Porsche Taycan GTS first drive: Getting to the track is half the fun

Porsche Taycan GTS sedan first drive: Getting to the track is half the fun

Electrek.co by Seth Weintraub

[{"selector":"#anim-f6790fbf-d074-44a2-a8f9-e0706c2d8c29","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] For Electrek‘s first drive of the Grand Turismo Sport (GTS) , Porsche brought us out to Willow Springs race track in the high desert, northeast of Los Angeles.

[{"selector":"#anim-6f2fca62-d727-4835-8f65-d529338ffff9","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] The cars it gave us were stock models with nothing you can’t option at a Porsche dealer. Our basic instructions were to try and follow the professional drivers ahead of us and listen for instructions— and that was pretty much it.

[{"selector":"#anim-050b2f57-c7b9-44b8-a337-6aef4a37412e","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Porsche and electrification If you judge your automobile manufacturers by what percentage of their fleet is electrified, Porsche is the Western traditional automotive leader.

[{"selector":"#anim-781b274d-05bf-4a2c-b865-50c279211af9","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Sure, Tesla, Rivian, Polestar, and Lucid are fully electric automobile companies and were founded as such, but we’re talking about electrifying a traditional ICE brand, and there’s no company as “all in” as Porsche is right now.

[{"selector":"#anim-bf5ab131-5477-4b8e-b659-06559d0c278a","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] The Taycan, in just its second full year on the market, is now Porsche’s No. 3 selling vehicle overall, its best selling car, and it recently passed the 911 in sales.

[{"selector":"#anim-19b67719-d51a-4f72-893f-ec6ed070b71a","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Out of the 217,198 cars Porsche delivered in the first three quarters of 2021, 28,640 were Taycans (Porsche also sells PHEVs) — and that puts Taycan at over 13% of Porsche’s overall fleet.

[{"selector":"#anim-faa33ddd-1512-4a2d-94cf-411703ba3b42","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Porsche isn’t stopping with its lead in the Taycan. It plans to produce the Macan Turbo (notice the Turbo version was missing from this year’s Macan refresh?) at the end of 2022 as a 2023 model.

[{"selector":"#anim-d30812ce-c50d-4636-b4a6-8079cfe4baef","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":500,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Read more about my Porsche Taycan GTS sedan first drive and watch the exclusive video at Electrek.co.