New Electric Porsche Taycan Sets Nürburgring Record
Well, that didn’t take long. The new Porsche Taycan, which is not yet officially available at dealerships, has already had a go at the Nürburgring Nordschleife and set a new record for four-door, all-electric sports cars.
With Lars Kern at the wheel, the pre-series Taycan was able to set a time of seven minutes and 42 seconds. “The Taycan is also suitable for race tracks and it convincingly proved that here on the world’s most challenging circuit,” Kern said.
“Again and again, I am impressed at how stable the all-electric sports car handles in high-speed sections, such as Kesselchen, and how neutral it accelerates from tight section, such as Adenauer Forst.”
Getting around the grueling, 20.6-kilometer Nordschleife circuit in an all-electric car is no easy feat. Electric cars tend to have limited top speeds, which hurt performance on the very long back straight. For comparison, the Taycan reached a top speed of 259 km/h, or 161 mph, on said straight, while the Porsche 911 GT2 RS, which holds the outright record for road-approved sports cars, reached 194 mph.
Related: Reserve your own Taycan
Battery temperature can also be a problem. In fact, the Tesla Model S, often praised for its 0-60 acceleration times, was unable to complete a full lap of the Nordschleife because its battery and brakes overheated.
That makes it all the more impressive that in stock configuration, the Taycan, with its 650-kilogram battery, was able to beat the best lap time of a lightweight Honda Civic Type R hatchback that had been stripped of extra weight and equipped with ultra-sticky Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires (said lap time being the fastest for a FWD production car).
If you look at the video of the lap, it must be said that watching a car fly around the Nordschleife in almost total silence is a little eerie, though it highlights another thing for which Porsche should be credited. You would think that while hauling the car around one of the most demanding circuits at up to 161 mph, you would hear squeaking or rattling, yet all you get is tire noise and the sound of the seatbelt straps and the microphone mount. That’s impressive build quality.
Related: Check out Porsche’s other new vehicles
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