(upbeat music)
- [Henry Catchpole] This is the film that the internet
probably doesn't want me to make because
although it's a little bit about this Carmine Red GTS,
it's rather more about that one.
(engine revving)
(suspenseful music)
The Porsche Taycan GTS seems to have fallen
between the cracks in terms of internet interest
and video views and I think it's because
it's touted as that most unusual of things,
a driver's EV.
Not just a rocket sled
with a wham bam of a sub three naught to 60
but something with nuance and engagement.
And that doesn't seem to have much an audience.
This is though if you love Cobras
and Corvette's then you can't also like an EV.
If you like steak
then you can't also enjoy something vegetarian
like a margarita pizza.
But the two are not mutually exclusive
and I think where praise is due
it should be given this Taycan GTS
is really good to drive.
Not just good to drive for an EV,
it's just really good to drive.
And they got me thinking, why don't we benchmark it
against a non EV,
which is where this comes in
the 992 GTS, perhaps pound for pound
the best 911 on sale today.
And fortunately not just the same color as the Taycan
but also a fairly similar price at around 110,000 pounds.
I know that in isolation the Taycan is brilliant
but by benchmarking it against the quintessential Porsche,
well, we should get the full picture.
Now before we go any further
I want to level the playing field a bit
because there are undeniably areas where
we know the 992 has the upper hand.
So here are three things that I want to acknowledge
but not really get into a discussion about, not today.
The first thing is sound because
well this obviously just sounds better through
into flat six versus well, a silent Taycan effectively.
Except, well we'll come back to that
because I want to do a little bit of an experiment.
How do you feel about cognitive dissonance?
Then there's the fact that filling a tank
with fuel is quicker than charging a battery.
No arguments there, Rachel said quicker.
Not necessarily more convenient
cause you might charge overnight at home, I know that,
but quicker we can agree on that.
And then there's the manual gear box.
Ugh, it is lovely having an H pattern manual
and three pedals
but that's not a conversation for today either.
Right, let's get into it.
And I want to investigate the areas that have
really impressed me about the Taycan GTS.
I wanna start with the steering because this 992 has,
well, some of the best steering in the business,
especially for an epass system,
electrically power assisted system.
It's well weighted.
It does have feel from those front tires.
So can the Taycan hold a candle to the 992?
Do you know what?
I think it pretty much can.
It's so good.
The weighting is just fantastic
and I think the biggest compliment I can pay it
is that it makes a big car feel small.
To that extent, it is like the M5 CS
another car that previously
sometimes felt really pretty bulky and wide
but give it some good steering and suddenly threading it
down a road that's pretty narrow and bumpy feels easy.
This probably turns in more sharply than the 911 actually
but then there's that sort
of mid corner phase where you just wait
but you have the throttle there
that you can pick it up seemingly shorten the wheel base
and really, well, make it feel agile.
This is a car that you can hustle.
Of course good steering is only part of the story.
There is three chamber air suspension
re-tuned specifically for the GTS
along with 20% stiffer anti-roll bars
and it just makes the whole car feel more planted,
connected, and disguises the weight ridiculously well.
In normal mode this is incredible comfort
but even ramp it up to sport or sport plus
and it just deals with these broken surfaces.
This car also has the optional rear axle steering.
It's about 1600 pounds and not a huge amount
in the overall scheme of things with this GTS.
And it would definitely seem to be worth it
because again it just, it helps disguise the mass,
gives this big car an agility
which it has no right to you think.
It's fascinating to compare it
with the 800 kilo lighter 911,
which remains more fun and interactive
but doesn't have the composure of the bigger car
on these sometimes wild roads.
Next, I want to talk about the pedals
and you might think this is an easy one.
In some ways it is.
Brake feel. Good though the Taycan is,
there's no getting over the fact that it has a lot
of weight to stop and it has to deal with re-gen.
This, well, as I've said before,
rather it's with the steering.
Porsche just does some of the best brakes
in the business certainly in terms of feel,
there's none of that sort of over servo feeling
right at the top.
Just lovely progression.
And in this we've got the standard steels, they're great.
The accelerator pedal, however,
and I think we have to call it the accelerator,
not the throttle.
Cause otherwise you'd end up calling it in an EV
something like a turbo or something.
That would just be ridiculous.
So the accelerator pedal,
that's a win for the Taycan,
but perhaps not for the reasons that you might first think.
You'll note we haven't dragged raced these cars.
Another internet fail.
I know I'm terribly sorry, but this is more about field
than just a pure straight line thing that to be honest
doesn't really make any difference.
They're both below four seconds.
This, yeah, it is neck snappingly quick at times,
more so than the 911,
but that's not the reason that this is so good.
The reason is that they've actually dialed
back some of that instant torque.
They've given progression to the pedal.
What that means is just that much easier to
manage the car to really use that lovely instant torque.
Well TVRs used to famously have long throttle travels
as a form of traction control.
This is a bit like that really,
you have to use all of that throttle travel
and that's really nice.
(music)
I think a brief interlude is called for at this point
just to sing the praises of the Taycan's looks
and sport charisma guise.
It's just so cool.
When lots of EVs seem to be intent
on appearing as amorphous and innocuous as possible.
This is stunning.
Look at those rear arches.
Almost indecent and certainly a rival
for the 911's voluptuous hips.
And then we come back to sound because well
with the power of video magic we can give the Taycan
a bit of a helping hand.
(engine revving)
How does that make you feel?
Does it work?
Should we just accept
that EVs shouldn't really make any sound?
Should it be something more synthetic?
Should it be designed by Hans Zimmer
as BMW would have you believe?
In some ways I don't
like the idea of so-called fake noise because
well we've been railing against it for ages, haven't we?
Noise pumped through speakers to overcome the more
muted sounds of turbocharged engines.
But then again, you think about keyboards
pianos that are electric,
they work on the basis of obviously taking the soundscape
from a normal grand piano and synthesizing it.
We don't seem to have much of a problem with that,
so why shouldn't we be able to do it with an EV?
I genuinely don't know the answer
and I'd love to know what you think.
Should we give it up as a bad lot
and just accept that EVs should be silent
or should manufacturers be trying harder?
I find it fascinating.
Just to confuse things further
Porsche has actually upped the ante
on the artificial sound generator in this GTS.
Pop it into sport plus and you get
much more interesting noise,
particularly when the gearbox shifts down.
It's still a little bit, sort of,
like a milk float on steroids
combined with sort of almost like the the sound
of wind whistling through a haunted house
in an old black and white film.
You know what I mean?
But what to conclude about the Taycan's dynamics?
That steering, ride and throttle control.
You put it all together
and you have a car that really is good to drive.
I love the way that when you get into a corner,
yes, you feel weight a little bit, it's just straight there.
You have this sense
that the rear axle is absolutely on your side.
So, you've got the response
from the throttle and the electric motors
and it feels shorter of wheel base and more nimble
and just responsive and really, really engaging.
Just there, really drivable through the corner.
Not just big and lumbering far from it, quite the opposite.
It really wasn't shown up by the iconic sports car,
which while yes, remains more fun,
didn't make the Taycan feel boring.
It is the weight I think
that really sets these two cars apart.
There is 800 kilos between them
in favor obviously of the 911.
There's also that weight distribution with the Taycan.
Obviously all the weight is down low, which has to some
of that sense of being really planted,
and that amazing sort of lack of roll.
And this? Well, it's a 911.
So weight distribution has always been a thing.
The biggest compliment I can give is
that in our days of filming on these great roads
I never resented getting back
into the Taycan after the 911.
And that's remarkable.
I don't suddenly relish a future
without V12s and manual boxes.
Oh no.
But if you like driving, this car should give us all hope.
And what's more, the things it's good at
aren't necessarily merely the preserve of expensive cars.
We should celebrate this car.
It's good news.
Makes me happy.
I just hope enough people have watched this long enough
to spread the word.