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Walter Rohrl Drives the Porsche Taycan, Waxes Lyrical About the Handling

Precise steering, instant acceleration, great turn-in, and corner-exit handling. Walter Rohrl might be old-school in his choice of cars and racing cars, but the Taycan left him impressed.
Walter Rohrl Drives the Porsche Taycan 49 photos
Photo: Porsche
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The driving clip starts with the German rally driver opening the door of the Taycan, revealing an all-black interior with leather upholstery and two cup holders integrated into the center armrest. Frameless door windows, flush door handles, panoramic glass roof, and seating for four are also featured.

Because the interior is camouflaged, it’s hard to make out if there is a center seat in the rear, translating to a five-seat layout. Nevertheless, it would be a squeeze to accommodate three adults abreast in the rear of the Taycan.

A digital instrument cluster with the speedometer in the center and touchscreen infotainment are included, along with over-the-air firmware updates thanks to 4G LTE connectivity. As far as exterior design is concerned, Panamera and 911 influences are obvious.

Practical is may be for a Porsche thanks to not one, but two trunks. But the Taycan will be complemented by a Sport Turismo-like body style, previewed at the 2018 Geneva Motor Show by the Mission E Cross Turismo Concept.

The WRC champion and Porsche ambassador might have been persuaded to talk nicely about the Taycan, but looking at the bigger picture, this is an all-electric Porsche. The handling and performance should be impressive even by Tesla standards, although the Palo Alto-based automaker has the Roadster II in the pipeline.

Porsche is understood to offer rear- and dual-motor options for the Taycan. Two electric motors supplied by Magneti Marelli output in the ballpark of 600 horsepower, translating to 3.5 seconds to 100 km/h (62 mph) on full throttle. Porsche aims to set a sub-8:00 lap around the Nurburgring with the range-topping powertrain, which will bear the Turbo suffix despite the lack of any internal combustion.

Pricing for the Taycan Turbo will start at more than $130,000 while the rear-wheel-drive model will be a little more than $90,000. Right in the middle of the range, the Taycan 4S will retail in the high $90,000s.

The Taycan will be produced in Zuffenhausen as part of a €700 million investment. More than 1,200 new jobs will be created by the expansion project, and the Taycan will be manufactured in a CO2-neutral plant according to Jurgen King, head of central construction management.

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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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