A ‘Pre-Series’ Taycan Did What Now?
The development comes from the fearsome Nurburgring.
A genuine Porsche fan should be able to recall the lap record set at the Nurburgring by the Taycan Turbo S in August 2022 to the last millisecond. Go on, give it a shot. No? Well, it was 7 minutes 33.350 seconds. That’s how quick the EV, fitted with Porsche’s performance kit, Dynamic Chassis Control, racing seats and a roll cage, was around the 20.8km ‘Green Hell’. And behind the wheel was the brand’s development driver, Lars Kern.
Mr Kern was recently asked to showcase his prowess again at the same track but in a ‘pre-series Taycan’ derivative. Obviously, he obliged. After multiple spells at the Nurburgring, during which he posted almost identical times, his best was 7 minutes and 7.55 seconds. Simple math reveals that the unnamed Taycan outperformed the Turbo S by 25.8 seconds. Kevin Giek, the head of the model line at Porsche, describes the difference as “half an eternity in motorsport”.
Some additional math helps paint an even more astonishing picture. The upcoming Taycan variant outpaced the Tesla Model S Plaid at the ‘Ring by 17.681 seconds. For the record, the latter’s best effort was 7 minutes and 25.231 seconds.
And what’s the fastest production EV ever to lap the fearsome racetrack? It is the Rimac Nevera, specifically the Time Attack variant. It posted a time of 7 minutes and 5.298 seconds. That means Porsche’s pure-electric sedan came within three seconds of the Croatian hypercar’s lap record.
Porsche says that the onboard footage of the complete lap will be revealed in mid-March. That’s enough to conceive a couple of speculations. The first is the Taycan’s mid-life refresh, which is expected to happen around the same time. And the second is about the fastest Porsche EV at the Nurburgring. Like the Tesla Model S Plaid, it will likely feature a tri-motor setup. To help post blistering performance repeatedly, beefed-up battery and electrical architecture will be in the highlights. We won’t have to wait too long before that guesswork is rubbished or reaffirmed by Porsche.
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