“Holy moly”.
The commentators at Sydney Dragway nicely summed up the quarter-mile run of the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT, which is now officially the fastest showroom-spec automobile to tackle the 400-metre stretch of sticky bitumen Down Under.
They knew it could be quick, but no person – not even Porsche – thought it could be quite as quick because it was.
Our challenge was easy: take the brand new pinnacle of Porsche’s electric automobile lineup to the drag strip to see if we could get it banned for going too quick.
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Yes, even in motorsport you may break the speed limit!
Spoiler alert: we succeeded.
Nevertheless it took just a few days, almost a dozen runs down the quarter-mile strip, and an understanding of what makes an EV tick (or, a minimum of, what best makes the electrons flow).
Yep, the journey to 252km/h in somewhat over nine seconds was barely more involved than dialling up launch control and hanging on for an 815kW fast blast.
Crunching the numbers
As with every type of motorsport there are rules and regulations, and one in all the massive ones with drag racing – mockingly – revolves around speed.
This drag strip is designed for cars that may travel upwards of 500km/h – in only five seconds. Take into consideration that. Zero to 500km/h in five seconds.
To do that you simply need all forms of safety gear, including a roll cage and a parachute.
For cars without that gear there are tougher limits.
We desired to attack the foundations across the speeds cars can travel on an Aussie drag strip – and now have a crack at unofficial drag racing record for an unmodified production automobile in Australia.
Wade through the foundations and regs and also you learn that any automobile that exceeds 150mph (241.4km/h) needs a parachute to assist it stop.
Now consider that the majority things running down here don’t have anything just like the brakes, tyres and dynamic ability of a Porsche.
Plenty of them are designed to go fast in a straight line – very fast.
But they’re often not great at stopping and turning.
This Taycan is nearly the alternative. It’s predominantly engineered for cornering excellence and to have the ability to lap a track in ferocious style.
The Taycan Turbo GT also happens to be ludicrously quick in a straight line.
But wait… haven’t we seen this before?
After all, this isn’t the primary time a Porsche has pushed Aussie drag racing rules to their limits. Back in 2011, Motor Magazine ran an identical experiment with a 911 Turbo S – and it too ended up being banned.
They took what then set a brand new performance benchmark to the drags to attempt to get it banned – and likewise succeeded.
However the goalposts were significantly wider back then.
Production cars only needed to do higher than 11.0 seconds or exceed 140mph (225.3km/h) with the intention to get banned.
The 911 Turbo S nailed it, covering the gap in 10.874 seconds at 209.50km/h.
On the time, Motor’s Shaun Cleary noted that it was the fastest acceleration numbers within the magazine’s history.
And, yes, it was fast, although as CarExpert’s own drag race series shows, things have moved on.
On a distant Western Australian runway Paul Maric and Alborz Fallah have run some seriously quick times in some seriously slick machinery.
The Lamborghini Revuelto recently clocked a ten.18-second run at 228.53km/h. The mixture of a V12 engine and three electric motors adds as much as serious pace.
Electrons only
For us, there’s no petrol, with the Turbo GT – something of a performance automobile bargain at $419,000 plus on-road costs – as a substitute employing a comparatively easy two-motor EV powertrain.
Okay, that’s simplifying things barely.
They’re potent electric motors and there’s some tricky stuff occurring in there with electrons. The heartbeat inverter that supplies electricity to the rear motor gets a brand new silicon carbide semiconductor material. Which means it could possibly supply more current – more electricity – to the motors, to create big power.
The GT’s raw numbers paint a sobering picture.
In overboost mode it could possibly summon 760kW. A brand new Attack Mode dials that as much as 815kW in two-second bursts. That’s almost 1100 horsepower – greater than an F1 automobile.
And it’ll thump out a consistent 1240Nm, comfortably blitzing most supercars.
Sure, a nuggety body quells those kiloWatts.
In Weissach guise as tested here – no rear seats, no electric seat adjustment and a complete lot less sound deadening – the Turbo GT still suggestions the scales at a really un-supercar-like 2220kg.
Lining up
Still, the ability numbers trounce the kilos.
It doesn’t take Oscar Piastri to get a Porsche Taycan off the road with ballistic intent.
The electrical hero of the German brand’s lineup is as easy as any automobile to blast down a drag strip.
Select Sport Plus, left foot on the brake and floor the throttle. Release the brake and your head will soon be mashed back into the top restraint.
In Turbo GT guise it’s essentially the most ferocious of any Porsche. And as we soon learnt, harnessing all 1240Nm generally is a challenge, even when it’s channelled through sticky Pirelli P Zero tyres.
That is where we fess up.
Our first run on the drags was on a cold winter night. And one of the best the automobile did was a 9.657-second run at 149.83mph (241.1km/h). That’s quick.
Nevertheless it fell tantalising short – just 0.17mph – from hitting the 150mph goal and being banned.
Throughout the six runs the automobile never launched as hard because it could. Wheelspin was a relentless companion, the traction control working tenaciously to forestall a Pirelli smoke show.
It was a frustrating result. We knew the automobile could go quicker, but temperatures were against us.
Staying warm
The large issue was tyres. Or, more specifically temperatures. A little bit of heat makes them stickier and improves grip.
But there was no method to warm them. A burnout isn’t possible in an all-wheel drive automobile.
And there’s no racetrack to zip around to get some heat into the tyres.
Besides, unlike a combustion-powered vehicle – by which it’s useful to have less fuel within the tank – with an EV you wish as much charge as possible.
Blame it on batteries. When a battery loses charge its voltage drops barely.
How much power an EV makes is decided by its voltage multiplied by its current (measured in amps).
Engineers can counter the voltage drop by increasing the present.
But, equally, many EVs – including the Taycan – will make less power because the battery charge drops.
For this test, Porsche engineers suggested I keep the battery topped way up (above 90 per cent state of charge).
There’s also one other temperature to administer here: the battery.
Batteries don’t like being too cold since it slows down the chemical reactions and means ions move slower. I would like bazilliions of ions moving in a short time.
Ideally, I would like the Taycan’s battery pack above 30 degrees.
With an ambient temperature around 4 degrees, that creates challenges.
Take two
The primary goal of topping 150mph run was so close we decided to try again. One other night, just as chilly.
One decent launch early on night two – when the track was properly prepped and the temperature barely warmer – and it should easily beat the goal.
But, again, the monstrous torque mountain won the traction argument.
After 4 runs we pulled the pin. It was consistently posting 9.6/9.7-second times.
Nevertheless it would just as consistently wheelspin off the road. All of which is value putting in perspective.
Those sub-10-second times are quicker than most supercars can produce, and well into rarefied production automobile air on a drag strip.
They’re the kind of times that reinforce just how blisteringly fast electric Porsches might be.
But we never hit the goal: 150mph.
Back to the drafting board…
Third time lucky…
It was clear tyre temperatures were key to smashing the goal.
In the midst of winter the one thing I could consider were tyre warmers.
Dozens of phone calls later I discovered some – due to the team at DNA AutoSport Australia! – and we headed to Sydney Dragway for a 3rd time with our purple weapon.
The tyre warmers rugged up the 21-inch Pirellis.
We also worked out a method to generate heat within the battery. Once the battery was charged from an AC charger, we then inputted an area 350kW charger into the sat-nav.
The automobile immediately began heating the battery to organize to take the fast charge.
Doing that uses electricity, but because the battery approached 40 degrees we unplugged to then quickly top up that lost amount from the AC charger.
It’s a fragile temperature balance which when timed with the drag run is sufficient to get the center thumping – all while stationary.
Then it was off to the beginning line.
A brand new record
This time around things were very different.
The tyres were somewhere approaching 40 degrees, the battery temperature was somewhat less but still in its sweet spot.
And because the drag race Christmas tree hit green, the Turbo GT leapt forward with newfound ferocity.
There was not one of the chattering, not one of the slip, only a potent forward force I’ve never experienced before.
It’s the kind of mind-bending experience that focuses your attention.
Sure, you’re only driving in a straight line, but there’s plenty occurring. Even through a helmet the wind noise quickly turns into an aircraft-like rush.
The digital speedo is cycling through the numbers so fast it’s seemingly struggling to maintain up.
I later check the official documentation to get an idea of the acceleration.
The journey to the eighth-mile point – half way down the drag strip – took just 5.855 seconds. And the automobile was travelling 196.4km/h.
So the blast to 200km/h took about six seconds. An F1 automobile takes something like five seconds to hit the identical goal.
One other few seconds and it’s over. The run felt quick. It was.
And we’re banned…
Rolling back around past the beginning line, I’m stopped by an official from the International Hot Rod Association (IHRA), the body that sanctions competitions at major drag races, including those at Sydney Dragway.
“You’re going too fast,” he says.
“You wish a parachute should you’re doing over 150mph”.
Seems we went well over that, clocking 156.61mph, or 252.04km/h. The elapsed time was 9.083 seconds.
That’s 10km/h faster than the limit for any automobile on an Aussie drag strip that doesn’t have a parachute.
I’d argue the Taycan has something loads more practical: 10-piston calipers grabbing 420mm carbon ceramic discs up front.
The automobile didn’t have the slightest issue slowing down. But I’m not about to argue that.
The one way we will proceed on the night is by lifting our right foot on the drag strip to make sure we don’t exceed the speed limit.
Where’s the fun in that? Besides, it’s goal achieved.
For now a minimum of, the Taycan Turbo GT is the fastest production automobile you may buy, bolt numberplates to, and blast down an Australian drag strip in.
This Article First Appeared At www.carexpert.com.au
