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DRIVEN! Taycan Turbo S

from Horizontally Opposed - Winter 2021

by First Settlers (PCA)

from Horizontally Opposed - Winter 2021, page 14

Article from: Horizontally Opposed - Winter 2021

Treffen at t he Greenbrier

FSR DRIVEN

Here's a little known story worth sharing: in 2004 Elon Musk - his pockets lined with cash from the PayPal sale - walked into the offices of AC Propulsion in the Los Angeles suburb of San Dimas with some questions. Among them was whether they would convert his Porsche 911 Turbo into an electrically powered configuration. He was reportedly willing to pay a tidy sum ($250,000 according to some sources) for the conversion. but Al Cocconi, AC's eclectic founder demurred and passed. So, Tom Gage, Cocconi's likely bewildered business partner, redirected Musk to a promising coastal EV startup.

And that is where the Tesla saga began. Would Tesla exist today (arguably the 2nd most valuable car company in the world as of this writing) if Elon had gotten his electric 911 from Cocconi?

Now some seventeen years later, Elon can now drive that electric Porsche, in this case a 2021 Taycan Turbo S, at a billionaire's bargain price of $187,700. In our car's case, it is optioned-out to $205,360. But would it be dreadful optics if the Tesla wunderkind would be driving a Porsche Taycan Turbo S, Stuttgart's four-door, four-seater counter attack against Tesla's recurring, nasty habit of crashing the private parties of Europe's fuel-consuming elite?

That said, Porsche appears to have been taking careful notes with regard to this Silicon Valley upstart.

The Taycan Turbo Straces the Model S' blueprint; dual motors, one in front, another in back, all-wheel drive, a battery floor, amazing performance, a frunk in front, all sheathed in a slick, fuselage skin.

The Taycan's fixed-glass panoramic roof imitates the Tesla's copper color when sprinkled with rain (due to the UV reflective layer). And traveling Taycan's are mainly replenished by a respectable knock-off of Tesla's Supercharger oases with the fastexpanding Electrify America network.

But in other categories, they are starkly different. These days the Model S front motor is basically the Model 3's permanent magnet rear motor (part of which defines the latest Raven architecture). It's rear one is the slightly less efficient inductive type (switches on and off) so it can freewheel during light-load cruising, making it more efficient. In contrast, both of the Porsche's motors (a combined 750hp) are permanent magnet, so the rear motor's decoupling is necessarily mechanical, and moreover bundled with a two-speed transmission for better low and high speed performance. Tesla tried that with its original Roadster a decade ago; the struggle to tame the gearshift's hammering torque hit nearly put the fledgling company out of business.

Now, let's get down to how this all translates to performance as nothing else defines a Porsche more than how it accelerates and handles. The Taycan, nearly defying physics, does not 'squat' when it launches. It remains seemingly flat to maintain weight over the front driven wheels. Porsche's height adjusting air suspension keeps the car absolutely level. The car fights with threshold wheel spin as it accelerates to 60mph in 2.4

seconds. The Turbo S blisters the 1/4 mile dash 10.47 seconds at 130.7mph

Let me share some observations on the Taycan. It is 98% of the length of a Panamera GTS, yet is 109% of the weight. You hit 60mph in the same time that the Panamera needs to hit 50mph. Opinions vary, but the Taycan design seems understated considering it is a 2.4 second 0-60mph car with the legendary Turbo S brand. And the battery pack is impressively large, sacrificially providing holes for the rear seat passenger feet (lower knee height).

Then there's the synthesized drivetrain sound that's a techno mix of the motors' actual soundprint. In Sport mode it's the whoosh of a high-speed elevator headed to the 77th floor; switch to Sport+ , and you're looking in the rear view mirror watching everything just disappear.

FSR DRIEN

" ...the Taycan Tur bo S r edefines the wor d 'FAST' .

There are ergonomic quirks: the shifter toggle is completely hidden behind the steering wheel rim. The side mirror controls are more easily reached by a rear seat passenger; the critical rear glass is reduced to a oblong porthole, yet the panoramic roof provides an unobstructed view of clouds, birds and whatever else is up there that you shouldn't be looking at.

How does this all come together on the road where much, if not all, of our driving will happen?

The Taycan is an incredibly smooth and quiet cruiser. There's no wind noise, even at triple-digit speeds, just the distant thrum of tire noise and whine from the drive motors. the steering is precise, perfectly weighted and accurate, if numb, with zero texture or feedback. Ride quality is astonishingly supple even with the adaptive dampers and air springs in their harshest settings. In normal driving, the car is simply too good at being a car to be a great Porsche- with no engine to interact with, no sensation of speed, little steering feel, it's virtually an isolation chamber and quite un-Porsche-like.

BUT!...get the Taycan Turbo Son the track, and it is un- questionably a Porsche. Active anti-roll bars virtually eliminate body roll, and the massive

Goodyear Eagle F1 ultra high-performance all seasons provide tenacious grip and let go progressively and controllably. The Taycan Turbo S provides the balance and adjustability of a good mid-engined sports car with the ability to rocket out of corner not unlike a rear-engined 911 Turbo S.

Dynamically, it's nothing short of magnificent.

The acceleration is so violent that every straight is non-stop pucker moment. It gathers speed best described as being in a lateral free fall. The inevitable question that arises with each discussion of the Taycan is whether it is a Porsche.

Does it have the passion? Does it hold true to the

Porsche heritage? That is the central question surrounding this amazing car.

Let's be honest here. The emerging EV marketplace is a sterile environment. It took a manufacturer like Porsche to inject its DNA into the mix and shift the attitudes of fossil-fueled enthusiasts. We now know that EVcars can deliver more than just blisetering acceleration, but can...indeed...deliver the vehicle dynamics that enthusists crave.

The Taycan is a transformational vehicle and better yet for us FSRmembers, it's a Porsche in every sense of the word.