Page 23 - MotorTrend (March 2020)

TREND I 03.20
motors to produce more power—482 hp
(562 hp with launch control overboost)
versus 429 hp (523 hp with overboost)
and about 7 lb-ft more torque. The extra
grunt delivers a marginal improvement
in top-end performance, shaving a
tenth of a second off the quarter-mile
time, dropping it to 12.2 seconds.
What that $6,580 really buys you is a
24 percent increase in range, from an
EPA-estimated 201 miles to a Porsche-
estimated 250 miles.
Underpinned by the three-chamber
air suspension and 48-volt anti-roll
system used in the Panamera, the
Taycan 4S rides with the same measured
cadence over large humps and heaves.
But the body motions are more tightly
controlled, and it has less suspension
travel than the big Porsche sedan, occa-
sionally settling heavily on the bump-
stops through the larger compressions.
Steering feel is a little meatier than
in a 911 or Panamera, but the
response is pleasingly linear
with good feedback. The
anti-roll system keeps the
Taycan remarkably
flat through turns,
though you’re always aware of its mass
on changes of direction. Mild understeer
on corner entry is the default handling
mode, even with the optional rear-wheel
steering, but midcorner balance and
corner-exit traction are impressive.
There is no one-pedal driving mode;
all energy recuperation, up to 265 kW
and 0.4 g, is solely through braking. As a
result, the Taycan flows down the road
beautifully, slowing only when the driver
decides to brush the brake pedal.
Although the Teslarati will make much
of the fact the Taycan 4S is a tenth slower
to 60 mph than a Model S Long Range,
costs $26,000 more, and even with the
$6,580 Performance Battery Plus has 120
miles less range, they may be tempted
by the Taycan’s superior build quality,
greater refinement, more luxurious
interior, and more coherent dynamics.
For everyone else, the Taycan 4S is
simply a stylish, fun-to-drive, four-door,
four-seat performance sedan that oozes
Porsche DNA from every pore and costs
no more than a 911. And that may be
enough to tempt them to make the jump
to electric power.
Angus MacKenzie
MIKE CONNOR
MT CONFIDENTIAL
Kia is amping up the Optima. Hyundai-Kia
performance guru Albert Biermann is
rumored to have gotten more involved
in the forthcoming redesigned Optima,
code-named DL3a, so that it can be
differentiated more from the Hyundai
Sonata, especially on the tamer models.
The flip side of that, of course, is there
are some not-so-tame Optimas in the
pipeline. Kia’s midsize sedan is getting
all-wheel drive for the first time, and
there’s also a GT version coming with
a 304-hp, 311-lb-ft 2.5-liter turbo-four
under the hood, hooked up to an eight-
speed dual-clutch transmission. Still on
Kia, the other hot whisper out of Korea
is of a front-engine, rear-drive Kia coupe
powered by the same 2.5-liter turbo-four
as the Optima GT. No other detail as yet,
but it doesn’t take too much sleuthing to
work out it’s likely a production version of
the GT4 Stinger concept revealed at the
2014 Detroit show. With Hyundai-Kia’s
laser focus on beating Toyota, don’t be
surprised if it’s been specifically developed
to go after the Supra, at a much lower price
point. Purists can relax: There won’t be
a Porsche 911 hybrid. The 992 series was
designed to accommodate batteries and
a motor mounted between the engine
and transmission, but the project has
been canceled, according to sources in
Stuttgart. The hybrid legacy lives on in the
latest iteration of Porsche’s iconic sports
car, though. First, there’s the wider front
track and larger vents in the front bumper,
designed to accommodate the battery
pack and cooling. And then there’s the
new eight-speed PDK transmission, which
insiders complain is now bigger and heavier
than it needs to be. Jaguar’s next XJ, due
by 2021, will be all electric; there won’t be
an internal combustion version available.
Daimler, though, is having an each-way
bet. The redesigned S-Class, due late next
year, will offer a full complement of internal
combustion engines, plus a plug-in hybrid
model with a 60-mile range on pure electric
power. Joining it in 2021, however, will be a
full-size all-electric limo dubbed EQS. To
be built on a new skateboard BEV platform
called EVA2, the EQS will feature a large
underfloor battery pack and motors at the
front and rear axles. Unlike the EQC SUV,
which looks much like a regular GLC, the
four-door EQS will feature more dramatic
styling than the regular S-Class sedan.
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