There are no slow cars in the Taycan line-up. Even the base RWD model has a claimed 4.8sec 0-62mph time, so just imagine what the Turbo S, which is more than twice as powerful as that car and has a driven front axle, is like when you stamp on the accelerator pedal. It’s worth experiencing what a machine like this can do from a standing start at least once. It is a sensation alien to ICE machines, more so than the numbers suggest.
So what are those numbers? On the day we timed this Taycan Turbo S, MIRA was very damp, but in the afternoon we did at least manage to log a couple of runs on a mostly dry surface, albeit still with a low ambient temperature of 11deg C.
With Sport Plus mode engaged and Launch Control enlisted, our car hit 60mph in just 2.6sec – two-tenths sooner than the mk1 Taycan Turbo S managed in more favourable conditions. From there, the car took only 5.4sec to burst into triple figures and 11.6sec to reach 150mph before V-max at 162mph.
To what car can you compare such figures? Well, the current-generation 911 Turbo S, for one. By our timing, the world’s favourite supercar-slayer (tested on a warm, sunny day, note) was a tenth quicker to 60mph but slower than the Taycan to 100mph and comfortably behind the electric four-door by 150mph.
How about, then, not just a Bugatti Veyron but a Veyron Supersport? Well, it’s close, the mighty Bug just snatching bragging rights. If the Taycan takes 11.6sec to hit 150mph, the hypercar is travelling only about 10mph quicker by that point.
Perhaps more startling is the 1.9sec needed for 30-70mph. The Bugatti required 1.7sec; more recently, Ferrari’s SF90 Stradale took 1.8sec. Of course, those cars need to kick down before accelerating, whereas the Taycan just goes the millisecond you want it to. In the real world, there is nothing faster, this side of a Rimac.
Of course, such performance is mostly an irrelevance in the real world. More important is crisp, predictable roll-on acceleration, intuitive braking and nice control weights. The Taycan does all these ‘basics’ well, such that the Turbo S is no more difficult to drive than the entry-level car. The only thing we miss is the ability to really get stuck into the accelerator. Less powerful Taycans permit that without taking off like a missile, which isn’t the case with the Turbo S. There is plenty of modulation in the delivery of power and torque, and so it is straightforward to drive the car as smoothly as you like, but equally you do need to be mindful of the propulsive force at your command, and the ease with which it propels a car that weighs 2356kg, as tested.
Fortunately, the braking system is more than up to the challenge of slowing the Turbo S. The pedal is firm and positive, and the only inconsistency comes when you have already begun braking gently, at low speed, but then suddenly need to bring the car to a halt. The system isn’t always quick enough to realise you need proper disc-on-pad retardation, rather than regenerative, but it’s a minor qualm.
Turbo S aside, meanwhile, we tested the 4S and Turbo derivatives at the car’s press launch in Seville, and subsequently tested a single-motor version in the UK. Given even the entry-level version has 429bhp and a quoted 0-62mph time of 4.8sec, none wants for plentiful, accessible power.
In our testing, the rear-drive Taycan with the Performance Battery Plus shaved a further 0.3sec off its quoted acceleration time and carried on to its 146mph top speed with no trouble at all. Curiously, despite having slightly less power than the car it directly replaces (429bhp vs 469bhp), it proved even quicker, reaching 100mph in a second less. This supposed base model will out-accelerate an E63-generation BMW M6 (that’s the one from 2005 with the V10) up to 140mph. Buy a quicker model if you want – but there’s no question that anyone would actually need to.
In the case of the Taycan Turbo, the car’s appetite for speed can begin to feel quite savage when fully tapped – but linear and perfectly responsive accelerator pedal calibration means that, even here, you never put on more speed than you intend.
