- The 2025 Porsche Taycan Turbo GT sheds 288 pounds with the Weissach pack, adding aero bits and stickier tires, but the extra drag reduces range by 7 miles.
- The Weissach car hits 60 mph in the same 1.9 seconds as the regular Turbo GT, but it’s one-tenth quicker to 70 mph, and 160 mph arrives 0.5 second sooner.
- Lateral grip also improves, as the Weissach package pulls 1.11 g’s on the skidpad, up from the regular Turbo GT’s 1.08 g’s on the same Trofeo RS tires.
Welcome to Car and Driver’s Testing Hub, where we zoom in on the test numbers. We’ve been pushing vehicles to their limits since 1956 to provide objective data to bolster our subjective impressions (you can see how we test here).Bewinged and slathered in Purple Sky paint, our 2025 Porsche Taycan Turbo GT Weissach edition looks like it means business. Open either rear door and you’ll also see how far Porsche has gone in its efforts to reduce weight, because this four-door sedan only seats two. The rear seat has been stripped out. A carbon-fiber thingamabob in its place is emblazoned with “no step” iconography that warns you that this space is for cargo only. Other changes include deleting the Taycan’s signature dual fender-mounted charge ports, so you’ll always have to charge only on one side, like with almost every other EV. You’ll look out through a thinner windshield and live without rear speakers. But that rear seat is gone for a reason: So that weight can be added back in the form of downforce without exceeding the tire’s limitations. The aero changes include front and rear splitters and a sizeable stand-up wing that combine for 175 pounds of front and 310 pounds of rear downforce.But Aero 101 tells us that any amount of downforce comes at the expense of some amount of drag. Frankly, we didn’t know if this 1019-hp machine would be quicker in a straight line than the last Taycan Turbo GT we tested—the first car to hit 60 mph in under two seconds—because the Weissach car weighed 288 pounds less on our scales or if it’d be slower because of the extra drag that comes with the aerodynamic add-ons, particularly at higher speeds. There was only one way to find out.Michael Simari|Car and DriverTurns Out, It Was BothOur first stop was acceleration, because we wanted to make sure the battery was at peak performance. It’s no use depleting the battery on some cornering or braking exercise, although we did gently slalom our way there to put some heat in the tires. The first launch was a monster, with more noise than we expected, along with some slight nagging wheelspin. On the return run, the launch hit just as hard, but it was less of a shock because we knew what was coming this time. We ran it again and again, laying down more rubber each time. This isn’t a huge deal, as this is normal asphalt. Mostly, it was a case of blowing off the dust. Still, turns out runs four and seven (upwind and downwind) were the quickest, which is unusual for an EV, so those are the two we averaged together.The Weissach car was fractionally better at the 60-mph mark than our regular 2025 Turbo GT, 1.887 to 1.904, but it rounds to the same 1.9 seconds. After that, however, the Weissach has the clear edge. At 70 mph, the difference is 2.3 versus 2.4. The difference creeps up from 5.0 to 4.8 seconds at 110 mph. It’s an advantage of 0.3 second at 140 mph, 0.4 second at 150 mph, and 0.5 second (a.k.a. 10.5 vs 11.0 seconds) at 160 mph. In there somewhere, the Weissach passed the quarter-mile at 9.2 seconds and 152 mph, which is one-tenth and 2 mph better and beats both the Lucid Air Sapphire (by a tenth) and Tesla Model S Plaid (by two tenths). So much for the “negative” effects of aerodynamic drag. Also, we verified the Weissach’s 190-mph top speed, which betters the Turbo GT’s top speed of 180 mph.Michael Simari|Car and DriverNext up, we did braking, and this was a mixed bag. The purple people eater and the normal Turbo GT traded blows, as the Weissach did one foot better in the 70-mph stop (140 versus 141 feet), while the regular Turbo GT pipped it in the 100-mph realm: 274 to 275 feet. Still, it must be said that this was just for single-stop honors. If you average the lot, the Weissach wins both contests with a tighter grouping, although by a very narrow margin: 141 to 145 feet, and 275 to 277 feet. Orbiting the skidpad comes last, and this was a clear win for the purple one, 1.11 versus 1.08 g.There Is Always a CatchNow, don’t all go rushing out and buy one, even though there is zero upcharge for the Weissach package. There are a few intangibles you’ve got to think about. For one, you’ll miss out on the chance to sample Porsche’s glorious option list, because most of them are not available on the Weissach. No doubt this is why the weight difference here is 288 pounds instead of the 165 pounds that Porsche says it should be, as our previous Turbo GT test car had the optional glass roof.Michael Simari|Car and DriverAnother thing to consider is that the weight loss comes from that thinner windshield, which means less sound deadening. You hear a bit more noise from the motors, and stone-pecking from the tires is ever-present. It doesn’t show up on the interior-sound-level meters, which are a virtual tie on smooth asphalt, but since when is your road system free of wee stones? Part of this is the vacuuming effect of the Trofeo RS tires, which come standard with the Weissach package; they’re optional on the regular Turbo GT. Hmm. Wait a minute. The optional nature of the P Zero Trofeo RS tires on the Turbo GT is another reason you will pay more for a car that goes nearly as fast as a Weissach yet somehow doesn’t stick as well.Related StoriesSpecificationsSpecifications
2025 Porsche Taycan Turbo GT with Weissach Package
Vehicle Type: front- and rear-motor, all-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $231,995/$233,395
Options: GT silver interior accents and seatbelts, $940; illuminated rear Porsche logo, $460
POWERTRAIN
Front Motor: permanent-magnet synchronous AC
Rear Motor: permanent-magnet synchronous AC
Combined Power: 1019 hp
Combined Torque: 914 lb-ft
Battery Pack: liquid-cooled lithium-ion, 97 kWh
Onboard Charger: 11.0 kW
Peak DC Fast-Charge Rate: 320 kW
Transmissions, F/R: direct-drive/2-speed automatic
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: control arms/multilink
Brakes, F/R: 16.5-in vented, cross-drilled carbon-ceramic disc/16.1-in vented, cross-drilled carbon-ceramic disc
Tires: Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS Elect
F: 265/35ZR-21 (101Y) NF0
R: 305/30ZR-21 (104Y) NF0
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 114.2 in
Length: 195.6 in
Width: 78.7 in
Height: 54.3 in
Cargo Volume, F/R: 3/13 ft3
Curb Weight: 4915 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
60 mph: 1.9 sec
100 mph: 4.1 sec
130 mph: 6.6 sec
150 mph: 8.9 sec
1/4-Mile: 9.2 sec @ 152 mph
170 mph: 12.7 sec
Results above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.2 sec.
Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 2.3 sec
Top Gear, 30–50 mph: 1.1 sec
Top Gear, 50–70 mph: 1.3 sec
Top Speed (gov ltd): 190 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 140 ft
Braking, 100–0 mph: 275 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 1.11 g
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 81/84/79 MPGe
Range: 269 mi
C/D TESTING EXPLAINEDDan Edmunds was born into the world of automobiles, but not how you might think. His father was a retired racing driver who opened Autoresearch, a race-car-building shop, where Dan cut his teeth as a metal fabricator. Engineering school followed, then SCCA Showroom Stock racing, and that combination landed him suspension development jobs at two different automakers. His writing career began when he was picked up by Edmunds.com (no relation) to build a testing department.
Source: caranddriver.com
