On a continent that’s seemingly obsessed with speed, the 2025 Porsche Taycan Turbo GT is pretty much perfect.
Back in Canada — not so much.
OK, that isn’t entirely fair. Any one of the privileged few who’ve driven this earth-shattering electric vehicle (EV) knows it’s capable of incredible feats of performance no matter which part of the globe it happens to be. But it’s Germany in particular, with its unrestricted stretches of highway and ribbons of winding country roads, where this technological titan feels most at home.
Peak Porsche
That shouldn’t come as a surprise given Porsche is as proudly German as pretzels and pilsner, but the brand’s popularity around the world didn’t come about because of that intense patriotism. Instead, it’s a willingness to sweat the small stuff that has turned Porsche into perhaps the most loyally followed automaker in the world.
Clubs, collectibles, magazines, and meets, all of them dedicated to that collective devotion — and all because the cars are so damn good. The Taycan Turbo GT is just the latest in a long line of them.
In the case of the Taycan, as with the 911 before it, the fundamental characteristics of this car could be fairly described as flawed. This EV is big and heavy, necessary evils of its battery pack that put it at a distinct performance disadvantage — or at least in theory. If Colin Chapman’s philosophy for Lotus was to first simplify and then add lightness, this Porsche is the ultimate antithesis.
The Taycan Turbo GT is complex. It’s comprised of a complicated web of circuitry that could have an electromechanical engineer on his knees in the time it takes to hit 100 km/h — just 2.3 seconds, for those wondering (that drops to 2.2 seconds with the optional Weissach package). It rides on an advanced suspension system that uses hydraulic pumps and adaptive dampers to counteract body roll and literally lean into corners.
Ah, but Chapman’s principles have been applied here, too. Compared to the already outrageous Taycan Turbo S, this version is down about 75 kg (165 lb) through the use of carbon fibre components and the shedding of a few modern conveniences. How much that matters in a car that tips the scales at some 2,309 kg (5,090 kg) could easily be debated, but in this case it’s the thought that counts.
Swabian Solitude
It’s a damp autumn day that doesn’t look or feel too different from one back home, and I’ve been unleashed into the German countryside somewhere outside Stuttgart behind the wheel of this range-topping Taycan. The roads out here are so narrow they’re nerve-wracking — an anxiety that’s exacerbated by the slick surface beneath the hard-as-hockey-puck tires. (That’s the kind of Canadian context you can expect from your friends at AutoTrader.)
What they need — what I need — is speed. And the Taycan Turbo GT can deliver plenty of it about as effortlessly as possible. Such are the capabilities of a car that uses two electric motors to make an awe-inspiring 915 lb-ft of torque to go with 1,019 hp, which can briefly reach a ridiculous 1,092 hp. At that rate, not even the autobahn and its famed unrestricted stretches are enough for this menacing machine.
See, it’s not the speed this car is capable of that’s the problem — 290 km/h without the Weissach package and 305 km/h with it — but how quickly this Taycan can reach it. To hit 200 km/h takes just 6.6 seconds, or about as long as is required to pray to your favourite driving-related deity that the road ahead is free of the sort of heathens who might slow you down. (Read: everyone else.) Alas, they’re always lurking, ready to impede this Porsche’s maniacal momentum.
It’s not just the numbers, either — everything about this car is exaggerated. Forget launch control; Porsche has equipped the Taycan Turbo GT with an enhanced push-to-pass function called “attack mode.” That’s how to uncork an additional 161 hp for 10 seconds at a time, which is 67 hp more than other Taycan models get.
Beyond the features, there’s more feel here. While the special suspension does an impeccable job compensating for the kind of imbalance that’s inevitable in all manner of driving situations, it doesn’t numb the driving experience. Pressure cracks and stray pebbles that might litter otherwise perfect pavement are communicated through your fingertips with a directness that defies what the critics say EVs like this are supposed be: soulless.
The Taycan Turbo GT might be the most alarmingly agile car on the market. There’s a legitimate risk of oversteer here — not in the traditional sense, mind you, but because the amount of steering input isn’t nearly as much as you might expect. No turn is too tight as the Taycan slinks its way through corners, with only the width of the car on narrow German country roads causing undue stress from behind the wheel.
Final Thoughts
Sadly, Canadian examples of the Taycan Turbo GT — or any Taycan, for that matter — aren’t eligible for the automaker’s European delivery program that allows owners to pick up their Porsches in Germany and enjoy them the way the car gods intended before having them shipped across the Atlantic.
Now before you point fingers, know it isn’t Porsche’s fault. Differences in charging standards worldwide mean any Taycan destined for Canadian shores would be rendered useless in Europe. That’s the one true shame about this monstrous marvel of modern engineering.
To be clear, Porsche didn’t have to build this car — and not because its brand was built on the back of the defiantly designed 911 and its rear-mounted gas engine. Not because interest in EVs has been waning in recent months, either; development of this monster would have started long before then. It’s because Porsche has nothing to prove, and yet it never seems to stop raising the bar — for itself, and for the industry at large.
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