Test Car Specifications
Styling
The Taycan design is a smart one, and the Turbo GT does nothing to damage that attractive image. But the Weissach package, which is primarily designed for track use, makes a few notable changes, and we aren't just talking about the zebra stripes of our test car. The fixed rear wing, for example, adds a little more downforce in fast corners, and there's only one charging port in a bid to reduce weight. The aero kit gives the car a definite track-orientated image, which is no bad thing, because the Taycan looks great in this kind of race trim. It's certainly something that will turn heads.
Interior
The Turbo GT's standard interior is fairly luxurious, but the addition of the Weissach package changes things slightly. Bucket seats are standard, but the Weissach package sees the back seats removed altogether in search of weight reduction, and the analogue clock has been stripped out. The foot and boot mats are gone, too, and there's less insulation, while the removal of the Bose sound system has also seen weight drop slightly.
Despite all that, the Taycan still feels like a premium product, with impeccable build quality and some luxurious materials, as well as a glossy carbon-fibre parcel shelf where the back seats should be. It's all solid and robust, and it doesn't actually feel all that lightweight.
You still get the same digital instrument display as the standard car, while climate control is still fitted and you get the same two-screen touchscreen infotainment system. All the tech works really well, even if the design isn't all that imaginative, so there's no impression that you're missing out by choosing the lightweight Weissach package.
Practicality
Although the Weissach package sees the Turbo GT relieved of its rear seats, it's still surprisingly practical. The back doors still work, so you can access the carbon-fibre parcel shelf with ease, and that space is quite handy for increasing boot space. Sure, things might fly about a bit, but there's a kind of cargo net in there for keeping things in place, and the space is substantial.
But while the sight that greets you upon opening the back doors is a bit out of the ordinary, the luggage compartments look surprisingly conventional. Sure, there's a hump in the boot floor of the Turbo GT, so there's 367 litres of cargo space, as opposed to 407 litres in a completely standard Taycan, but it's all carpet-lined and decidedly 'normal'. The same goes for the 81-litre front storage compartment. Porsche could probably have saved another kilo or two there and nobody would have complained.
Performance
Like any other all-wheel-drive Taycan, the Turbo GT pairs a brace of electric motors with a two-speed automatic gearbox on the rear axle and the massive Performance Battery Plus, which offers a 97kWh usable energy capacity. Yet unlike the other Taycans, the Turbo GT squeezes 789hp from those two motors, and that figure increases to 1,034hp when the overboost system is activated. Combine that with 1,240Nm of torque, and the Turbo GT with the Weissach package is utterly rapid, getting from 0-62mph in 2.2 seconds and on to a top speed of 190mph. That's a tenth of a second and 10mph better than the standard Turbo GT.
That kind of performance is so aggressive that accelerating at full throttle is physically uncomfortable, the G-forces squeezing your internal organs against the seat back and the shock of the immediate oomph making it difficult to breathe. The Turbo GT is faster than you ever want it to be on the road, but it's an incredible weapon for overtaking slow-moving traffic.
Yet for all that, it's surprisingly efficient. Porsche claims an official range of 345 miles on a single charge, and while that seems a bit fanciful, particularly on the motorway, there's no reason why you shouldn't manage well over 200 miles between charges. On our test, the Taycan Turbo GT managed efficiency equal to a range of around 250 miles on the motorway, and that distance increased to around 270 miles with a bit of urban and rural driving. And that's despite us testing the performance.
Even if you use up the range, though, the Taycan Turbo GT will charge at ridiculous speed. Assuming you can find a charger powerful enough to match the car's 320kW charging capability, the Turbo GT's battery can be filled from 10 to 80 per cent in less than 20 minutes, while a full charge from a domestic 'wallbox' charging unit can be done overnight.
Ride & Handling
Just by looking at the Taycan Turbo GT, particularly with this zebra-stripe colour scheme, you might imagine the car rides like a race car, with stiff suspension and little in the way of forgiveness. But not a bit of it. Sure, there's a slightly firm quality to it, but it uses Porsche's Active Ride suspension that absorbs the bumps remarkably well.
The result is a car that's very comfortable on the motorway, even if that comfort is limited somewhat by the bucket seats. Nevertheless, the Turbo GT is much more pliant than you might expect, and it's even comfortable around town. Not even putting the Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) into Sport or Sport Plus mode will ruin the ride altogether, although it naturally increases the stiffness. As you ramp things up, you just get a fraction more feedback through the seat, with more sense of what the wheels are up to, but it doesn't get much more jagged.
But while the comfort is impressive for something so fast, what really makes it spectacular is the way the Active Ride technology keeps the body in check. While comfort and handling usually involve some kind of trade-off, the Taycan Turbo GT simply manages both brilliantly. The suspension will lean into corners to counteract body roll, and it more or less keeps the car dead level, even in fast bends. It also cancels out pitching movements under braking or acceleration, giving a great sense of stability.
All that is combined with the steering and brake feel that makes even the most basic Taycan model a sensational car to drive. It's poised, it's balanced and it offers huge amounts of grip, making it incredibly planted and confidence-inspiring.
Value
The Turbo GT versions of the Taycan are not what you might call 'cheap'. The standard car starts at £189,200 (more than £100,000 more than a basic Taycan) but the Weissach Package is, bizarrely, a no-cost optional extra. So it's still £189,200. Quite why that is, we aren't really sure, but even that can't provoke us into describing this car as value for money. Not when it's only 2.5 seconds faster to 62mph than the basic Taycan, which has four seats, a bigger boot and costs £100,000 less. But it doesn't get such an enormous wing.
Verdict
As impressive as the Turbo GT is, there's no real reason why anyone would need such a thing. It's a ridiculously powerful, slightly compromised version of a saloon that many would argue was already 'super' enough. Certainly, nobody was calling the Turbo slow. But for those who need the pinnacle of Taycan performance, or even those who like the idea of an all-electric track day, this is the car you want. It's brilliant.
