Base Porsche Taycan with rear-wheel drive is quicker than advertised

Porsche introduced the rear-wheel-drive Taycan in China back in late June 2020, but it’s only now the entry-level variant of the electric sedan is being launched globally. Preliminary tests show it’s been well worth the wait, at least when it comes to accelerating in a straight line. Despite less than ideal conditions, the base version managed to impress in a performance test from Carwow.

Dressed for the occasion in an optional lilac-like Frozen Berry paint, the tail-happy Taycan did the sprint to 60 mph in 5.18 seconds as per the specialist timing gear mounted on the dashboard. Even though the road was damp and Carwow’s Mat Watson had to gently steer the Porsche a bit to the left, it still comfortably beat the official time of 5.4 seconds.

The Taycan featured in the video is the stronger Performance Battery Plus model with 476 horsepower (350 kilowatts) when it’s in Overboost Mode with the Launch Control activated. That doesn’t change the time it takes to hit 60 mph as Porsche says the lesser 408-hp (300-kW) model is just as quick in the sprint. In addition, both flavors of the entry-level Taycan have the exact same top speed of 143 mph (230 km/h).

Mat Watson continued to accelerate past 60 mph to complete the quarter-mile, which took 13.28 seconds. Even though the base Taycan has a single electric motor mounted at the back, the speedy EV had no issues with traction even though the road was not dry. A more relevant test regarding day-to-day performance is how long it takes to reach 70 mph from 40 mph – a task that took 4.9 seconds to complete. It’s not on a par with the beefier and more expensive 4S model, but it should be quick enough for most people.

It’s worth mentioning that while the rear-wheel-drive variant sits at the bottom of the Taycan’s range, this particular car was far from being affordable. It starts at £70,690 in the United Kingdom before options, but this left-hand-drive press car retails for a whopping £108,472. Yes, it has nearly £38,000 worth of options, and sadly, the air suspension is not one of them as the car rides on the standard steel spring setup.

In the United States, the RWD Taycan kicks off at $79,900 plus the mandatory $1,350 delivery fee but before the federal tax credit of up to $7,500. It will arrive at dealers in North America in early spring and it has already been included in the US configurator where you want can spend your virtual money.

Source: carwow / YouTube