Porsche Taycan review

Depending on the model, it varies from very quick to all-but blinding. The RWD one's performance is close to a six-cylinder Cayman's and more accessible. By the way, adding the bigger battery gives you a little more motor power in each model, but no better acceleration at UK speeds because it also adds 80kg.

In the top-end Turbo S, you really do need to brace yourself before twitching the accelerator fully into the carpet. That's after having satisfied yourself there are no hazards between where you are now and a very long way up the road, because that distant spot is your new now.

Because all Taycans have the automatic two-ratio transmission and a low drag coefficient, the acceleration at high speeds is really what makes them stand out from other EVs. In the Turbo S, 62-125mph occupies a scant 5.3 seconds. Which is mad-rapid.

Braking is done almost all on regeneration, a function of the battery's ability to accept such vast charging current. The twin-motor Taycans can do around 600bhp of regeneration at high speed. So almost every brake event is done without having to swap from regeneration to discs, and it feels nicely firm and progressive.

That said, when you do want a very hard stop, the discs arrive with huge force, so it can be even more brutal than you thought you asked for. Better than the other way about, mind you.

It's a Porsche. Talk about the handling.

The coil-spring suspension previously standard on lower versions has been replaced by the previously optional air-sprung system. No other changes to geometry, calibration or steering to those cars. It remains an aluminium set-up of double wishbones at the front and multi-link behind. So a new base car drives just like last year's one with the air chassis.

The new options on some – and standard on Turbo and Turbo S – is the fully active chassis. It's the revolutionary system that first appeared on the 2024 Panamera, so click to that review for more details. In short it pushes each wheel down into a dip, and pulls it up to ride a bump.

In sport mode it also keeps the car dead flat in pitch and roll in corners, so that the tyres keep their biggest contact patch for maximum grip. And in the comfort mode, it will actually lean the car into corners, and lift the nose under braking, so you're held securely in your seat.

Whatever chassis you've got, the Taycan is marvellously secure in bends. The steering operates with oiled precision and progressive weight, so you place it exactly where you want it. It's almost wholly free of delay or slack because the low-slung body rolls so little. Traction out of corners is immense, and optional 4WS quickens the steering even more in tight bends. That's all very satisfying.

But at road speeds in any of the 4WD models you won't feel any stress from the tyres, no oversteer or understeer. It just grips and tracks. At least in the dry. The RWD base car is more interactive and so even sweeter. Especially as its electric traction control is so subtle you hardly feel it.

The active chassis Taycans take the on-rails sensation further, cutting the roll and delay even more, and giving an amazing combination of absorption yet control when driving on a difficult bumpy road.

Comfortable?

The standard air-spring ride is firmish but so well controlled you won't mind, and because you sit low the feeling for disturbance is minimised. In the active car, the ride over big bumps is uncannily smooth, with just a residue of low-amplitude harshness. The Taycan is imperious on a motorway too.

Can I get away with buying the cheapest, slowest Taycan?

Not only can you ‘get away with it’, it’s actually one of the gems of the range. Let’s acknowledge right away that it’s neither cheap nor slow, mind you: the entry-level rear-drive single-motor Taycan costs £86,500 before options and develops over 420bhp.

We’d add the Performance Plus battery to that immediately – which was forbidden pre-facelift – with a 97kWh useable capacity and a claimed range of 420 miles. We tested one in the summer of 2024 and found that 350-360 miles was a realistic real-world range, with the car averaging at 3.5 mi/kWh of efficiency and even cresting 4.0 mi/kWh on a sluggish motorway run. Porsche’s official claim is 3.6: bang on the money in other words.

Of course, Polestar will now sell you a 400-mile 2. Tesla has offered 400-mile EVs for some time. But considering where the Taycan was at launch (struggling to better 250 miles unless you ignored the heater and wore a coat at all times, like Liam Gallagher) the efficiency gains for its gen-2 version are impressive. And what’s more, the base car is very lovely to drive.

The steering is blessed with that classic Porsche directness and heft, it’s still swift enough to make A-road overtakes a doddle, and now it’s equipped with air suspension as standard the entry-level Taycan is no longer slightly hamstrung by an inability to lower itself at motorway speeds to cut drag when cruising.