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Porsche's Taycan Turbo S sets new EV lap record
Porsche has had countless attempts at destroying lap times around the legendary Nurburgring track, with the recent record set by the 911 GT2 RS after going around the 20.8-kilometre track in a time of 6:43 seconds.
However, this time around, Porsche did so in the production Taycan Turbo S, which posted a faster lap of 7:33 seconds with the brand's development driver Lars Kern at the helm.
If you remember, Porsche took the Taycan Turbo pre-production model to the Nurburgring in 2019. It lapped the track in 7:42.34 seconds, which is slightly slower than the time set by the current Cayenne Turbo GT SUV.
Coming back to the Taycan Turbo S, it's not just a standard variant but the model fitted with the new performance kit as well as Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control. Aside from the roll cage and racing seats required to do the attempt, the Taycan Turbo S was a standard production car.
The Performance kit comes with 21" RS Spyder-design wheels wrapped with road-legal Pirelli P Zero Corsa sports tyres which, according to Porsche, work well with the updated 4D Chassis Control. The sports tyres are primarily designed for driving on the track, but owners can switch back to standard wheels whenever they feel like it.
Sadly, the performance kit is offered through Porsche Tequipment and is currently only available in Germany for the 2023 model year Taycan Turbo S sports sedan. The kit is retrofitted after the initial delivery of the car in the Porsche workshop in Zuffenhausen, with the brand taking care of all the logistics.
The Taycan Turbo S features two electric motors powered by a 93.4 kWh battery pack that's good for 460 kW of power (560 kW on over-boost) and 1,050 Nm of torque.
"We're delighted that the Nürburgring record for electric cars is back in Porsche hands," says Kevin Giek, Vice President of Model Line Taycan. "This lap time not only shows how much potential lies in our new performance kit, but also confirms once again the sports car genes of the Taycan."
According to Kern, the new performance kit allowed him to push even harder thanks to even better agility.
