We have come accustomed to Germany’s Sport Auto being a reliable source of performance testing. The outlet regularly evaluates all sorts of high-performance machines exactly where it’s supposed to – the racetrack.
Usually, we’re treated to rumbling and roaring models, but now it’s time for a little bit of eerie silence. Not utter silence, though, because there’s still noise from the tires squealing, the whirlwind of air passing the body, and the whine of the electric motors powering the Porsche Taycan Turbo.
The first EV from the German sports car and SUV specialist seems to be everywhere these days – be it at the drag strip to test its mettle against an Italian supercar or at the headquarters where it’s proudly being derived in a new (and RWD) version for the European and U.S. markets.
Now, Sport Auto has brought to the test track the second most powerful version of the series, the Taycan Turbo. Dropping the S means the Taycan has to do with “just” 625 PS (616 hp) instead of the full-blown stable of 761 PS (750 hp). Still, thanks to its electric all-wheel drive and low center of gravity owed to the low-set bulky battery pack, it should be a blast to drive around the Hockenheim-GP circuit.
And it even proves to be quite a handful at times, as we can see the driver apply plenty of counter-steer on a few occasions, while the Taycan Turbo also proves its worth at high speeds – at one time hitting 259 kph (161 mph).
Anyone still claiming that EVs can’t have some sporty DNA should look away from now on, though, because we’re going to compare the Taycan with one of the most beloved sports cars of the moment, the Ford Mustang Shelby GT500.
Although the latter isn’t officially available in Europe, Sport Auto previously managed to get a hold of one example and quickly evaluated its worth on the exact same Hockenheim-GP track. Back then, the GT500 thundered and roared both on the straights and tight corners, coming out with a worthy time of 1 minute 54.6 seconds.
As it turns out, that wasn’t enough to qualify ahead of the Porsche Taycan Turbo in the Sport Auto statistics, as the electric sedan wrapped the course in 1:54.1 - just ahead of the GT500 and the BMW M5 Competition (1:54.2).
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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