We’ve been here before with the Taycan: as well as the Nurburging lap records and the coast-to-coast charging ones, Porsche’s first EV has also notched up an electric drift record in the past. Back when the rear-drive version was new, it was sent sideways for 26 miles at the Hockenheim drift circle. Now a 700hp GTS is the new model, it’s been sent to up the ante - to Lapland, specifically.
There the Taycan claimed another Guinness World Record, this time for the ‘longest continuous vehicle drift on ice by an electric vehicle.’ Nobody said a record couldn’t be extremely specific. And good luck getting a four-wheel drive GTS sideways on tarmac for more than a split second - snow makes sense. Taking place at the Porsche Arctic Centre in Levi and with an official adjudicator from Guinness Worlds Records in attendance, the Taycan was standard except for the fitment of commercially available Michelin spiked tyres.
Behind the wheel was Jens Richter, one of the instructors at the Arctic Centre, who kept the Taycan ‘in a controlled drift’ for 132 laps of the drift circle, or 17.503 kilometres (10.876 miles). It beats the previous record of 14.809km, or 9.2 miles. It nearly didn’t happen, however, the first attempt abandoned after 11km as the ice track was deteriorating quicker than expected ‘under the extreme continuous load of the drifting Taycan.’ 2,360kg (with the driver in) shredding the snow non-stop will have quite the impact.
But the drift circle held up, and the Porsche Taycan has its fourth World Record. Richter added: “The fact that the Taycan GTS can be controlled so well even under extreme conditions speaks volumes for its excellent chassis and balanced performance." While there are no new GTS Taycans available just yet, both fastback and Sport Turismo of the previous generation - without the 700hp, though still mighty quick - are from £70k. All we need now is some snow…
1 / 5
