• Introducing the new Turbo GT variant of the Porsche Taycan, 2025 edition.
Atlanta, GA - Generally, the purchase of a vehicle is motivated by needs that could be described as rational. The need for a certain number of seats, X amount of cargo space, Y amount of towing capacity, fuel economy and so on.
Sometimes, the rational goes out the window.
Like in the case of the new Turbo GT variant of the Porsche Taycan, for instance. Or of its Weissach variant, also joining the range. With maximum power announced at 1092 hp, and a 0-100 km/h time of just over 2.0 seconds, there's nothing logical about this model.
Obviously, in a case like this, it’s necessary to have deep pockets to allow you to throw reason overboard. Ladies and gents, here is the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT, the most adorably irrational car I've come across in my nearly 20-year career.
On this day in Atlanta, we were given the opportunity to take a few laps around the track, sitting comfortably in the passenger seat of a prototype in its final stages of testing.
Recognizable styles
The two new versions are easy to recognize, each of them sporting notable differences from the rest of the Taycan range. The Weissach variant itself stands apart from the “regular” Turbo GT.
At the front, Porsche has added aerodynamic downforce, placing a newly developed finned front apron to provide downforce. The rear features an adaptive spoiler. The flanks get additional carbon-fibre skirts to reduce weight. This theme is repeated throughout, with extensive use of that material for the B-pillars, mirror caps, spoilers and more.
With the Weissach package, the differences are even more apparent. The front has a new diffuser and air deflectors on the underbody, giving the model an even faster top speed (305 km/h instead of 290 km/h). At the rear, the spoiler is more visible and is fixed with brackets planted in the bodywork. Another interesting detail is that, rather than having a charging port on each front flank, there's just one on the passenger side. This is operated manually, rather than electrically.
Less insulation and carpeting, a simplified audio system with no rear speakers, and the absence of rear seats and the Sport Chrono clock on the dashboard further reduce weight.
Overall, the Turbo GT version is 75 kg lighter than the Turbo S model of the Taycan. The Weissach package subtracts another 70.
For the track, above all
As you can imagine, the changes make these versions the obvious choice for those who spend time at the track. To wit, it was a version equipped with the Weissach package that set the record for a production electric car at the famous Nürburgring circuit in Germany, as well as at Laguna Seca in California.
To achieve this, aerodynamic improvements and weight reduction played a major role, of course, but the addition of power and the work of the Porsche Active Ride suspension were also central to those results.
For 2025, Porsche has already announced an increase in the power of the regular Taycan thanks to a new motor on the rear axle. These Turbo GT variants go even further thanks to a more powerful impulse inverter. Both versions deliver 777 hp; with the Launch Control function, output rises to 1019 hp. And for two seconds, supercharging boosts total power to 1092 hp.
Torque is 988 lb-ft.
Staggering figures. They help deliver a 0-100 km/h time of 2.3 seconds for the Turbo GT version, and 2.2 seconds when the Weissach package is fitted. Incredibly, this is only 0.1 and 0.2 seconds faster than with a Taycan Turbo S. At 0-200 km/h, the difference is more marked: 1.3 seconds faster than with a Taycan Turbo S, whereas the two new models can reach this speed in 6.6 and 6.4 seconds respectively.
The Attack mode, which provides additional power for 15 seconds, is just ridiculous, in a good way. It can be accessed via a button on the steering wheel, or using the right-hand paddle, also on the steering wheel.
All that power is useless for running errands. But it is impressive. As we've said before, this is total irrationality, ironically of the kind that's necessary to achieve a certain kind of balance.
On the track
The highlight of this lightning presentation of the model (a full launch with test drive component is set for Europe next month, and Auto123 will be there for that as well) was to let us experience an exceptional sensation on the track, with a Porsche driver. The aim was also to make us realize just what little technological marvels these versions are, particularly the Weissach.
I've had plenty of experiences of this kind in my career as a motoring journalist, but never like this. No matter how hard I tried to imagine what the car's behavior would be like, my wildest fantasies never entertained the possibility of this.
Thrust is extraordinary, of course, but that's not what's most impressive. What's really impressive is the balance of mass, a feat made possible by Porsche's Active Ride suspension, which quite simply redefines the laws of physics. Despite weighing some 5,000 lb, this Taycan Turbo GT is capable of threading tight bends at breakneck speed, but without feeling any loss of balance related to mass movements.
I was tossed around like never before in the passenger seat, without feeling that the car was responding badly to the requests of my friend of the moment, driver Jörg Bergmeister. For him, the most impressive thing is the suspension work, which eliminates any roll, even when the machine is pushed to the limit of Newton's laws. Braking, needless to say, is equally impressive.
And another of the extraordinary things about this car's performance is its responsiveness to any change of pace, be it intense braking, violent acceleration, a sharp turn of the wheel, etc. It NEVER flinches.
I smiled all the way, like Jörg Bergmeister, who lends himself to this kind of experience with renewed pleasure.
The final word
The Turbo GT and Turbo GT with Weissach package variants of the 2025 Porsche Taycan 2025 will be available from the third quarter of this year. The price is the same for both models, at $270,000 CAD. Various options will be offered, but basically, you get the essentials right from the start.
Beyond the electric configuration and staggering level of performance, what the company is offering here is the driving experience of a Porsche vehicle. In fact, that's the company's mission with this electric shift, to offer the company's typical buyers a driving experience that reminds them they're behind the wheel of a Porsche, not of an electric... or gasoline-powered model.
