We Drove the Porsche Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo in the Land of Dracula, Saw a Tennis Match

Transylvania, the land of Dracula, the territory that inspired bestsellers and blockbusters. We took Porsche cars to Transylvania to feed their hunger for blood our hunger for driving. A land of haunted castles, long-forgotten fortresses that keep a watchful eye on the territory around, and breathtaking sights.

On a quiet Saturday morning, the Porsche convoy drives silently through this land of Instagramable landscapes, of blue skies fighting the winter clouds and cliffs ripping them open and looking as if they can come tumbling down to the road ahead of us any time. The convoy of sports cars turns heads and makes other drivers rub their eyes in wonder. Nope. They're not dreaming. It's real.

My Porsche Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo, with its two permanently excited synchronous motors, one at the front and the other one at the rear, is eating up the road ahead and seems terribly hungry for more.

I've got 670 horsepower (680 metric horsepower) at the tip of my fingers, along with 627 pound-feet (850 Newton meters) that make this baby right here flash from zero to hero (0 to 60 mph or 0 to 97 kph) in 2.8 seconds and run the quarter mile in 11 seconds flat. We drive on public roads, there is no way in the world I am going to check those numbers. Besides, cruising at legal speed in this land of tranquility is the mood of the day.

I've got the extra ground clearance (0.78 inches or 20 millimeters) that the "Cross Turismo" tag brings. So, I am one of the few in the convoy who do not need to worry when we park on the side of the road or drive along a gravel trail for some 150 feet.

The winding road takes us to a land where time stood still. The Rimetea Village is one of the country's best conserved rural attractions, with its name on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

It is a fairy tale land, with houses painted in white, strung out like beads, with contrasting green wooden window shutters. Green is my Taycan, too, floating smoothly above the road with its adaptive air suspension, which elegantly wipes out all the bumps and potholes in the road.

I don't need to worry about range. I started off from the hotel with the 93.4-kWh battery fully charged. The road trip is not that long. Actually, it feels way too short, and when I have to press that P button and leave the car there, in front of the beautiful bright white manor where we stop for a break, I am the closest thing to feeling brokenhearted.

We park all the cars in front of the manor with the front covered in green ivy even in mid-winter. It looked like they belonged there, like they were truly at home in the background of the impressive construction, staring into the cliffs ahead, spread over a lake.

"This field is full of flowers in summer," the host says. "They bloom red, and pink, and white." And we feel like we're ready to make plans for summer.

I am far from being a gormandizer. But the dessert here... The locally famous "gomboti" is plum gem inside dough with so much aroma that you can float to it like characters do in cartoons. I've got this Taycan trunk that I can fill up with them and take them home.

But an hour later, I get my hands on the Panamera Turbo S and my heart is fine back again. This time, I am dealing with the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 pumping out 621 horsepower (630 metric horsepower) and 605 pound-feet (820 Newton meters).

We leave the Rimetea village behind, but the Rimetea River runs along the road, keeping us company on the passenger's side while a cliff guards our way from the left side of the road.

The Panamera finds its way back to the hotel, battling the Saturday mid-day traffic of Transylvania’s largest city, Cluj-Napoca, today a vibrant cultural and tech center.

The 2024 Porsche Panamera, on display next to the tennis court

That is where we have to leave the Taycans and Panameras before heading into the BT Arena for the first semifinal of the Transylvania Open. We are going to watch Countess Draculina herself. That's how Romanian tennis player Jaqueline Cristian calls herself. She's playing against Ana Bogdan, the crowd's favorite. Ana had a three-hour quarter-final the evening before and had to fight her way back to the court through exhaustion.

Two hours and three sets later (6-3, 3-6, 6-4), she is in the final against the number 1 favorite of the tournament and former number 1 in the WTA ranking back in 2017, Karolina Pliskova. The Russian player was to win the Transylvania Open final on Sunday.

But what caught just as much attention as the final games of the tennis tournament was the all-new Porsche Panamera, standing proud in a corner, next to the court, wearing Volcano Gray Metallic as if there is any chance in the world it could keep a low profile.

Introduced back in November 2023, with its all-so-familiar silhouette, the third-generation Panamera is enjoying its first European display. It stands proud up on a platform, 198.9 inches long, 76.3 inches wide, and 56 inches tall.

The position of the car in the corner of the court puts the sloping hood, the slimmer taillights bringing 911 vibes, and the sleek lines of the four-door Panamera in the spotlight. But there is no way we can admire the rear-end active spoiler of the car facing the stands and the court. So that just leaves us with the official photos for the moment.

The Porsche 911 Dakar in the spotlight

Back to the hotel we go, where the breathtaking Porsche 911 Dakar is waiting up on its platform, keeping its composure and superior stance. It has more experience on and off the road than any of these brand-new models lined up in front of the five-star hotel, that we spent half the day with.

It drove 8,615 kilometers (5,354 miles) during 15 days and 127 driving hours at the Dakar Ice Challenge, with members of Porsche Club Romania, Mihai and Carmen Zaman, in command.

The two of them toured the land of ice and snow in mid-January, through Slovakia, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. We now get the 'The world spins around me' kind of attitude. It does make sense.