NOT A QUESTION OF SPORT (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

The Taycan Sports Saloon's heart is electric: its soul though, is very much that of a Porsche. Jonathan Crouch takes a look at the improved version.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 91

What might the Porsche of full-electric performance cars be like? In this Taycan, back in 2020 we got our answer. Now it's been significantly improved - faster, longer-ranging and quicker-charging. As before, it's more powerful and faster than any other EV yet made. And as you might expect, it continues to set the handling benchmark for what a performance EV can be. Taycan pricing is exclusive of course. But if you're looking for the electrified state-of-the-art, you'll find it right here. In this review, we look at the Sports Saloon version.

Backgroundword count: 174

Fully electric performance cars are all much the same right? They all give you a great big heavy battery, a couple of electric motors and enough pulling power to tear up the tarmac. Oh yes and they all feel terrible the first time you throw one into a corner. In 2020 though, Porsche came up with something better: the Porsche Taycan. Launched in the Sports Saloon form we look at here, the range was then expanded with Sport Turismo and Cross Turismo body styles; and all handled like no ever large luxury sports EV ever had. As a result, over 150,000 Taycans had been sold by the time this extensively revised model range was introduced in early 2024. This improved car looks much the same - and sits on the same J1 800v platform as before - but under the skin gets big changes in terms of drivetrain and charge capability. Though this model continues to share much with its development cousin, Audi's e-tron GT, it's still the car to beat in its segment.

Driving Experienceword count: 421

There aren't many cars that can keep up with a Taycan, whatever drivetrain they might use. Quite a lot's new with this revised version, though for the time being, Porsche has decided not to adopt the tri-motor drive system from cousin model Audi's SQ8 e-tron. Instead, Zuffenhausen has redesigned this Taycan's rear electric motor, which is 10.4kg lighter than before, but up to 107bhp more powerful, depending on the variant you're looking at. When fitted with the Sport Chrono Pack that most customers want, the base single-motor rear-driven Taycan now offers 429bhp (26bhp more than before). And the mid-range dual-motor Taycan 4S now offers 590bhp (up 67bhp from before). The biggest increases though, are at the top of the range, where the strangely-named 'Turbo' version offers 871bhp (200bhp more) and the Turbo S develops an impressive 938bhp (186bhp more). A push-to-pass feature on the now-standard mode switch gives a quick burst of acceleration should you need it. More dynamic variants are to follow, including a GTS derivative, a Turbo S Performance Pack model and a top GT. As for EV range, well depending on variant, that can be up to 421 miles, an increase of up to 109 miles. Helping here is an increase in battery size, the base pack now at 89kWh, with the larger pack (standard on the Turbo variants) now at 105kWh. What else? Well air suspension is now mandatory (the old coil-spring set-up's no longer offered) and the twin-chamber air springs are matched to the new dual-valve dampers recently introduced in the Panamera. This more greatly varies the car's behaviour between its 'Comfort' and 'Sport' modes and allows for variable ride heights at high speeds. As before, the most difficult task the engineers had here was in disguising what as usual on an EV is a prodigious kerb weight - in this case around 2.3-tonnes. Plenty's been thrown at that problem as part of this update. Optional is an Active air suspension system which enables individual control of each damper via a small electrically-driven compressor. Roll and pitch through the bends can then be countered, without the need for the physical anti-roll bars used in the previously-available PDCC anti-roll system. Turbo and Turbo S models get Porsche's Torque Vectoring Plus rear differential, which through turns is able to over-speed the outer rear wheel to help the Taycan's cornering balance. Rear-wheel steering is optional across the line-up (and standard on the Turbo S). And all of this tech is co-ordinated by a clever Porsche 4D Chassis Control set-up.

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