Two weeks ago, we found out how the new Porsche Taycan GTS sedan handles some light track work—quite competently, as it turns out. But as I noted at the time, few Taycan GTSes will ever take part in a track day, so how the car drives on the road is more important .

We didn’t get a road drive in the GTS sedan, but we did get a few hours’ seat time in that car’s new sibling, the $133,300 Taycan GTS Sport Turismo. And for readers who don’t speak fluent Porsche, that means this one is a station wagon.

In fact, this is not even the first battery electric station wagon. I think that honor goes to the Taycan Cross Turismo, which is basically the same bodyshell with the suspension raised a few millimeters, plus some plastic bumper extensions to give it an ersatz off-roader feel. Porsche would say that the Cross Turismo “exemplifies all-weather, all-road capability” and that this new Sport Turismo version is focused entirely on on-road performance.

Mechanically, the Taycan GTS Sport Turismo is identical to the Taycan GTS sedan. That means a 93.4 kWh lithium-ion battery pack (83.7 kWh usable capacity) feeding a pair of permanent magnet electric motors—one for each axle. Nominal power is capped at 380 kW (509 hp) and 849 Nm (626 lb-ft), but the car will allow for short bursts of up to 440 kW (590 hp) using launch control. Do that, presumably while leaving a highway toll booth, and you should see 62 mph (100 km/h) from a standstill in 3.5 seconds.

Obviously the biggest difference is that the Sport Turismo has a hatchback and a larger cargo capacity. That’s 15.7 cubic feet (445 L) with the rear seats in use, or 42.8 (1,212 L) with the seats folded down. That should make it even more suitable than the sedan for activities like weekend camping trips, although that functionality would be enhanced even more should Porsche decide to add some form of vehicle-to-load ability to future model years. (There’s also 2.9 cubic feet/82 L of storage space in the frunk.)

Porsche will fit the Sport Turismo with its new variable-light panoramic roof. This aims to improve on the electrochromic Panoramic roof in other Taycans, instead using nine liquid crystal panels that can be made increasingly opaque. Sadly, not all of the cars that Porsche brought over from Europe for our drive were so equipped, and I wasn’t able to experience that feature. However, I am already on record as saying that panoramic roofs are a waste of money, and the GTS Sport Turismo did not feel any the worse for having a solid, not-see-through ceiling.

As you might expect from a Porsche, the Sport Turismo is more than competent on the road. Tire and wind noise—far more noticeable in an EV than a conventionally powered vehicle—is minimal at cruising speed on California’s concrete interstates. For long highway stretches, I prefer Range mode, which just uses the rear electric motor for maximum efficiency, although this limits maximum speed to 85 mph (138 km/h).

Our drive out to the Antelope Valley included a number of canyon roads plus the wonderful Angeles Crest Highway, roads upon which the GTS Sport Turismo needed to impress. After all, why buy an electric Porsche if you don’t want to have fun driving it?

Happily, the car did impress. Although it’s powerful, I find the Sport Turismo more enjoyable to drive as a momentum car, like I do with most BEVs. That means conserving energy as much as possible rather than braking hard for each corner only to then just mash the throttle pedal. Like pretty much every new car fitted with electronic power steering, the Sport Turismo has little in the way of actual steering feel, just increasing amounts of weight as you move into sportier drive modes. Despite that, there are still masses of front grip, so you can turn in and coast through most corner radii.

Like all Taycans, the GTS Sport Turismo is capable of very rapid DC charging. As long as you have access to a 350 kW fast charger, you should be able to recharge to 80 percent in about 22 minutes. As with most other EVs we’ve tested, the time is nearly constant. If you arrive with just 5 percent state of charge remaining, you can expect to see the car sucking in as much as 270 kW from the charger. In my case, I arrived at the Electrify America location still showing 38 percent charge remaining, and the charger peaked at 174 kW as it took 22 minutes to return my battery to 80 percent.

Range efficiency is, as you might expect, not quite as good as the cheaper, less-powerful Taycan 4S I tested in the summer. Over the course of nearly six hours and 182 miles (292 km), the Taycan GTS Sport Turismo averaged 2.3 miles/kWh (26.6 kWh/100 km), although that involved much twistier roads than the time I averaged 3.3 miles/kWh in the Taycan 4S. An official EPA rating and energy-consumption number will be available from Porsche closer to the Taycan GTS Sport Turismo’s arrival in the US in spring 2022.

Perhaps the most important factor in whether or not the Taycan GTS Sport Turismo is the BEV for you depends on how much you love the body style. Porsche says it currently has no plans to offer the Sport Turismo with any other powertrain options, so there won’t be a cheaper Taycan 4S Sport Turismo or a more expensive, more powerful Taycan Turbo Sport Turismo.

https://arstechnica.com/?p=1820567