Is This the Best Electric Porsche? Driving the 2022 Taycan GTS on Road and Track

When Porsche says the new 2022 Taycan GTS is the sportiest electric car the company has ever made, you sit up and pay attention. This is the same firm that gave the world air-cooled 911, and the naturally-aspirated GT3, and whose trophy cabinet is overflowing from decades of motorsport success. It’s no exaggeration to say that, more than any other single company, Porsche defined the modern sports car. You may want to hold off on ordering that Tesla Model S Plaid, then.

What Is It?

Porsche 2022 Taycan GTS in post

The 2022 Taycan GTS is the latest addition to the rapidly growing all-electric Taycan lineup. To complicate matters, the GTS is available in two versions: as the standard GTS fastback sedan, or as the low-slung GTS Sport Turismo station wagon. (The latter is much like the Cross Turismo, but without the jacked-up suspension or the rugged-looking body-cladding.)

In Canada, prices start at $150,100 for the Taycan GTS and $152,700 for the Taycan GTS Sport Turismo.

In total, there are now nine different versions of the Taycan for you to choose from. Yikes. To keep it simple, the GTS is essentially the Sporty Spice of the group.

Why So Sporty?

As the engineers from Porsche explained it to us, the GTS has some small but important tweaks. For one thing, its adaptive air suspension is roughly 20 per cent stiffer than the suspension on any other Taycan. That helps keep its massive weight in check when the going gets fast. Next, the GTS has a more rear-biased power delivery, more-so even than the more expensive Taycan Turbo S. The engineers did that by giving the GTS the same rear electric motor as that top-dog Taycan, albeit with a slightly lower power output.

The front and rear-motors combined churn out 509 horsepower, or 590 hp in overboost, plus 626 lb-ft of torque. (The latter is on par with the Taycan Turbo S.) With launch control, 0 to 100 km/h takes 3.7 seconds, although we’d swear it feels even quicker.

On the Road

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Like every Taycan, smashing the accelerator to the floor in the GTS snaps your head back against the seat. It’s like being shot from a cannon: BOOM. Except it’s nearly silent, save for the fake electrical motor sounds piped in through the speakers, which are actually kind of a fun gimmick.

The suspension is noticeable stiffer, but not Porsche-911-GT3 stiff. You could still commute in the GTS, it’s just not quite as cushy and plush as other Taycans. As ever though, the cabin is a lovely place to be; it feels about as well put together as a bank vault.

For 2022, every Taycan gets a little added electric driving range thanks to software tweaks. During our (admittedly high-speed) blast out of LA to the racetrack and back, the GTS was on track to hit 354 km range. Keep in mind Taycan’s usually exceed their EPA-rated range in real-world driving, but at the time of writing we don’t yet have the official EPA stats. On the way home, a quick stop at a Level 3 DC fast-charger netted us an extra 107 km of range in just nine minutes.

At the Track

Porsche 2022 Taycan GTS in post

Willow Springs International Raceway is a time-capsule. This track in the desert, about an hour and half north of Los Angeles, was opened in the 1950s and it doesn’t look like it hasn’t changed much since then. You can practically hear James Dean or Carroll Shelby still roaring around the place.

They never would’ve imagined that one day there’d be an electrically-powered four-door Porsche sedan absolutely tearing the place up.

The circuit is a roller-coater, a place that bills itself as the “Fastest track in the West.”  The Taycan GTS rushed down the main short straight and thank-heavens for carbon-ceramic brakes. Slowing the 2.3 tonne beast is no easy task, but they’re more than up to it. The car fidgets in corners as the clever AWD system shuffles power where it’s needed, and all you have to do is keep the steering wheel pointed in the right direction.

Switch the electronic safety net half-way off — PSM Sport mode — and the GTS gets so much more fun. Now you can really feel the rear-biased power delivery pushing the car out of corners, tail every-so-slightly askew. You can also steer it on the throttle, which is something we’ve never experience in any electric car before. It’s spooky, and magical, and addictive to make this thing slide around.

You feel the weight under braking and in quick changes of direction, but otherwise the GTS hides its girth well. The stiffer suspension is a godsend on a track. Other Taycans are a bit wallow-y by comparison; the GTS feels more pinned-down, more precise when cornering at speed.

The Best Taycan?

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Whether this is the best Taycan for you depends on what you’re going to do with your EV. If you’re going to fling it around a racetrack occasionally, then yes, the GTS is the best choice. If for some reason you’re looking for an almighty canyon-carving electric station-wagon, the GTS Sport Turismo is what you want. (Compared to the Taycan sedan, it’s got much more rear-seat headroom and extra cargo space.) If, however, you want an electric Porsche as everyday transportation, one of the other, softer, Taycans is probably a better bet.

No doubt: the Taycan GTS is Porsche’s sportiest electric car yet. In fact, we’d go out on a limb and say that, short of any exotic electric supercars, the Taycan GTS is probably the best-handling electric car we’ve ever driven.

Learn More about the Porsche 2022 Taycan GTS here