Porsche's 1000HP Taycan Turbo GT Electrifies Fans With Lap Record At Laguna Seca

Porsche just turned its all-electric Taycan sports sedan into a track crusher with two new Turbo GT variants. The GT not only broke the lap record at California's haloed Laguna Seca racetrack with a time of 1 minute 27.87 seconds, it shamed its rival Tesla (the previous record holder) by nearly three seconds in the process.


In the hands of Porsche development driver Lars Kern, a Porsche Turbo GT (with the Weissach performance package) set a new full lap record of 1 minute 27.87 seconds at Laguna Seca in Monterey, California, easily besting previous EV and modified EV records. Before the Turbo GT came along, a Tesla Model S Plaid held the record at 1 minute 30.3 seconds. 

This feat was made possible with Porsche's intent of introducing track-focused variants of its popular Taycan sports sedan. With the new Turbo GT and Turbo GT with Weissach package, the new cars can jet from 0 to 60 mph in 2.1 seconds and top out at 190 mph. Both cars offer 777 hp from front and rear motors, which are also more powerful than the Turbo S (900 A versus 600 A).

With launch control activated, the car temporarily peaks the power to 1,019 hp, and when combined with up to 988 lb-ft of torque (plus 157 lb saving from the rear seat delete that's part of the Weissach package), are likely what helped the car lap Laguna Seca so rapidly. With this kind of performance on tap, range will take a hit over the Turbo S. Porsche reckons 340 miles with the WLTP standard, whereas more real-world EPA ratings will probably be closer to 265 miles.


If you like what you see, both variants are available now for $232,000 and up. And by the way, if you're thinking Porsche chickened out in running the Turbo GT on the famous Nürburgring, think again. A few days after the California stint, Kern posted a time of 7 minutes 7.55 seconds at the German track. The fastest Tesla's Model S Plaid mustered there was 7 minutes 25.23, which makes this a double-whammy for Elon Musk and his pride.