Porsche Taycan Turbo GT sets new lap record at Laguna Seca

Porsche likes its lap records, whether at Nürburgring in Germany or Laguna Seca in California. These records mean a lot to the German automaker, so much so that it occasionally makes up new ones just to break them.

The latest record is no fabrication, though. Porsche needed something to boast for its model expansion for the Taycan electric sedan, so it brought the Turbo GT and Turbo GT with Weissach package to the Weathertech Raceway in Laguna Seca to see if they could beat the lap record set by a Tesla Model S Plaid. And of course, they did. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t be writing about it right now.

It only took Porsche development driver Lars Kern one minute, 27.87 seconds, to traverse a full lap at Laguna Seca, besting the previous record of one minute, 30.3 seconds.

Porsche believes this is thanks to the new Turbo GT model, which can reach 60mph in 2.1 seconds and boasts a top speed of 190mph. The Weissach package, in which the rear seats are removed to eliminate 157 pounds of extra weight, also played a role in the new lap record.

The new record was set on February 23rd. A few days later, Kern was at the world-famous Nürburgring race course to post a lap time of 7:07.55 minutes — beating the Model S Plaid’s time of 7:25.231.

Automakers love bragging rights, and the Nürburgring’s Nordschleife course is one of the prime battlegrounds. But over the years, the limits of the track have mostly been explored, so there’s not as much rarefied air left for companies that want to claim they were the fastest around the 12.9-mile course.

Both versions of the Taycan Turbo GT offer range around 340 miles on the more optimistic WLTP standard and a continuous 777 horsepower from combining the output of a front motor with a new, more powerful rear motor. The max current is 900 amps, up from the 600-amp inverter used by the Turbo S.

A launch control start can reach a peak power output of 1,019 horsepower. Both Turbo GT models run on the same 96.0kWh batteries found in the Turbo S as well as the same two-speed gearbox, with modifications to support up to 988 pound-feet of torque.

But the new Taycan variant isn’t just for bragging rights; it’s also for would-be track racers and record setters who can place an order for the Turbo GT (with or without the Weissach package) starting today. The starting price is $231,995, because nothing this fast will ever come cheap.