1100bhp Porsche Taycan Turbo GT Is The Brand’s Most Powerful Car Ever

Porsche caused a bit of a stir amongst brand diehards in 2021 when it stuck the fabled ‘GT’ badge on the Cayenne Turbo GT, a 650bhp, two-tonne super SUV with a name usually found on Stuttgart’s hardest, most focused sports cars. People who were upset by that will want to avert their eyes even further this time: this is the Taycan Turbo GT, and it’s Porsche’s attempt to redefine what a mass-produced electric car is capable of.

We first heard rumblings of a faster, harder Taycan at the beginning of this year, when Porsche announced that a pre-production car had lapped the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 7min 7.55sec, coming within a couple of seconds of the Rimac Nevera hypercar. The Turbo GT is that car in production form, and it’s the most powerful roadgoing Porsche ever.

Most of the time, it’s making a healthy 789bhp thanks to an uprated pulse inverter – the part that converts the batteries’ direct current to a three-phase current for the motors. Activate launch control, and power climbs to 1019bhp, while the absolute peak it can make is 1092bhp. That number does come with a big asterisk next to it – it’s calculated with a test “carried out using a sufficiently charged battery on a temperature-controlled test stand”, and is only accessible for two-second bursts. Peak torque is an equally organ-smushing 988lb ft.

Those higher power figures are accessed through ‘Attack Mode’, a development of the push-to-pass feature found in lesser versions of the facelifted Taycan that borrows its name from the world of Formula E racing. This can be activated by pulling the right-hand paddle behind the steering wheel as well as via the usual rotary dial, something Porsche development driver Lars Kern says allows you to “trigger the boost with racing gloves, and without taking a hand off the wheel.”

The results of these vast amounts of instantly accessible power and torque are some predictably ludicrous acceleration numbers. 0-62mph comes up in just 2.3 seconds, and you’ll be travelling 124mph in 6.6 seconds. Top speed is 181mph.

Porsche has also worked to ensure the Turbo GT isn’t just there to win YouTube drag races but is properly capable in the twisty stuff too. It comes as standard with Porsche Active Ride adaptive suspension, which has been tuned specially for this model. The 21-inch forged wheels are shod in Pirelli P Zero Rs, some of the raciest road tyres available.

Extensive use of carbon fibre inside and out and the use of newly-developed lightweight ceramic brakes contribute to a 75kg weight saving over the Taycan Turbo S. Inside, the Turbo GT gets a pair of front carbon-fibre bucket seats of a similar design to the ones found in the 918 Spyder, although they can be swapped out for free for 18-way adjustable sports seats.

The regular Turbo GT has a new aero package, with a new front splitter and a carbon Gurney flap added to the active rear spoiler. Far more aggressive aero, however, can be found on cars with the Weissach package. Thusly equipped cars receive a fixed carbon rear wing that can provide up to 220kg of downforce, a different front diffuser and air deflectors on the underside.

These Turbo GTs also lose the rear seats, leaving you with a pair of redundant rear doors (although Porsche helpfully adds a storage compartment where the seats used to be). Porsche also throws away some sound deadening and the rear speakers and fits the cars with thinner glass. It’s gone as far as only fitting a single charging port rather than the standard car’s two, and it’s operated manually rather than electrically.

Overall, the Weissach package saves a further 70kg, shaving a total of 145kg from the Turbo S – although this is still fundamentally a big, electric saloon, so the overall weight is a not exactly lithe 2150kg. It also unlocks further performance gains: 0-62mph drops to 2.2 seconds, and it hits 12mph in 6.4, while top speed increases to 190mph.

Unsurprisingly, the Turbo GT only comes as a four-door saloon (although there’s something oddly appealing about the idea of a Sport Turismo version). Official figures say it’ll do 345 miles on a charge, although it probably won’t manage that if you’re pounding round a racetrack like Porsche so clearly wants you to.

It’s so serious about it, in fact, that in addition to setting a hypercar-baiting Nordschleife lap, the Taycan Turbo GT has also broken the EV lap record at Laguna Seca, lapping the Californian circuit in 1:27.87, a similar time to a Ferrari 488 Challenge car in race conditions. First deliveries are expected for later this spring.