Pre-production Porsche Taycan is 18 secs faster than Model S Plaid around Nurburgring

Porsche is currently working on a new variant of the Taycan that offers better on-track performance compared to existing variants.

Although it’s not quite ready yet, the unnamed new variant has already put an impressive display of track prowess with a lap time of 7:07.55 minutes on the Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit.

The lap time clocked by the pre-production car is a whopping 26 seconds ahead of the record set by the Taycan Turbo S and almost 18 seconds quicker than that of the Tesla Model S Plaid.

To illustrate the speed of the new variant at the Nurburgring, Porsche said it would finish lapping the 20.8 km circuit 1.3 km ahead of the Taycan Turbo S.

Driven by Lars Kern, the pre-production Taycan was equipped with a roll cage and bucket seats for safety reasons.

Details about the powertrain are undisclosed, but rumours suggest the variant comes with a tri-motor setup capable of generating a total system output of up to 1,000 hp.

An extra motor on the rear axle allows for better thermal management and advanced traction control.

As for the design, official images released by Porsche show a more aggressive design front bumper, a lip spoiler, as well as a rear spoiler. The wheels also appear to have a different design from the existing options.

According to Porsche, an onboard video of the complete lap will be published in mid-March.