I miss HSV Commodores.
I was very fortunate that my journalistic career crossed over with the last decade or so of the best sports sedans Australia has ever built. GTS, Clubsport and even the GTSR W1, I feel incredibly lucky to have driven an array of these homemade performance four-doors.
But sadly, with the Australian manufacturing industry gone, all the best sports sedans now come out of Europe and wear more premium badges – BMW M, Mercedes-AMG and Audi Sport. Then there’s the (relative) newcomer to the contest, with an unconventional contender, Porsche.
The German brand already had a large sedan in the form of the Panamera, but when it wanted to take on the likes of the BMW M5, AMG E63 and Audi RS6 Avant, it zigged when everyone else was zagging. The Taycan is an all-electric sports sedan, which is a controversial choice, but makes sense for a brand looking to future-proof itself amid the rising threats of stricter and stricter emission standards around the world.
But there’s an even better reason why the Taycan is a brilliant sports sedan because its electric rather than in spite of it – performance. Having recently spent a week with the Taycan Turbo S I came away further convinced that this is the best sports sedan on sale today. And here’s why.
For starters, there’s the power and torque. Its dual-electric motors punch out a staggering 570kW (with up to 700kW available for short bursts on Overboost) and 1110Nm. That’s even more grunt than the latest BMW M5 can manage with a twin-turbo V8 engine and an electric motor boost (for the record, it’s a still very impressive 535kW/1000Nm).
That power and torque, when tamed by ‘Launch Control’, is enough to rocket the Taycan Turbo S from 0-100km/h in 2.4 seconds. It’s literally sickening, the violence of the acceleration leaves me feeling queasy after a couple of runs. Which it is remarkably capable of doing over and over again with consistency.
Now if you’re an electric car hater, and I can understand there are plenty out there, you’re probably saying ‘but what if it runs out of charge?’ Well, with 626km of range, you’d have to be pretty stupid to run it out of juice before visiting a charger. It’s worth noting, that this updated Taycan which launched in late 2024, has extended the original range from 405km (while bumping up the power and torque at the same time.
But the real test of a sports sedan isn’t what powers it, because there have been great V8, V10, turbocharged six sports sedans before, but instead it’s how it drives that separates the good from the great.
The Taycan is more than capable of holding its own with the rest of the sports sedan industry, and in fact, can feel even better than its internal combustion rivals in many respects. One of the big criticisms of electric cars, particularly performance focused ones such as this, is how heavy they are. At 2295kg the Taycan Turbo S is not a featherweight, but the new M5 tips the scales at 2435kg, so getting heavier is not a problem exclusive to electric vehicles.
But because the majority of that weight, the hefty batteries that allow more than 600km of driving range, is down low in the floor of the Taycan it makes for an incredibly dynamic vehicle. Having driven the pre-updated version around The Bend, I can personally attest that the Taycan Turbo S is a brilliant track-ready sports sedan. It launches out of corners with awesome ferocity and sits nice and flat as you hustle it through the bends.
At the same time, it feels equally capable and enjoyable on the open road, even if you can’t unleash its full potential (or risk big trouble with the law). But, and this is where the Taycan has an advantage over its petrol-powered peers, when you just want to commute the electric motors are whisper quiet and happy to be nice and docile. There’s no V8 engine being restrained, it’s not drinking fuel just to duck down to the shops, it simply goes about day-to-day life with a serene calm.
It’s not flawless, the back seats aren’t the biggest in the class, and the extra power and effortless electric technology does come at a price. The Taycan Turbo S is priced from $373,600, which is a lot more than the $259,900 BMW is asking for the M5.
Still, for those with the money to spend on the ultimate sports sedan, I’d be hard pressed to advise anything other than the Taycan Turbo S. Except maybe the Taycan Turbo GT, because it’s even faster…
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