the late engineer who made a technology of Fords nice to drive, may need known as a ‘50-metre automobile’. In different phrases, the lucidity of its steering and high quality of its damping are obvious inside the first 50 metres of driving. Identical to Porsche’s extra acquainted GT choices, it instantly looks like a precision instrument.

Wrapped in grippy Race-Tex (Stuttgart’s model of Alcantara), the wheel is calm but filled with suggestions. And the way in which Energetic Trip manages and mitigates a still-hefty 2.2-tonne kerb weight, with out making you’re feeling indifferent from the expertise, is severely spectacular. Seven-figure hypercars apart, the Taycan was already the very best EV to drive, however the Turbo GT ratchets it up a few notches. Throughout nation, it has the tempo and sure-footedness to fret a 911 Turbo S, and depart much less completed supercars flailing in its wake.  

Accelerating your senses

Not like some electrical automobiles, then, the Taycan isn’t solely quick in a straight line. But my abiding reminiscence is certainly one of uncooked, violent pace that may be summoned immediately. It makes even a conventionally quick automobile – a 911 GT3, for instance – really feel a tad lackadaisical. Your mind struggles to maintain up. 

The numbers don’t inform the entire story, however they’re outstanding. Attempt 0-100mph in 4.4 seconds, 0-124mph (200kph) in 6.4 seconds or 49-74mph (80-120kph) in 1.1 seconds. Positive, that’s extra efficiency than you should use responsibly on the street, however the Turbo GT’s overtaking potential actually does really feel like a secret weapon. When a niche opens up, it swats away lesser visitors with out breaking a sweat. 

Assault mode feels a bit gimmicky, with its pulsing 10-second countdown on the motive force show, and even the chassis wizards of Weissach can’t utterly disguise the Taycan’s weight. For all of the processing energy at work, although, it by no means looks like you might be enjoying a pc recreation. A way of connection between the automobile and driver is all the time there.

Verdict: Porsche Taycan Turbo GT

In isolation, the Turbo GT is difficult to advocate. It prices greater than twice the worth of an entry-level Taycan, and £27,000 greater than a Turbo S. It’s additionally £31,000 pricier than a brand new 911 GT3, which is finally a extra partaking driver’s automobile – regardless of its sizeable deficit of energy and pace. Like all luxurious EVs, you possibly can count on the last word Taycan to be hit closely by depreciation, too.

Automobiles comparable to this are not often purchased in isolation, although. As a part of a set, the Taycan Turbo GT performs feats that no different Porsche can – and with the Mission X electrical hypercar seemingly cancelled, it’s prone to keep that method. That is an occasional adrenalin hit, a formidable track-day toy or a speaking level at Automobiles and Espresso gatherings. 

The Porsche purists received’t prefer it, however so what? Enthusiasm for automobiles is a broad church, and never all people needs a GT-badged 911. Though, for the file, all of us right here at Motoring Analysis emphatically nonetheless do.

Porsche Taycan Turbo GT Weissach Bundle

PRICE: £189,200

POWER: 1,108hp

TORQUE: 988lb ft

0-62MPH: 2.2sec

TOP SPEED: 190mph

KERB WEIGHT: 2,220kg

BATTERY SIZE: 105kWh

ELECTRIC RANGE: 343 miles

Tim Pitt writes for Motoring Analysis