Porsche Taycan Sets Off to Break Multiple World Records

By G. M. Saad

Image Source:  Splitshire https://www.splitshire.com/category/automotive/

The all-electric production car broke multiple records including lap times, endurance records, drift records, and enclosed building records during the last few months.

The Porsche Taycan models have participated and achieved multiple feats, endurance, and lap records, and are currently the first-ever electric sports car to boast these performance figures. Although being dedicated to luxury and interior quality, its performance rivals the biggest competitor Tesla.

Longest EV Drift Record

Porsche captivated the world by breaking the Guinness record of having the longest drift record in an electric car with its 2021 Taycan RWD model. The perk of being rear-wheel drive, its perfect for sideways action, and Porsche achieved a blistering 42.171 km drifting distance within 55 minutes of continuous drifting. The drift record run took place in Porsche Experience Centre (PEC) Hockenheimring, which has a circular track of 80 meters in diameter.

To break the record, driver and instructor Dennis Retera had to lap the PEC circular track 210 times while drifting continuously. The track was constantly sprayed with water to reduce friction and tire wear to achieve that long drifting session. The record conditioned that at all times, the car mustn’t face directly towards the centerline of the track. Electronic stability features were turned off to gain total manual control over the car, and longer wheelbases were used to maintain stability. The longest drift record of a combustion car is currently held by BMW.

Highest Speed on an Enclosed Building

Another very interesting record was gained completely inside a building, as the Taycan Turbo S model achieved another Guinness world record of fastest speed driven by a vehicle in an enclosed building. The achieved record speed was 165.1 km/h from a standstill achieved by Leh Keen. The building of choice was the Ernest N. Morial Convention Centre situated in New Orleans, Louisiana. It has one of the longest exhibition halls in the world, and the longest in the US having a whopping 1-million square feet of space.

Photograph by Tom Woodward, distributed under a  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license on Wikimedia Commons

With this record, Porsche broke the 138.4 km/h previous record that stood for seven long years due to the danger and unpredictability of this attempt. As the car has to accelerate from zero to the peak within the building and also needs to brake hard at the right moment. The tires were heated to gain more traction as the hallway itself was very slippery for a car to accelerate. Thanks to being one of the fastest accelerating production cars, the Taycan Turbo S smashed the previous record and is the only electric car that achieved this type of feat.

Atlanta Production EV Lap Record

Porsche also achieved a lap record at the Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, within the production electric vehicle category. The Taycan covered its 2.54-mile track within a record of only 1:33.88 minutes. The track contains technical turns, straights, and elevation changes that test a car’s ability to speed up and control.

To achieve this lap record, Pirelli P Zero NFO Elect tires were fitted on the Mission-E 21-inch wheels, and pressurized at 41 PSI. The elevation changes and sharp turns were tacked with the help of rear-wheel steering and adaptive air suspension. The lap times are verified by the Racelogic VBOX Video HD2 system.

Photograph by Alexander Migl, distributed under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license on Wikimedia Commons

13 British Endurance Record

Another serious edge Porsche has over other electric vehicles is the ability to push it hard on track over and over again that only a combustion sports car could do. In the legendary Brands Hatch Indy Circuit, the Taycan 4S and Turbo S models set out to achieve 13 British endurance records within their 1000 km run. In the seat were some great drivers who prove themselves a force to be reckoned with, including Formula One racer Jonathan Palmer, Sprint GB champion James Dorlin and Le Mans racer Richard Attwood. The run took place from 07:00 am to 20:00, a staggering 13-hour long journey where the cars faced heavy rain and wet conditions as well.

In the run, Taycan 4S broke a total of 7 records, the record within electric cars over 1000 kilograms by going 98.192 km from standstill in 1 hour, including 50 km, 50 miles, 100 km, 500 km, 500 miles, and 1000 km distance coverage. The Turbo S model achieved 252.356 km in 3 hours, 450.065 km in 6 hours, and 915.762 km in 12 hours from a standstill, all of which are new lap records. It also broke 100 miles, 200 miles, and 200 km records. These are the 13 total records broken by the Taycan models, verified by Motorsport UK.

About the Taycan Models

The Porsche Taycan Turbo S, Taycan 4S, and Taycan RWD participated in these world records, are the first full-electric luxury sports car from Porsche. It’s considered the biggest competitor to Tesla as an electric vehicle. The Taycan models offer better interior quality at the cost of being more expensive and having lower electric efficiency than the Tesla models. Upside of being an electric car, the Turbo S can accelerate very fast and can achieve 0 to 100 km/h in just 2.8 seconds. Except for the RWD model, the other two are all-wheel-drive versions.

Photograph by Johannes Maximilian, distributed under a CC BY-SA 4.0 license on Wikimedia Commons

For handling and acceleration on track, the Taycan versions offer rear-axle steering for sharper cornering and high-speed stability, a Dynamic Chassis Control Sport feature that stiffens and reduces roll while cornering, an adaptive air suspension to swap between comfort and track days, and the Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus feature that shifts and changes torque on each shaft, effectively transferring power where needed.

These electric vehicles are Porsche’s answer to the emissionless future, as all of them have 0 CO2 emissions. The Taycan Turbo S has an electric consumption of 28.5 kWh per 100km and the Taycan 4S has 26.2 kWh. Under ideal charging conditions, these models can charge up to 80% from null within 22.5 minutes. The cars can also utilize on-road charging stations situated throughout the world for a quick charge and mileage boost.

Link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LFqR7jAulA

By G. M. Saad

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