Porsche: Off-road trip with the Gravel mode 🎥
READY AT ALL TIMES A ride into a gravel pit over sand, gravel, and crushed stone showed that Porsche's all-electric flat flounder Taycan can also be a lot of fun off the beaten track. Adventure Quarry is the name of the 15-hectare area near Stuttgart that Porsche chose for the tests. The Taycan becomes [...]
Adventure Quarry is the name of the 15-hectare site near Stuttgart that Porsche had chosen for the tests.
The Taycan becomes the Cross Turismo thanks to a large tailgate, increased ground clearance and an extended roof. Performance remains the same - there's plenty of it.
In addition to modified sills and skirts, the Cross Turismo offers an optional off-road design package. A Gravel mode for loose surfaces is standard, which raises the chassis by 30 millimeters via air suspension, which is also standard.
A car of a very different, special kind
In addition, the dampers are set more comfortably and traction control, ESP and torque management are adapted to loose surfaces. Enough to take the fear out of field, forest and meadow tracks. Or even gravel paths in quarries. It all works flawlessly and is also kind of fun.
A family-friendly trunk, more ground clearance, a Gravel mode? Plus an unladen weight of around 2.5 tons and a vehicle length of just under five meters? Is that actually still Porsche? I can reassure you. It is. Somehow even better. Albeit different.
Sport Plus mode with acoustics of a combustion engine
For example, on highways and country roads with tight curves. The all-wheel drive of my Turbo S has no noticeable problem getting the up to 1050 Newton meters of torque onto the road.
As if pulled by a rubber band, it shoots into the fast lane, and noise development is minimal. In Sport Plus mode, a sound carpet is generated to make the absence of combustion engine acoustics a bit more bearable.
Rear axle with a two-speed gearbox
The two synchronous motors have the advantage over asynchronous machines of a more compact design and higher efficiency. A special feature is the electric motor at the rear, which is coupled to a two-speed transmission on the rear axle. The short-ratio first gear promises even more agility when accelerating from a standstill.
One of the most astonishing experiences of an extended test lap was the light-footedness and precision with which the five-door car, which weighs 2.3 tons after all, can be steered through narrow straights and sharp hairpin bends.
From a standstill to 200 km/h in ten seconds
If you stay on the gas pedal for just under ten seconds, you can reach 200 km/h from a standstill. Other electric cars can also accelerate hard.
That's why the Zuffenhausen developers are particularly keen to point out the repeatability of this exercise. No driver should get into the embarrassment of the battery running out of breath after igniting the acceleration inferno several times.
The battery is conditioned before recharging, i.e. adjusted to the prevailing vehicle and temperature conditions. At the fast charging station, it should take just over 20 minutes to go from five to 80 percent capacity.
Depending on version, between 380 and 625 hp output
Four derivatives of the Taycan Cross Turismo are available from the start. The Performance Battery Plus with a total capacity of 93.4 kWh is on board as standard.
- Taycan 4 Cross Turismo with 280 kW (380 hp)
Overboost power with Launch Control 350 kW (476 hp), acceleration 0 to 100 km/h in 5.1 seconds, top speed 220 km/h, range 389 to 456 kilometers. - Taycan 4S Cross Turismo with 360 kW (490 hp)
Overboost power with Launch Control 420 kW (571 hp), acceleration 0 to 100 km/h in 4.1 seconds, top speed 240 km/h, range 388 to 452 kilometers. - Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo with 460 kW (625 hp)
Overboost power with Launch Control 500 kW (680 hp), acceleration 0 to 100 km/h in 3.3 seconds, top speed 250 km/h, range 395 to 452 kilometers. - Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo with 460 kW (625 hp)
Overboost power with Launch Control 560 kW (761 hp), acceleration 0 to 100 km/h in 2.9 seconds, top speed 250 km/h, range 388 to 419 kilometers.
The Taycan Cross Turismo rolls into Swiss dealerships in May and June. Prices start at 112,600 Swiss francs.
All in all, this Porsche is the realized form of the vision of an automobile that fits into the present and that has not exactly taken the future under its wheels at a bargain price.
