By the numbers: Porsche Taycan 4S Cross Turismo

Tuesday, 30 August 2022

Porsche’s Taycan is a very, very good car. So of course the Cross Turismo is going to be even better, just because it is a wagon.

I have said it before, and I will definitely say it again – if a car is available as a wagon, then it is automatically the coolest version regardless of what other body shapes are available.

Wagons are cool, simple as that.

Porsche has unleashed its all-electric rough-roader, the Taycan Cross Turismo.

Which is why, as cool a car as the Porsche Taycan is, the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo is even cooler. And that’s even taking into account it is playing the “pretend SUV” game with its (admittedly very subtle) black plastic guards, jacked up ride height and ‘gravel mode’.

Yes, that’s right – even the lamest form of wagon that is pretending to be an SUV is still infinitely cooler than your average sedan.

**READ MORE:

But while it is a wagon, it doesn’t exactly offer a lot more cargo space...

* Road Test Review: Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo

* Sunday Drive: Porsche Panamera GTS Sport Turismo

* Five Things: our favourite jacked-up wagons pretending to be SUVs

The Cross Turismo comes standard with the larger battery option, which adds weight. But not too much.

* Meet Porsche's all-electric gravel warrior - the Taycan Cross Turismo

So that is why today we are taking a look at some of the more interesting numbers that the Taycan 4S Cross Turismo generates.

The Taycan’s interior is pleasingly minimalist and beautifully put together. The infotainment system is a bit of a confusing jumble though.

39

While the Cross Turismo (and the forthcoming Sport Turismo version - the same thing, but without the pretend off-roady bits) is ostensibly a ‘larger’ wagon version of the Taycan, its ultimate boot capacity is not a lot more than the liftback – you only get a relatively meagre 39 litres extra over the liftback’s 366 litres, for a total of 405 litres.

But does that really matter when it looks as good as it does? It certainly doesn’t to me…

If you are concerned by the ultimate cargo-hauling abilities of a super-fast sports sedan/wagon, you can take solace in the fact that they both share an extra 84 litres of storage up the front in their identical frunks.

Look at that. Do you really care that it only has 39 litres extra cargo space over the lesser non-wagon Taycan?

105

That extra 39 litres of space does come with a cost, however, as the 4S Cross Turismo weighs roughly around a middle-aged motoring journalist more than the standard 4S. That’s 105kg, by the way.

Clocking in at 2140kg, the 4S Cross Turismo is a bit porky compared to an ICE performance car - the Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo wagon drops in at 1890kg - but isn’t terrible for an EV of the same size.

Of course, it’s not just the extra bit of roof taking up all that weight difference - the Cross Turismo also comes standard with the larger 93.4kWh battery that is optional on the non-wagon version.

420

Does Porsche have enough of a sense of humour to troll Elon Musk by having the Taycan 4S pump out a power output that matches his favourite number?

Probably not, but 420kW is still an impressive number. That is only on overboost using launch control, mind you - the 4S pumps out a still-impressive 360kW most of the time, adding the extra punch when you want maximum attack.

And it’s not really overboost, at least not in the traditional sense which was when a turbocharged engine was pushed briefly beyond its standard power output in certain similar situations - it is basically a balancing act between protecting the engine, but still delivering an extra burst when you really needed it.

Which is something that the Taycan’s electric motors don’t need given the whole powertrain can be wound up to 560kW for the Taycan Turbo S…

224,500

Yes, that is what the 4S Cross Turismo costs in New Zealand dollars. And, yes, that is a quite lot of money, but since were Porsches ever cheap?

In fact, the Taycan 4S Cross Turismo is actually considerably cheaper than the Panamera GTS Sport Turismo that is its closest ICE equivalent in terms of power and performance - the GTS packs 353kW of power and rockets to 100kph in 3.9 seconds, while the Taycan packs the aforementioned 360kW (with 420kW on overboost, remember) and will tick off the 0 to 100 sprint in 4.1 seconds. And the GTS costs $286,800, which is also quite a lot of money.

But both are so worth it…

Read the full review of the Porsche Taycan 4S Cross Turismo here.