How Porsche Taycan Turns Out to Be Faster than Tesla Model S on Race Track

Recently, Top Gear arranged an exciting speed competition between the Tesla Model S Performance and the new Porsche Taycan Turbo S. Despite the fact that the Tesla had an edge in weight and power, the German car came out victorious in the 0-60 sprint. Seems strange? Don’t be surprised, as the victory in this kind of competition requires something more than just power and weight. A well-known youtube channel Engineering Explained gave a clear technical explanation of this result in one of its latest videos.

Check out the full video from Engineering Explained

On the dragstrip, the Taycan posted the time of 2.61 seconds, while the Model S crossed the finish line at 2.68 seconds. It is interesting to point out that Porsche’s result matched the time specified by the German automaker to cover this distance (2.6 seconds), while the Tesla ran behind schedule of 2.4 seconds. The Porsche's quarter-mile was done in 10.69 seconds vs the Tesla's 11.08.

The secret of this result lies in one important powertrain difference between these two great cars, namely the transmission unit. The thing is that the new Taycan features a two-speed gearbox at the rear axle rather than a single-speed unit installed in most EVs, including the Model S. This multispeed solution is assumed to improve performance capacity at higher speeds.

Take a more detailed look at the Taycan’s transmission

When it comes to real driving, 1-st gear stays engaged up to 62 mph, meaning it can increase the torque factor before switching to the more fuel-efficient 2-nd gear.

Full review of this exciting competition from TopGear

Thanks to the use of numerous mathematical calculations, the host of EngineeringExplained channel makes it abundantly clear how the Porsche is able to give more wheel torque and thus more g forces in that 1-st gear, despite stated advantages of the S Model. Once the car comes to the 62-mph mark, the torque rates for either gear get aligned, so the car shifts to 2-nd, allowing the rear e-motor to operate with lower RPM rate.

The Model S, in turn, has just one, unvaried ratio to employ. Thus, it has to apply its single ratio at different speeds. It cannot increase its wheel torque when needed like its Porsche opponent, implying the weaker performance capacity on the track.