Porsche Taycan GTS 2021 Review – International

Slotting neatly into Porsche’s all-electric sports sedan range, the 2021 Porsche Taycan GTS is priced at $237,000 plus on-road costs and is now expected to begin arriving in Australia in the second half of next year – a little later than first anticipated.

It’s positioned slap-bang in the middle between the Taycan 4S (from $194,700) and the Taycan Turbo (from $276,300), with the range book-ended by the base Taycan (from $156,300) and the Turbo S ($345,800).

The sportiest take yet on Porsche’s rival for the Tesla Model S, the GTS features a detuned version of the Turbo S powertrain, a stiffer chassis tune for more agile handling, bigger brakes and sportier styling inside and out.

So at first glance the GTS strikes us as a bit of a bargain compared to the Turbo twins, but leaves us wondering if we’d be simply better off with the regular 4S?

Sadly, Porsche has already ruled out the Taycan Sport Turismo version of the GTS, or any other version of battery-powered wagon for Australia, which is a crying shame.

Without the slightly embarrassing faux 4x4 styling of the Cross Turismo, the Sport Turismo is a stunner. But it’s off the table for Australia due to our apparent lack of appetite for wagons – even those with drop-dead gorgeous looks – and instead we’re only in line to get the GTS version of the Taycan sedan.

On top of the Taycan 4S spec, the GTS gets the bigger 93.4kWh Performance Battery Plus and air suspension. That’s what you can’t see.

More style-conscious buyers will be attracted to the sporty Taycan’s satin black 20-inch alloy wheels, darkened headlights, Sport Design front bumper, side skirts, new louvered diffuser, smoked rear light bar and black mirror caps.

Within, the mood is set by a pair of standard sport seats and lots of Alcantara-style Race-Tex trim, plus a heated steering wheel.

There’s a powerful premium sound system but no option of a wireless phone charger. There is, however, two USB-C chargers both in the front and rear.

Launch control, via Porsche’s Sport Chrono pack, is also thrown in for no additional change, along with a helpful adaptive energy recuperation system. There’s a less useful Sport Sound synthesiser but, from then on, to match the cars we drove at the international launch of the GTS you’ll need to pay a costly visit to the options list.

Our car came equipped with rear axle steering ($4300), Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control Sport ($6870), larger 21-inch rims ($3940), matte carbon door sills ($2200), four-zone climate ($1720), matte carbon interior pack, electric charging point on the driver and passenger side ($1310), a 22kW on-board AC charger ($3500) and, not least of all, Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes ($18,770).

All that adds a further $42,610 to produce a towering as-tested price tag of $279,610 plus ORCs.

The Porsche Taycan GTS comes with the Porsche’s three-year/unlimited-kilometre factory warranty that also includes eight-year/160,000km cover for the battery.

Servicing is every two years or 30,000km, whichever arrives sooner.

Occupying the middle ground between the Taycan 4S and the Taycan Turbo, the new 2021 Porsche Taycan GTS produces a thumping 380kW of power and shares the same 850Nm torque peak with the pricier Turbo model.

Thanks to an overboost function, maximum power rockets to 440kW for brief bursts, and small stabs of the throttle is all you’ll ever need in most road driving, such is the level of performance dished up by the GTS.

Using launch control and relying on the incredible traction delivered by the two electric motors, the 0-100km/h sprint is devoured in just 3.7 seconds, with maximum speed pegged at 250km/h.

Those figures make the GTS 0.3sec quicker than the Taycan 4S and around 0.5sec slower than the Taycan Turbo. The Turbo S version, meanwhile, remains in another league with its 2.8sec 0-100km/h dash.

It’s worth mentioning here that both the standard dual-motor Tesla Model S and Tesla Model S Plaid are significantly quicker than the Taycan GTS, despite likely costing tens of thousands less.

Aussie pricing for the Plaid – which is claimed to reach 100km/h in an astonishing 2.1sec – was set at $186,990 plus ORCs earlier this year, but has since disappeared from Tesla’s local configurator, probably due to production delays and, we expect, rising costs.

Porsche claims, meanwhile, that its Taycan claws back the advantage both on road and track.

Believe it or not, a surprising amount of Porsche Taycan owners have already hit the track with their EV and that was one of the motivations behind the developing the GTS version.

So it has to work on a race circuit, and that explains why Porsche laid out a tight and twisty track test for the 2021 Porsche Taycan GTS at its launch in Mallorca, Spain.

Sustained periods of flat-out driving in the Porsche EV takes some getting used to. Even though it’s 1.5 seconds off the fastest Model S, acceleration is borderline brutal in the Porsche EV.

Then there’s the braking.

The standard Taycan GTS gets uprated, larger 390mm front discs (+30mm over 4S) that are clamped down on six-piston front callipers. However, our car had the enormous carbon-ceramic 420mm front rotors that come as part of the PCCB performance brake option.

As you can imagine, stopping power is mighty – and it needs to be, in order to cope with the considerable 2295kg kerb weight.

That said, initially at least, the way the heavy Taycan steers, deals with changes of direction and is responsive to the throttle is simply stunning, and any doubts of the EV’s sports car credentials are shelved.

Push too hard, carry too much speed, and it’s the front tyres that eventually throw in the towel. But take a more conservative driving approach in the slow stuff and you begin to appreciate why some Taycan owners can’t resist hitting the track.

Sharpening up its responses, the three-chamber air springs that work with the front double wishbones and multi-link rear-end have been calibrated to provide around 20 per cent stiffer spring rates compared to the Turbo and Turbo S.

The GTS also sits 22mm lower than the flagship Taycan, lowering its already ultra-low centre of gravity. From then on, Porsche engineers went about finetuning of the active anti-roll bars and adaptive dampers to boost agility.

Porsche is proud of the new GTS Electric Sport Sound backing track and it does add some aural drama. While no doubt some will prefer it, we traded the artificial racket for the calming sound of near silence both on road and track.

On the road, with the pace wound back, the Porsche Taycan GTS is a joy.

We didn’t find the ride too firm on the smooth roads we took, and only tyre roar and some wind noise disturbed the peace within at highway speeds.

Peel off onto your favourite road and the Taycan GTS genuinely shows how quick it can cover ground.

The steering could do with more feel, yes, but the level of precision delivered (even with the optional rear-steer fitted) is an example to other brands producing EV sport sedans – and combustion-powered ones too.

Even on damp roads the level of traction afforded is impressive.

Porsche claims its Taycan GTS should be capable of covering up to 504km between charges on the WLTP test cycle, which is the longest in the Taycan line-up.

In reality, that 504km figure should be taken with a pinch. Porsche has actually updated the software on all models and liberated a healthy range increase.

The Turbo with the same larger 93.4kWh Performance Battery Plus should also now cover 500km too (up from 420km), but has yet to be homologated.

Since the hardware is no different from other Taycans, the GTS gets an 800V charging system that takes nine long hours to replenish with its 11kW charger.

Find a 50kW DC fast-charger and a 5-80 per cent charge takes 93 minutes, while an ultra-quick 350kW charger should top up the Taycan at up to 270kW, which equates to a rapid 22-minute recharge for a 5-80 per cent top-up.

One bugbear for those who will use the Taycan GTS for driving holidays is its limited cargo space.

Despite measuring in at 4963mm long, the Taycan only has a stingy 407-litre rear boot that is supplemented by a small 85-litre frunk, damaging its grand tourer credentials – if the charging times hadn’t already put you off…

Within the cabin, from its full digital dash and high-tech infotainment system to its separate climate controls, it’s clear the Taycan has been designed for the digital age.

That said, the set-up is still more intuitive than a Tesla’s.

If you’re after the best-driving battery-electric sports sedan currently on the market, look no further than the 2021 Porsche Taycan GTS.

It really is a car that fools you into thinking it weighs at least a tonne less than it is, manages to flatter your driving style and can even cope with a hard day at the track without throwing a hissy fit.

For some, its blend of performance and added visual aggression will be worth the price of entry, and the savings brought over a Turbo, or even the Turbo S, will be appreciated.

For others, a drive back-to-back with the Taycan 4S will fail to uncover any real appreciable benefits in straight-line performance.

But for those keen drivers out there just looking for that sweet spot in Porsche’s all-electric sedan line-up, it’s the GTS-badged Taycan that once again delivers.

How much does the 2021 Porsche Taycan GTS cost?
Price: $237,000 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Second half of 2022 (estimated)
Powertrain: Two permanent magnet synchronous motors
Output: 380kW/850Nm (440kW overboost)
Transmission: Two-speed planetary gear set (rear axle), single-speed reduction gear (front axle)
Battery: 93.4kWh lithium-ion
Range: 504km (WLTP)
Energy consumption: 20.3kWh/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Five-star (Euro NCAP 2019)