Porsche Taycan Turbo GT vs Tesla Model S Plaid: The Embarrassment of a Great Brand

Porsche is the crown jewel of the Volkswagen Group, arguably its most important asset. Although Porsche's best-known product is the 911, the company proved it's willing to assume risks, even when this alienates its loyal fanbase. This was made clear with the launch of the Cayenne in 2002, the first SUV in the brand's history. Porsche went full-send against the brand's heritage with the Cayenne when it unveiled the diesel-powered variant in 2009.

As much as people despised it, the Cayenne proved a huge success, consolidating Porsche's position inside the Volkswagen Group. It was among the first legacy carmakers aware of the new electrification trend that Tesla started with the Model S. Former CEO Herbert Diess might not have been popular among Volkswagen Group's shareholders, but he was the one who started the carmaker's EV efforts. Porsche's first electric vehicle, the Taycan, was also developed under his watch.

Diess was an admirer of Elon Musk, which allowed him to see what other executives in the auto industry refused to see. However, he was also a competitive leader who wanted to prove to Musk that he could surpass Tesla. This was the beginning of an arms race between Porsche and Tesla that put the German carmaker in an embarrassing position. Nobody thought 5 years ago that the most seasoned sportscar maker in the world would compete with an electric appliance manufacturer, which was how Tesla was seen back then.

Sure, Tesla EVs were fast, but, like many American cars, they were fast when going straight, not when cornering. Porsche honed its performance vehicles in the most demanding race circuit in the world, the Nürburgring. The race track earned the nickname "Green Hell" because of the high strain it puts on the cars and pilots alike. Porsche's claims that it built a better EV than the Tesla Model S convinced Elon Musk to begin testing the Model S Plaid on the Nurburgring.

That's when things got heated between the two carmakers, with Nurburgring records changing sides faster than people could keep count of all the attempts. Last summer, Tesla scored an important victory when it launched the Track Package for the Model S Plaid. This package included carbon brakes and a software update unlocking the top speed of 200 mph/322 kph. The record of 7 minutes and 25.231 seconds confirmed Tesla's status as the maker of the fastest series-production electric vehicle in the world.

This must've been a thorn in the back for Porsche, which started developing an even wilder variant of the Taycan in time for this year's facelift. We've seen it tested as a camouflaged prototype for most of the past year, and it's now official as the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT. The most powerful series model in the brand's history started its career by claiming it dethroned the Tesla Model S Plaid as the fastest production EV.

The Porsche Taycan Turbo GT features a dual-motor configuration with up to 1,085 horsepower. This beats Tesla Model S Plaid's 1,020 horsepower, although it doesn't make it faster, at least on paper. The fastest Taycan Turbo GT variant, the Weissach Package, needs 2.2 seconds to accelerate from zero to 62 mph (100 kph), while the Tesla Model S Plaid does the same in 2.1 seconds. Also, the top speed is limited to 305 kph (190 mph), whereas the Tesla Model S Plaid can reach 322 kph (200 mph) with the Track Package.

Porsche did a miracle by shaving 75 kg (165 pounds) off the Taycan Turbo GT compared to a Taycan Turbo S. The Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package goes even lighter by stripping away all equipment not required for track driving. This equates to another 70 kg (154 pounds), making the Taycan 45 kg lighter (99 lbs.) than the Model S Plaid. The setup allowed Porsche to set the claimed track records, but it's also why Tesla fans dispute the results.

Porsche mentions the rear seats among the unnecessary parts removed from the most extreme Taycan. Others have also mentioned the airbags and other safety features. This potentially prevents Porsche from homologating the winning Taycan variant as a road-legal car in the US. It's also enough for Tesla fans to dismiss the records claimed by the Taycan Turb GT with Weissach Package. It might be a series-production vehicle you can buy in this configuration, but for all other purposes, it's still a modified version of a production vehicle that is not street-legal.

This allows Tesla tuner Unplugged Performance to claim that their Dark Helmet Tesla Model S also sits in the same category of modified production EVs. The Dark Helmet established a lap record of 1:26.7 on Laguna Seca last year, about one second less than the Taycan. The Dark Helmet has gotten even faster since then, so the Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package is not even close.

But even if we count the record-setting Taycan as an unmodified production vehicle, does it even matter? Having to go to great lengths to prove that you can be faster than a Tesla is not very flattering if your name is Porsche. To only achieve this with a stripped-down version of a production variant you made just for this purpose is even more embarrassing. And the fact that the result costs 240,000 euros ($262,400) versus 109,990 euros for a Tesla Model S Plaid in Germany speaks volumes.

The retail price of a Taycan Turbo GT in the US is $230,000, but the Tesla Model S Plaid costs here only $89,990. This means you can buy one, add a Foundation Series Cybertruck and a Tesla Model Y Performance to your garage, and still have $19,520 more left in your bank account compared to buying a stripped-down track-only Porsche Taycan variant.