At the Porsche Taycan Experience Malaysia 2021 - The Taycan Turbo S and Taycan 4S Driven

Recently, Sime Darby Auto Performance, the chaps who are the authorised Porsche distributors her in Malaysia held the Porsche Taycan Experience at the Sepang International Circuit. The event was held to showcase what the fully electric Porsche Taycan 4 door sports sedan/coupe can do. This is quite a good thing as there would still be some of us petrolheads over in this part of the world who still have second thoughts on fully electric vehicles, even more so an electric Porsche.

I mean, most of us grew up with petrol or gasoline powered cars and Porsches. Even a diesel powered Porsche would raise eyebrows and questions from the traditionalists. So in the case of the Taycan, Porsche's first fully electric production model, would also raise some doubts. This is aside from those who are first adopters of course. First adopters who have deep pockets would not bother buy just buy a car like the Taycan to be the first, but then, even a company which has performance cars in its roots would need to convince more into the fold.

Now from the start the new to Malaysia Porsche Taycan looks like it is essentially a Porsche Panamera with slightly different clothing. It has the same Porsche looks with its slightly bug or frog-like stance like the 4 door sports car Panamera. It has the same interior which still takes after a Porsche 911 from the 1960s albeit modernised. And on paper, it still has that extremely good 0-100kmh numbers even from the base Taycan to the extremely ridiculously accelerating Taycan Turbo S variant. All in all, the Taycan is a Porsche in terms of how it looks inside and out as well as the numbers of a world beater like what you will read in a Top Trumps card game. 

On a personal note, I attended the Taycan Experience event because I was curious on whether something fully electric could be considered as a Porsche. To me a Porsche aside from how distinctive it looks or how similarly its styled over the decades until everyone recognises one is the way it drives. It is also partly about how the internal combustion engine it has sounds, if it were one with the flat-six or boxer orientation engines. But it is also how it drives in terms of steering feel, how you can place the Porsche as precisely in corners the way you want. That steering wheel and chassis responses also make a Porsche a Porsche. This is why I want to experience a Taycan. To see whether the same Porsche experience is there.

But firstly, let's get a few things out of the way. The Porsche Taycan has even in its base form has a range of around 400km. With the higher specced models like the Turbo and Turbo S, it comes with another high performance battery pack. This allows easily over 430km worth of mileage before a recharge. And I do believe this is possible as on the day of the experience, two Taycan, a 4S and a Turbo was doing multiple acceleration runs at the hands of the people who were participating in the event without even a top up charge from what I noticed. The electrical system in the Taycan is indeed a marvel. Most likely due to the higher voltage charging system that the car has.

Secondly, even if you have range anxiety, Porsche Malaysia has set up a grid for those of you Taycan adopters to enjoy its range and its performance capabilities. It has set up a grid of charging stations with oil and gas providers aside from the rapid chargers you can find at Porsche Centres nationwide.Within the next couple of years with the help of notably Shell Malaysia as one of its charging partners, you can easily drive from Singapore to Penang and fast charge your Taycan on your journey. 

As an example, you can start your journey from Kuala Lumpur, stop by in one of the fuel stations equipped with a charger and top up for 20minutes before heading for Penang where you can just head over to the Porsche Centre there for another top up whilst having a cuppa there. Of course, electric car journeys are still in its infancy and you DO need to plan your journeys. 

So on with this article. I managed two sessions with two Taycans. The Turbo S on a quarter section of Sepang's half track, which means I did some short mini laps on my own with it. Then I did a guided half track with the 4S. Thoroughly enjoyed both for different reasons.

But is a quiet Porsche fun? Without something with 6 or 8 cylinders or more? Porsche has partly been the noise experience for me from the days of hearing an air-cooled flat-6 to even the stonking V8s found in the Cayennes. Even the thumping 4 cylinder 3.0 fitted to the Porsche 968 is a good memory as 3,000cc shared only with 4 cylinders is an experience.

However the engineers at Porsche has managed to add a lot of noise back into this Porsche. The noise is slightly different but if you fly often (pre-Covid that is), it is actually something like this from the get go. 

As soon as you press the start toggle located behind the steering wheel things happen in terms of noise. There are some clicks and clacks that you can here from the outside as well as from inside the car. It is like the engineers have piped in the park-brake disengaging and a compressor starts running. Much like an airplane with a turbofan engine powering it. As you move off, the noise is akin to an airplane on a taxiway. There is a turbine-like whine there throughout the drive experience and it does make the car feel mechanical and has some sort of propulsion unit inside it rather than an electric blender. 

This is actually the key to making the experience more Porsche than anything else. Even a Tesla. A Tesla sounds less engaging than this by a heck of a lot. It gets even nicer and louder in the sportier drive modes. So it feels even more engaging.

In terms of warp drive levels of engaging, the Taycan Turbo S is so freaking fast for something that weighs over 2,290kg. The electric motors driving all four wheels inside the Turbo S makes 761ps and a whopping 1,050Nm allowing a dizzying 0-100kmh time of 2.8seconds. I almost blacked out trying it as I wasn't expecting that. The thing about electric cars is that the 1,000nm torque pulls instantaneously, There is no lag whatsoever. It is super fast and even feels as fast as that a modded Nissan GT-R but with no lag. It's bloody epic when you realise that this Taycan variant weighs so much more than that.

Blame the weight on the batteries that are needed to ensure acceleration runs and high speed as well as that over 400km range. It does affect the Turbo S' handling though. You can feel the car WANTS to run wide in corners. Its steering is quick and does try to compensate the bulk and length of the Taycan. 

It is fast and responsive but you can feel the whole car trying to push its nose wide and if you pay attention to the weight transfer, you can feel the car does feel heavy. The immense torque also adds to a bit more fight as if you plant too much right foot, it will always want to swing its tail out if given the chance. Its what 1,000nm of instantaneous torque likes to do. So balance on the happy pedal is key.

But it is epically fast. And if you want the fastest ever electric Porsche ever and the fastest electric car ever in Malaysia or in South East Asia, buy this. 

And also do buy this over something like a Tesla because it is so much more luxurious inside too. The feel inside one is good. The switchgear is all tactile to the touch and while it may have touch screen or touch pads for everything, the million over Ringgit you spent on a Turbo S is actually well spent. Luxury is something that Porsche has managed to do well.

Anyway, so the Taycan Turbo S is great for bragging rights and to make some holes in the space time continuum you should actually get something like the Taycan Turbo or the 4S which I was allowed to drive a couple of half laps of the circuit.  

The Taycan 4S only makes 530ps and 640Nm but it is lighter. It weighs 2,220kg with the performance battery plus set up (what the extra battery pack is called). It may only have a 0-100kmh time of 3.0seconds but honestly it is fast enough and more importantly, it is actually so much more balanced in terms of the drive experience. 

The 4S seems to flow better through the corners and bends. You feel less weight transfer from left to right especially thought the tighter corners. That steering wheel is so feelsome even on something smooth like Sepang. And of course, when torque doesn't try to overwhelm grip every time you mash more than half of the throttle, things get easier. It's all about balance and in most occasions, this is what you want.

I know this could be due to not having Stig levels of skill but I have driven many a car on the Sepang CIrcuit in anger and it is much more driveable in a 4S than a Turbo S. But that being said, maybe you could just lose out through the corners and then reel in your victim on the straights. And if your main forte is beating the crap out of cars on the North-South Highway, the Turbo S is for you. 

But if you are the chap who likes the morning runs up Genting Highlands then something like the Turbo or the 4S is for you. Do note that 3.0seconds to 100kmh is still bloody fast and you still hit 250kmh in the 4S and about 260kmh in the Turbo S. The massive acceleration and high max speed is capable due to the 2 speed transmission that Porsche has engineered for the Taycan. Another technological marvel I might add.

So after all of that, I have to say that Porsche has come out with a fantastic electric car. One that is still a Porsche in terms of how it looks and how it drives. It may not have a flat-6 or something fossil fuel powered, but it makes all the right noises. In a future where most of the developed countries are going towards full electric cars, this is the next best thing. And this is still a good thing.

Model	Years	Power	Torque	Weight (DIN)	0–60 mph (97 km/h)	0–100 km/h (62 mph)	Top speed	WLTP Range[24]	EPA Range[24]
Taycan (79 kWh)	2020–	300 kW (408 PS; 402 hp)	344 N⋅m (254 lb⋅ft)	2,050 kg (4,519 lb)	5.1 seconds	5.4 seconds	230 km/h (143mph)	431 km (268 mi)	TBA
Taycan (performance battery plus)(93 kWh)[	2020–	350 kW (476 PS; 469 hp)	357 N⋅m (263 lb⋅ft)	2,130 kg (4,696 lb)	5.1 seconds	5.4 seconds	230 km/h (143mph)	484 km (301 mi)	TBA
Taycan 4S (79 kWh)]	2020–	390 kW (530 PS; 523 hp)	640 N⋅m (472 lb⋅ft)	2,140 kg (4,718 lb)	3.8 seconds	4.0 seconds	250 km/h (155 mph)	408 km (254 mi)	199 mi (320 km)
Taycan 4S (performance battery plus) (93 kWh)]	2020–	420 kW (571 PS; 563 hp)	650 N⋅m (479 lb⋅ft)	2,220 kg (4,894 lb)	3.8 seconds	4.0 seconds	250 km/h (155 mph)	464 km (288 mi)	227 mi (365 km)
Taycan Turbo (93 kWh)	2020–	500 kW (680 PS; 671 hp)	850 N⋅m (627 lb⋅ft)	2,305 kg (5,082 lb)	3.0 seconds	3.2 seconds	260 km/h (162 mph)	452 km (281 mi)	212 mi (341 km)
Taycan Turbo S (93 kWh)	2020–	560 kW (761 PS; 751 hp)	1,050 N⋅m (774 lb⋅ft)	2,295 kg (5,060 lb)	2.6 seconds	2.8 seconds	260 km/h (162 mph)	416 km (258 mi)	201 mi (323 km)