Monster Trucks are the total opposite of modern EVs in terms of size, sound, and efficiency, but Porsche thought it would be a good idea to combine them in a stadium show. In that spirit, a Porsche Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo joined a Monster Jam Truck in its natural inhabitant at the NRG Stadium in Texas.
In a one-minute video montage published on YouTube by Porsche, we can see the two diametrically different vehicles doing donuts and power sliding on the dirt track, before the monster truck jumps over the Taycan Cross Turismo for the final stunt.
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Linsey Read, who has been driving for the Monster Jam series for over a decade, sat behind the wheel of the bigfoot truck, making things less dangerous for the EV driver. Speaking of which, the Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo was driven by Leh Keen, who competes with Porsche at the United SportsCar Championship.
Read admitted that for the most part, she couldn’t see Keen’s Porsche from the high-mounted driving position of the truck: “He had to weave around me, so I had to trust he was staying well away. But from the reactions, I’d say he did amazingly well to stay close to me”.
Keen described his experience as racing against a building, adding: “The size of the Monster Jam truck is staggering – it looks like it’s hardly trying, but I glanced down and we’re approaching three-figure speeds, inside a stadium, on dirt. It’s so agile, given its size, but for obvious reasons, I kept well clear!”
Porsche highlighted the similarities between the two vehicles which are limited to the all-wheel-drive, the four-wheel-steering, and the similar power-to-weight ratios. Differences are much more evident. The Monster Truck features a swappable fiberglass body on a tubular steel chassis, an extremely loud methanol-fueled V8 engine, 66-inch wheels, and dual-tube nitrogen-charged hydraulic dampers that can withstand a 60-foot jump.
As for the Cross Turismo, it is the jacked-up version of the Taycan with plastic cladding all around the bodywork, 20-inch wheels, adjustable air suspension, and dual electric motors which on the performance-focused Turbo S trim produce up to 750 hp (560 kW / 761 PS) and 1,050 Nm (774 lb-ft).
