“Saint Moly”.
The commentators at Sydney Dragway Nice the quarter mile run of the Porsche Taycan Turbo GTThis is now officially the fastest exhibition space car to take over the 400-meter route from sticky bitumen in down under.
They knew that it would be quick, but nobody – not even Porsche – thought it would be as fast as it was.
Our challenge was simple: take the new highlight of Porsche’s Electric Car line -up to the drag Strip to see if we can prohibit it too quickly.
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Yes, even in motorsport you can break the speed limit!
Spoiler alarm: We did it.
But it took a few days, almost a dozen ran the quarter mile strip and an understanding of what an EV hunk does (or at least what makes the electrons flow best).
Yes, the journey to 252 km/h in a little more than nine seconds was a little more involved than choosing the start control and captured for a quick explosion of 815 kW.
The numbers crunch
As with any form of motorsport, there are rules and regulations, and one of the big ones with drag races turns – ironic – at speed.
This drag strip is designed for cars that can drive in just five seconds over 500 km/h. Think about it. Zero up to 500 km/h in five seconds.
To do this, you need all possible safety equipment, including a roller cage and a parachute.
There are harder limits for cars without these equipment.
We wanted to attack the rules for the speed that cars can travel with an Australian drag Strip – and also have a blast in an unofficial drag racing record for an unmodified production car in Australia.
Waten through the rules and races and you will learn that every car that exceeds 150 miles per hour needs a parachute to stop it.
Now remember that most things that run down here have something like brakes, tires and dynamic skills of a Porsche.
Many of them are designed in such a way that they go fast in a straight line – very quickly.
But they are often not good to stop and turn.
This Taycan is almost the opposite. It is predominantly for the curve for the curve of excellence and able to hide a route in the wild style.
The Taycan Turbo GT is also ridiculously fast in a straight line.
But wait … have we never seen it?
Of course, this is not the first time that a Porsche Australian drag racing rules has brought its limits. Back in 2011, Engine magazine led a similar experiment with A 911 Turbo S – and it was also prohibited.
They took a new scale on the drags to try to banish it – and also successful.
But the goal posts were significantly wider at the time.
Production cars only had to cut 11.0 seconds better or exceed 225.3 km/h to be forbidden.
The 911 Turbo said it and covered the distance in 10.874 seconds at 209.50 km/h.
At the time, Motor Shaun Clear noticed that it was the fastest acceleration numbers in the history of the magazine.
And yes, it was quick, although Carexpert’s own drag Race Series shows went on.
Daily Sparkz and Daily Sparkz drove serious fast times on a remote Westrewest land railway in some seriously smooth machines.
The Lamborghini Revuelto recently clocked a 10.18-second run at 228.53 km/h. The combination of a V12 engine and three electric motors adds up to a serious pace.
Only electrons
For us there is no gasoline with the Turbo GT-TO Something like a performance car bar at $ 419,000 plus costs for the road-downtight use a relatively simple two-engine-up drive train.
Okay, that makes things easy.
They are strong electric motors and there are some difficult things with electrons. The impulse inverter that delivers electricity to the rear engine receives a new semiconductor material made of silicon carbide. This means that it can supply the engines more electricity – more electricity – to generate great performance.
The raw numbers of the GT draw a sobering picture.
It can summon 760 kW in the above remaining mode. A new attack mode chooses up to 815 kW in two seconds. This is almost 1100 hp – more than one F1 car.
And a consistent 1240 Nm will knock out and most of the super sports cars flash comfortably.
Sure, an nuggety body suppresses this kilowatts.
In Weissach Guise, as tested here, no electrical seat adjustment and much less sound dead.
Line up
Nevertheless, the performance figures swing the kilos.
Oscar Piatri does not need to get a Porsche Taycan off the line with a ballistic intention.
The electrical hero of the German brand is as easy as every car to tear down a towing strip.
Choose Sport Plus, left foot on the brake and floor the gas lever. Let go of the brake and your head will soon be crushed back into the head restriction.
In Turbo GT Guise it is the wildest Porsche. And as we soon learned, it can be a challenge to use every 1240nm, even if it is channeled by sticky Pirelli P Zero tires.
We tie up here.
Our first run at The Drags was on a cool winter night. And the best thing the car did was a 9.657 second run at 241.1 km/h. That is quick.
But it fell tempingly short -only 0.17 miles per hour -when he was reached and banned the 150 -km / h target.
During the six runs, the car was never started as hard as possible. Rheelspin was a constant companion, the traction control worked persistently to prevent a Pirelli smoking show.
It was a frustrating result. We knew that the car could go faster, but the temperatures were against us.
Stay warm
The big problem was mature. Or in particular temperatures. A little heat makes them stickier and improves the handle.
But there was no way to warm them. A burnout is not possible in an all -wheel drive.
And there is no racetrack to get around to bring some warmth into the tires.
In contrast to a combustion vehicle in which it is advantageous to have less fuel in the tank, you would like to have as much load as possible.
Incuse batteries. When a battery loses, the voltage falls slightly.
How much electricity an EV makes is determined by its voltage multiplied by its current (measured in amps).
Engineers can counteract voltage drop by increasing the electricity.
Likewise, many electric vehicles – including the Taycan – will generate less power in the waste of battery charge.
For this test, the Porsche engineers suggested that I keep the battery up to the top (over 90 percent of the state of charge).
There is also another temperature to be managed here: the battery.
Batteries do not like it too cold because it slows the chemical reactions and means that ions move more slowly. I need bazilliions of ions that move very quickly.
Ideally, I would like the Taycan battery pack over 30 degrees.
With an ambient temperature of about four degrees, this creates challenges.
Take two
The first goal of reaching 150 km / h was so close that we try again. Another night, just as cold.
A decent start early in the night two – when the route is properly prepared and the temperature slightly warmer – and it should beat the goal lightly.
But here, too, the monstrous torque won the traction argument.
After four runs we pulled the pen. It was consistently released 9.6/9.7-second times.
But it would also be consistently from the line from the line. It is worth all of this to judge the perspective.
These times of sub-10 seconds are faster than most super sports cars, and into a diluted production car air on a towing strip.
They are the way that intensify how pale can quickly be electrical porsches.
But we have never achieved the goal: 150 km / h.
Back to the drawing board …
Third time happy …
It was clear that the tire temperatures were decisive to beat the goal.
In the middle of winter, the tire warmers were only what I could imagine.
Dozens of telephone calls later I found something – Many thanks to the team from DNA Autosport Australia! – – And we went to Sydney Dragway with our purple weapon for the third time.
The tire warmers stormed the 21-inch pirellis.
We also worked out a way to create warmth in the battery. As soon as the battery was loaded by an alternating current charger, we entered a local 350 kW charger into the satellite nave.
The car immediately started heating the battery to prepare for the quick load.
This uses electricity, but when the battery approached 40 degrees, we equipped the connector to quickly absorb this lost amount from the alternating current charging device.
It is a sensitive temperature balance that is sufficient with the air resistance at the time to knock the heart – and inpatient.
Then it went to the start line.
A new record
This time things were very different.
The tires approached 40 degrees, the battery temperature was a little less, but still on his sweet spot.
And when the drag Race Christmas Tree Green met, the Turbo -GT jumped forward with a newly discovered wildness.
There was nothing of the chatter, none of the slips, just a strong forward force that I have never experienced.
It is the type of intellectual bend experience that focuses on your attention.
Sure, you only drive in a straight line, but there is a lot going on. Even through a helmet, the wind noise quickly turns into an aircraft-like rush.
The digital Speedo cycles the numbers so quickly that it apparently has difficulty keeping up.
I later check the official documentation to receive an idea of the acceleration.
The journey to the point of the eighth mile on halfway the drag striped only 5.855 seconds. And the car drove 196.4 km/h.
The explosion took about six seconds to 200 km/h. An F1 car needs about five seconds to achieve the same goal.
A few more seconds and it’s over. The run felt quickly. It was.
And we are prohibited …
When I rolled back to the starting line, I am stopped by an international Hot Rod Association (Ihra) officer, the body that sanctioned competitions at large drag races, including those at Sydney Dragway.
“You go too fast,” he says.
“You need a parachute if you do over 150 km / h”.
It turned out that we went well and met 156.61 miles per hour or 252.04 km/h. The passed time was 9.083 seconds.
That is 10 km/h faster than the border for every car on an Australian drag strip that has no parachute.
I would argue that the Taycan has something much more effective: 10-piston brake calipers, which reach 420 mm carbon ceramic discs at the front.
The car didn’t have the slightest problem that slowed down. But I am not about to argue that.
The only way that we can continue at night is to raise our right foot on the drag strip to ensure that we do not exceed the speed limit.
Where is the fun of it? The goal is also achieved.
At least at the moment, the Taycan Turbo GT is the fastest production car for which you can buy an Australian drag strip into the Australian.
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