Porsche now has another lap record under its belt. The German performance brand’s debut EV, the Taycan Turbo S, is the fastest production-spec electric car around the Nürburgring Nordschleife. But there’s a teensy weensy catch.
Ahead of its unveiling, the Taycan set a time of 7 minutes and 42.34 seconds, and it wasn’t even for the full lap as per the updated timing regulations. Its lap time was well and truly trounced by the Tesla Model S Plaid in September 2021 when it completed the 20.8km loop in just 7 minutes and 35.57 seconds. Less than a year has passed and Porsche has put together a version of the Taycan Turbo S that has lapped the green hell in 7 minutes and 33.35 seconds, reclaiming its title as the lap record holder. The man at the wheel was none other than Lars Kern who also set the fastest lap at the ‘Ring for a road-legal car in the Porsche 911 GT2 RS Manthey Performance Kit.
While a roll cage and a race seat are permissible modifications to the factory model for the sake of driver safety, the record-setting Taycan had a few more changes. The Porsche EV sedan was fitted with a new performance kit that will later be available to customers via Porsche Tequipment, and the latest version of the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC). The record-setting performance kit includes 21-inch RS-Spyder design wheels on super sticky Pirelli P Zero Corsa rubber which is pretty much a road-legal racing tyre compound. The chassis control software is updated to factor in the grip offered with the new wheels and tyres.
The performance kit is scheduled to be available by the end of the year and only in Germany at first. It will be offered only for the MY2023 Taycan Turbo S and these models are already in production. The upgrades can be retrofitted post initial customer deliveries at Porsche workshops in Zuffenhausen.
Porsche has made no changes to the actual performance figures of the Taycan Turbo S. It has the same dual-motor AWD setup that puts out 625hp and can boost to 761hp for a few seconds, while the torque output is a hearty 1050Nm. There were no weight shavings either in the record-setting specification over the standard Turbo S. Meanwhile, the Model S Plaid runs a triple motor setup with a combined output of 1020hp.
Maybe Tesla will have to settle for being the king of drag races only and let other brands fight Porsche for the fastest lap at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. It is also worth noting that Porsche has only announced the lap time today, the actual record attempt was made back in April.
For reference, the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S 4MATIC+ was nearly five seconds faster to lap the Nordschleife in 2020 and the Jaguar Project 8 (with Track Pack weight savings) laps the green hell even quicker. The real value-for-money track time comes from the BMW M3 Touring which completed the 20.8km lap faster than the Tesla Model S Plaid.
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