Porsche has reclaimed the Nürburgring record for production electric vehicles by lapping the 12.9-mile (20.8 km) historic track in 7 min 33.35 seconds in a Taycan Turbo S.
Development driver Lars Kerns’ time makes the Taycan just over 2 seconds faster than the Tesla Model S Plaid, which recorded a 7:35.58 lap in September 2021. The Tesla had previously beaten the regular Taycan Turbo’s 7:42.34 time set in 2019, but the gap was bigger in reality because the 2019 record was based on the older 12.8-mile (20.6 km) version of the course. Both the Plaid’s 7:35 and the Taycan Turbo S’s 7:33 times are based on the longer configuration.
Apart from its safety roll cage and racing seats and harnesses, the Turbo S was “an entirely standard production vehicle” according to Porsche. But it’s not the standard Turbo S you’d get if you skipped a visit to the options list, because the record was made possible by the fitment of a performance kit that includes 21-in RS Spyder-style wheels with Pirelli P Zero Corsa road-legal, but track-biased, tires and an update to the Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC) system that tunes the cars chassis to work with the stickier rubber.
Related: Tesla Model S Plaid Snatches EV Lap Record From Porsche Taycan At Virginia International Raceway
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The Taycan Turbo S’s 751 hp (761 PS) makes it considerably more powerful than the 671 hp (680 PS) Taycan Turbo, but the fact that it is substantially outgunned by the 1,006 hp (1,020 PS) Model S Plaid and still lapped the track faster is an impressive testament to Porsche’s engineering know-how. Tesla fanboys, however, will also be quick to point out that the performance kit is currently only available in Germany for the 2023 model year Taycan Turbo S, which isn’t exactly cheating, but does seem to be bending the rules a little.
Customers will be able to order the kit through Porsche’s Tequipment division from the end of 2022, and it will then be retrofitted at Porsche’s Zuffenhausen workshops. The company admits the tires are “primarily designed” for track driving, but says owners can switch to less focused hoops whenever they like without having to get Porsche to reset the chassis software.
Officials were on hand to ratify the run, meaning the Taycan Turbo S is officially the fastest production EV at the Nürburgring, though it’s certainly not the fastest electric vehicle around the famous track. That honor goes to the Volkswagen ID.R, which recorded an incredible 6:05.34 time in 2019.
