Launching the Taycan Turbo S is the
same as any other modern Porsche:
Select Sport+, stability/traction control
can be on or defeated, press the brake
pedal firmly, press the accelerator to
the floor, then release the brakes. BAM!I
t isn’t often we set records at the drag-
strip, but we did when we tested the
all-electric all-wheel-drive 2020 Porsche
Taycan Turbo S. By a mere 0.04 second, it
became the quickest (in time) and fastest (in
speed) battery-powered electric vehicle in
MotorTrend’s history of testing.
In the process, it became the third-
quickest Porsche and 12th-quickest of any
vehicle from MotorTrend’s decades of quar-
ter-mile instrumented testing of production
cars. It even bumped a (991.2) 911 Turbo S
down a notch. How quick and how fast?The Taycan’s 94-kW-hr lithium-ion battery
pack must be at least 75 percent charged,
and its temperature should read at least
80 degrees F in the instrument panel.
Selecting the Sport Plus drive mode ensures
launch mode is available, which ups the
motors’ combined output from 616 to 750
hp (but torque remains unchanged at 774
lb-ft). Acceleration did not vary measurably
if the traction and stability controls were
engaged or in performance mode, but my
best run had traction control disabled.One-tenth of a second (0.1) after releasing
its brakes, the 5,109-pound Taycan (aboutthe same weight as a Jeep Gladiator
Rubicon) was already traveling 4.3 mph and
achieving 1.0 g in longitudinal acceleration.
I was experiencing free fall, as if stepping off
the ledge of a building—but horizontally.
In fact, after 0.8 second, in less distance
than the car’s own length, the Taycan was
traveling 19.6 mph and reaching its peak
longitudinal acceleration of 1.11 g. Like
Superman swooping down to save falling
Lois Lane, it was exceeding the gravitational
force of a free fall. That 1.0g-plus sensation
was sustained all the way up to 40.3 mph,
where it began to slowly wane. Even when
it reached 60 mph in a near-record 2.4
seconds (and less than eight car lengths),
the Taycan Turbo S was still pulling 0.75 g.It’s been my honor—and thrill, really—to have
been the dragstrip test driver for 11 of the
quickest cars on our Top 15 list. By the 0–30-
mph times—how we gauge how well a car
launches—the list shows they fall within 0.6
second of one another (0.9 to 1.5 sec overall).
What’s interesting is that each McLaren
(there are four in this group) launched like
a McLaren: a little sof t at first, then they
accelerate like an NHRA Super Street Class
car, which would require aftermarket axles
and a rollcage with an altered floorpan.The Porsche Taycan Turbo S Launches Into Our Record Books
FIRST TEST/TRACK TEST