2022 PORSCHE TAYCAN GTS

By EWAN KENNEDY

Sleek Porsche hatchback cuts through the air with a minimum of fuss.

Porsche Taycan is a full electric five-door hatchback aimed at those who want a practical family vehicle with plenty of performance, and that does minimal harm to the environment.

That’s right – it’s a family hatch, but there’s a lot more to it than carrying you and the kids around. This is a full-on sports machine that can be taken on track days – or to simply carve your way around your favourite section of country road very early in the morning when there’s nobody else about.

Like all Porsches with GTS badges, it’s a midrange model. There are faster, much more expensive Taycan variants with added performance, but the standard model is relatively affordable starting at just $158,100 for a two-wheel-drive working on the rear wheels.

Prices can go sky high up to $283,000 if you go the whole hog with extra power in the so-called Turbo models. Obviously, the latter don’t have a turbocharger, but we guess that adding a lot of extra grunt does sort-of justify the Turbo tag (your thoughts?)

 The warranty is three years and unlimited distance which is on the low side these days. Many vehicles are now covered for five years and no distance limit. Surely Porsche has enough faith in its cars to cover them for five years?

STYLING

Taycan carries a decent resemblance to the famed 911 which isn’t easy to do in a practical family car. We like the shape, as did all of our friends and neighbours who popped around to check it out. Well done the stylists!

The Taycan GTS variant has blacked-out styling elements within the front bar, headlights, door mirrors, side sills and window trim.

INTERIOR

The driver gets a 16.8-inch curved display easy to see at a glance. You can customise it, it’s beautifully laid out and easy to read in all light conditions.

Luggage space is useful, too, with 84 litres in the small front ‘boot’, sometimes tagged as being a ‘frunk’ a shortened version of front trunk … or a ‘froot’. There are 366 litres of space under the rear hatch and it’s easy to load.

INFOTAINMENT

A high-quality Bose audio system is standard. The high-resolution 10.9-inch touchscreen is clear to see in any light and is easy to use.

POWERTRAIN

Power is produced by two permanent magnet synchronous motors. There’s a two-speed transmission at the rear, the front axle has a single-speed.

The Porsche GTS model has 380 kW of power. But if you use ‘overboost’ there’s 440 kW and 850 Nm sent to all four wheels.

The Performance Battery Plus system gives you a 93.4 kWh battery pack with a claimed range of 485 km.

During our 340 km week of driving, we averaged 19.8 kWh per 100 kilometres, which is less than the estimates given by Porsche. Perhaps because I tend to be an economical driver in all cars (and have a Guinness Book of Records entry to prove it).

SAFETY

The Porsche Taycan GTS hasn’t been rated by Australasian NCAP. It does score well on the Euro NCAP testing program, gaining the maximum of five stars in 2019

It has an active bonnet system, a full suite of airbags including curtain ‘bags along the entire roof frame and side window sections, and with rollover detection.

There’s lane-change assist and lane-keep assist with corrective steering should the driver not paying attention.

In addition, there’s active lane-keep assist with traffic jam assist and emergency assist, crossroad assist, collision and brake assist rear cross-traffic alert and exit warning.

DRIVING

The zero to 100 km/h time claimed by Porsche is 3.7 seconds. That’s right 3.7 seconds, not that many years back anything under six seconds was considered to be rocketship acceleration, the ultra-low time of the Taycan was due not only to its instantaneous reaction to flooring the right pedal but also the huge torque that’s there from one rpm.

Three driving modes allow you to select Normal, Sport and Sport Plus. The full 440kW comes in when you select launch-control. The 380kW still offers plenty of grunt.

Driver and three passenger get comfortable seats, with a bit of a squeeze in a centre seat in the back. The driver and front passenger have 18-way electric adjustable seats.

There’s a head-up display, which is easy to read even in sunlight.

RATINGS:

Looks: 8/10

Performance: 10/10

Safety: 8/10

Thirst: 7/10

Practicality: 6/10 (mainly because of the short fuel range)

Comfort: 8/10

Tech: 9/10

Value: 8/10

AT A GLANCE

MODEL RANGE

Taycan RWD: $158,100

Taycan 4S AWD: $197,200

Taycan GTS AWD: $240,300

Taycan Turbo AWD: $280,300

Taycan Turbo S AWD: $351,000

Taycan Cross 4 Turismo: $178,800

Taycan Cross 4S Turismo: $208,000

Taycan Cross Turbo Turismo: $283,000

Note: These prices do not include government or dealer delivery charges. Contact your local Porsche dealer for drive-away prices.

SPECIFICATIONS (Porsche Taycan GTS AWD EV Coupe)

ENGINE:

Capacity: NA

Configuration: NA

Maximum Power: 460 kW

Maximum Torque: 850 Nm @ rpm

Fuel Type: NA

Combined Fuel Cycle (ADR 81/02): L/100km

CO2 Emissions: Nil

DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:

Length: 4963 mm

Wheelbase: 2900 mm

Width: 1966 mm

Height: 1381 mm

Turning Circle: 11.2 metres

Kerb Mass: 2295 kg

Fuel Tank Capacity: NA

BRAKES:

Front: Ventilated disc

Rear: Ventilated disc

STANDARD WARRANTY:

Three years / unlimited kilometres