First Drive: 2022 Porsche Taycan GTS Sport Turismo Review

The Taycan was Porsche’s first electric car, and it’s safe to say that it went down well. “Universal acclaim” is probably not too strong a phrase to use. With a cheaper rear-wheel-drive version, a couple of frankly bonkers ones in the Turbo and Turbo S, and the mid-range filled with 4 and 4S, you wondered if there was really the need for more versions of the Taycan.

Porsche definitely thinks so. First we got the Cross Turismo, a jacked-up estate-cum-shooting brake thing that delighted and confused in equal measure. Now there’s more. In trim terms Porsche has given the Taycan a GTS spec across the entire range, same as its 911, Cayenne and you name it siblings. In shape terms there’s now the Sport Turismo, an estate. In a world governed by SUVs please don’t ask us why Porsche has made a family estate EV before an electric high-rider, just know that we’re glad it did.

What did the original Taycan need to make it better? Turns out it was to make it an estate. I will admit to having been drawn in by the rugged charms of the Cross Turismo over the Sport. I’m a total sucker for those plastic arches and there’s no way I can deny it. The Sport Turismo is objectively the better looker, but I am but a simple man.

The Sport Turismo does solve what I thought was a slight issue with the Taycan. That is the point at which the roof met the boot. It was a sort of weird compromise of bringing two excellent but independent lines together I always thought. With the Sport Turismo there’s no need to even bother. The boot has to meet the roof, simple.

The rear is lovely, almost too lovely at times. It overwhelms a lot of the rest of the design, so the Taycan Sport Turismo can look a bit stubby from the wrong angle. But the simple answer is to avoid that angle, as everything else is marvellous. The rear light bar seems even more effective inside this estate rear, cutting it magnificently in twain. Then plastic diffuser section just help to balance out the mass of metal and even the totally pointless carbon-fibre aero twiddles fitted to our car (£2,200 for some reason) just make it look better. The optional 21-inch RS Spyder Design wheels are excellent, although a weighty £1,800. The face is pure Taycan, and safe to say it’s a thumbs up emoji.

The GTS version of the Taycan is blessed with a pair of motors, one per axle in case you couldn’t work it out. There’s a single-speed transmission on the front axle and a two-stage ‘box on the rear. The GTS Sport Turismo produces 524PS (380kW) as standard, which is more than enough in a family estate car. But, this being a Taycan, there had to be a mad number somewhere, and yes, look under the mat and you’ll find Sport Plus mode with launch control lurking.

At this point the Taycan will go from “bloomin fast” to “good lord”. Torque explodes to 850Nm (627lb ft) and power jumps to 600PS (440kW). At this point the Taycan will do 0-62mph in 3.7 seconds, which is faster than the easily overly-capable Audi RS6 and makes the sister Panamera GTS seem sluggish. As an aside, the maximum torque sent to the wheel in  launch control is a frankly insane 8,800Nm, but of course not all of that gets to the road (although it feels like it does).

Interestingly the two-stage gearbox feels more noticeable in this than other cars, perhaps due to the slight extra amount of weight over the rear axle, but I’m not sure. There’s a definite feeling of transition as the motors go through their range. Weight is higher than the standard car, as you would expect when you’ve plonked some more metal at the back. But it’s the piffling matter of 90kg which, when the car weighed in at over 2,200kg before really doesn’t make a difference. Not one you’ll notice anyway.

The steering is nicely weighted, definitely toward the firmer side of heavy, but does send you most of what you need to know. This is showcased by the shimmy that can be sent through the chassis when you hit a pothole, which pops up on your wheel’s notifications with the slightest of tugs. The shimmy is the only real time the Taycan Sport Turismo’s suspension will offer anything to raise an eyebrow. It’s all collected up in no time just like every other movement. But don’t except to be cushioned around. This Taycan GTS is gathering up all those bumps with efficiency, the air suspension set to absorb, not float. It’s not unpleasant at any point, just firmly deals with anything it objects to.

The brakes are acceptable. The Taycan’s massive callipers don’t send anything like the information that the 911’s rock-solid pedal gets. But considering it’s balancing regen and physical braking it’s acceptable. There will be the odd moment where you push the pedal further than you might have liked to haul all that mass in.

Together it works delightfully. There are moments when the Taycan just ignores its size (the car is 2.1m wide including mirrors) and weight and feels like a Cayman, steadfastly gripping onto that tarmac without any hint of bother. You’ll feel the effort on turn in as you muscle the weighted steering round, but the car will continue to grip, that excellent suspension just holding the Taycan Sport Turismo flat, as if it’s a steadycam. The only thing really tested on a road is your own core strength. Unless you act like an absolute helmet there’s very little chance you’ll find the Taycan’s really outer edges in the confines of government-managed roads other than the small anti-bite of understeer if you chuck it in with too much abandon.

The GTS is fitted with the bigger long-range battery (93.4kWh), which means a stated range of about 277 miles. We reckon you’re probably looking at more like 210-220 miles in the real world. That larger battery of the two available in the Taycan will charge in five hours from a 22kW charger or 10.5 from the 9.6kW equivalent. With its 800v architecture there is the ability to go from five per cent to 80 in 22 minutes, but there are very few chargers in the UK able to exploit that.

I have to abandon some of my principles here. It has five screens, four in the front and one in the rear... and yet I think it works. Yes, the passenger screen is totally pointless, as the central 10.9-inch display does more and is right next to it. But the driver’s screens are excellent.

The lower touchscreen has haptic feedback and acts instead of the plastic button panel that the Cayenne has. The haptics are some of the best around, but it’s still really easy to hit the wrong one. They are both super clear thought and easy to use. The 16.8-inch screen (yes, you read that right) that replaces the dash is now something we’re used to on Porsches and it’s lovely. I do still wonder why it’s wide enough that two of the sections are constantly obscured by the wheel – you have to crane your neck around to see the outside temperture for example.

Rear space is acceptable if nothing special and the Race-Tex/suede finish on almost every surface is excellent. Even the door handles feel like a higher quality than any of its rivals. The boot space is nothing special, which is perhaps disappointing considering the size of the Taycan’s overhangs. You’ll find 446-litres of space in there, which will increase to 1,200 with the seats down. There’s also an 84-litre frunk for a small bag. Smaller than the 911’s frunk yes, but a 911 doesn’t have a front motor or an estate boot.

Almost the very point of the GTS range – other than for it to perform as well as something exactly in between Taycan and Turbo S, which it does – is to be specced to near perfection. That of course comes at a cost: £104,000 at least. And it’s not too hard to get that into 911 GT3 territory. Our test car hit £131,000.

But there is plenty of kit as standard. You’ll get all those screens (an almost incalculable amount of inches), two-zone climate control, powered boot lid, keyless entry and go, thermally insulated glass, PSM on both axles, launch control, PASM air suspension, 20-inch wheels, lane keep assist, cruise control, parking assistant, parking pre-heat, heated steering wheel, front heated seats, wireless charging and more.

The only things left on the options list that we might miss in an un-specced GTS would be the heads up display (£1,100) and 360-degree parking camera (£522). The optional Bose speaker system is nice, but we’ve heard Porsche’s standard audio and it’s fine.

The question as to why the Sport Turismo exists is one that will just have to hang in the air. It does. Whether the SUV segment was the next that needed an EV rather than the estate is something only Porsche knows.

The Taycan is an excellent car in its own right and the addition of one with a proper boot was never going to get anything other than a smile from us at GRR. The Taycan carries its weight well so the additional metal has made no real difference to the handling of the car. The GTS spec is everything you could ever need and the most horrible thing is that, even at £104,000 for this performance and space, it isn’t that expensive. The likes of the RS6 and AMG E63 estate are lingering in the same market and will then hammer you in running costs.

I can’t justify the Taycan Sport Turismo’s existence in Porsche sales terms, it makes little sense. But in buyers terms it should be total clarity. Why would you buy a big SUV or another petrol-powered performance car when you can have an EV estate? Or if you want an EV anyway why would you compromise with even more mass from an SUV? The Taycan Sport Turismo will carry the whole family, while having a sensible centre of gravity, out of this world performance and great looks so what’s stopping you? Cancel that Cayenne order now.