For starters, you get the standard Sport Chrono package, which provides the ultra-aggressive Sport Plus drive mode with launch control as well as a special steering wheel and that oh-so-famous clock mounted atop the dash. Next up is adaptive air suspension as well as Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) and optional rear-wheel steering, which my tester had. All of this, meanwhile, has been specifically tuned for the GTS to be just a little more aggressive.
Even after all this, however, I was skeptical. I mentioned earlier the weight of the Taycan, and I wondered whether all the goodies would really be able to disguise that?
Well, I wouldn’t say that after my drive through the sun-baked b-roads just outside of Rome, Italy on my way towards the Vallelunga race circuit I felt like I had driven something other than a big, bruising wagon. But, I have driven the Taycan in almost every format it comes in and of all of them, the GTS was, indeed, the most athletic and poses an even more compelling alternative to the Panamera.
The ride and handling are such that there’s little question this is a car that has been tuned for performance. It turns in just that much more sharply (you can partially thank the rear-wheel steering for that) and the chassis is just that much more anchored to the ground. The steering in the Taycan is already very good, and it is up to the task here, providing great response and some nice feel through the wheel.
Which is a good microcosm of the GTS treatment as a whole when it comes to the Taycan GTS. Thanks to that chassis tuning, I really got the sense during my drive that I was feeling more of what was going on around me than I had in previous iterations of the Taycan. There’s the feel through the wheel, yes, but also the seat of your pants – for an EV that leads its lineup in claimed range (504 km), that’s something.
On to the track!
So serious was Porsche about the Taycan GTS’ handling chops that they cut us loose on Vallelunga, a racetrack that’s on the calendar of top-tier GT racers and superbikers and is used by F1 teams for testing.
Now, while I’ve spent plenty of time on various tracks the world over, I’d never had a chance to take an EV out on one.
When it comes to tracking a car, an EV powertrain changes things. You don’t have the usual markers like shift points, and with regenerative braking coupled with the added weight, you don’t have that engine braking to help you out so much. Right away, I found maintaining a rhythm out there was tough.
Luckily for me, though, Porsche knows a thing or two about performance cars and since they run in the Formula E Championship, they know a thing or two about performance EVs as well.
So it was that once I got over the hump and started to trust the Taycan GTS more, I was able to put down some respectable lap times down and start to let the track flow underneath me. Add the fact that Porsche has fitted the GTS with sound augmentation to make it sound like a 911 and you’ve a car making itself at home a racetrack, where normally it should have no business being. No Taycan I’ve driven before – and that includes the bonkers-powerful Turbo S model – feels quite like this.
As I drove back from the track, activated “Normal” mode and let the air suspension help me waft my way home, I started to realize that while an electric grand tourer may not be the Porsche in most dream garages, the GTS is making a strong play to wedge itself in mine.
OK, there’s no one-pedal driving or cruise-to-zero feature, and its ability to regen isn’t quite as powerful as other much less expensive EVs out there, and it doesn’t even give you the option to charge at home on a 120V outlet because its charge cable doesn’t support that. (On the other hand, it does have a charge port on either side, which is a big help although only the passenger side port has a level III DC fast charge plug).
Do I really care about those lacks, though? Probably not. This is an EV that looks just enough like one without looking like one, provides a fantastic drive, is incredibly powerful, has room for five (plus two trunks!) and can run over 500 km on a single charge if the stars align. Meanwhile, you’re doing all this without burning a single hydrocarbon. Add the Sport Turismo’s wagon-shooting brake-call-it-what-you-like body style and its ability to serve as a proper daily driver, and you kind of got me at hello.
Specifications sheet of 2022 Porsche Taycan GTS Sport Turismo
We like
Wagon body style provides more interior room
Most range of any Taycan
GTS conversion is on-point
We like less
No one-pedal drive
No 120V charge support
The competition
Audi e-tron GT
Lucid Air
Mercedes-EQ EQS 580
Tesla Model S
See also: 2022 Porsche 718 Boxster GTS 4.0 First Drive: Naturally Aspirated, Naturally Gifted
See also: 2022 Porsche Cayenne GTS Coupé First Drive: The Originator
