Porsche smashes Tesla's Nürburgring record with potent pre-series Taycan

(Image credit: Porsche)

published 4 January 2024

Porsche makes no mention of other manufacturer’s Nürburgring lap records in the press release accompanying its latest feat. However, it does say that the official lap time set by a pre-series Taycan - expected to wear a Turbo GT badge when it goes on sale - is a whopping 26 seconds faster than the Taycan Turbo S Sport sedan that had a go back in August 2022.

German modesty at its finest, seeing as the heavily camouflaged and be-winged Taycan narrowly missed the outright electric vehicle lap time set by the 1,888bhp Rimac Nevera (7.05.30) when it clocked in at 7:07.55 recently. Bear in mind the Nevera is a true two-seater hypercar, not a sporty executive saloon.

"Twenty-six seconds is half an eternity in motorsport. Lars’ lap time of 7:07.55 minutes on the Nordschleife is sensational, putting the Taycan in the same league as electric hypercars," said head of the model line, Kevin Giek, on Porsche development driver Lars Kern’s performance.

"And the impressive thing about it is that over several laps, Lars clocked almost exactly the same time."

The Tesla Model S Plaid holds the title for fastest production EV around Germany’s infamous circuit, posting a 7:25.231 in a vehicle that featured a few cheeky upgrades to its components, including carbon ceramic brakes and special tyres, as well as a reconfiguration of the software to allow for maximum power. You could buy said upgrades, but they sold out very quickly.

However, Porsche looks set to topple that by some margin when this Taycan update goes on sale at some point this year. The model, which is highly likely to wear the Turbo GT badge, will sit at the top of the line-up and feature track-focussed mechanicals and body work.

"I pushed as hard as I could, but that was really all I could do," Kern said on his record-busting attempt.

We will have to wait until March to see just how hard Kern was working, when Porsche promises to publish an onboard video of the complete lap.

Leon has been writing about automotive and consumer tech for longer than he cares to divulge. When he’s not testing the latest fitness wearable and action camera, he’s out in a shed fawning over his motorcycles or trying not to kill himself on a mountain bike/surfboard/other extreme thing. He's also a man who knows his tools, and he's provided much of T3's drills coverage over the years, all without injuring himself.