Image Credit: Porsche AG.
There is nothing quite like the smell of burning rubber and bruised egos in the morning. Just when we thought the folks over at Xiaomi were going to spend the rest of the decade gloating about their electric sedan, Porsche has stomped back into the room like a disgruntled headmaster. It turns out, the Germans don't take kindly to a company that usually makes hair dryers and smartphones showing them how to drive around a forest in the Eifel mountains.
Last year, the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra - yes, a car named like a high-end blender - took the production EV record at the Nürburgring. They were very proud of it. But Porsche has been at this since before the internet was a thing, and they've just responded with something called the Manthey Kit. It's a collection of carbon fiber bits and engineering wizardry that has essentially told the laws of physics "you shall not pass."
Image Credit: Porsche AG.
Let's get straight to the "muckle" news. The Porsche Taycan Turbo GT, fitted with this new Manthey Kit, screamed around the Green Hell in 6:55.553. For those of you keeping score at home, that is a massive nine seconds faster than the production-spec Xiaomi SU7 Ultra. In racing terms, nine seconds is not a lead - that's enough time to stop, have a quick sip of IRN-BRU, and still finish first.
But isn't the "new" Porsche just a Taycan with a bigger wing? Yes, yes it is, but it's a wing that could probably double as a dining table for a family of six. This new aero kit triples the downforce. At 124 mph, this electric beast is being shoved into the tarmac with 683 lbs of force. If you're brave enough to hit the top speed of 192 mph, you're looking at 1,631 lbs of downforce. That's a full-grown Holstein cow sitting on your trunk to keep you from flying into the trees.
Image Credit: Porsche AG.
Underneath all that carbon fiber, the Taycan is hiding some serious muscle. In its standard "I'm just going to the shops" mode, it produces 804 hp. But, if you press the Attack Mode button - which I assume is colored "Angry Red" - that jumps to 978 hp. If you really want to inspect your breakfast, Launch Control kicks things up to a terrifying 1,019 hp and 936 lb-ft of torque.
The skeptics among you (and I'm usually the president of that club) will point out that the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra has 1,526 hp. On paper, the Chinese car should be able to reverse time with that much grunt. But as it turns out, having all the power in the world doesn't matter if you can't get it around a corner. Porsche's secret sauce isn't the "go-fast" juice - it's the way the car talks to the road.
Image Credit: Porsche AG.
To make this thing work, Porsche teamed up with the geniuses at Manthey. They did not add a wing and call it a day - they went on a diet. The car comes with new 21-inch forged aluminum wheels with titanium bolts, which cut about 6 lbs of unsprung mass. That might not sound like much, but when you're hurtling toward a corner named after a man who crashed there in the 70s, every ounce matters.
They've also added carbon aero discs on the rear axle, which look properly "daft" but clearly work. The front gets an adjustable splitter and GT3-style gills in the fenders to breathe better. It looks less like an executive sedan and more like something that wants to eat your neighbor's SUV for breakfast. And to stop this runaway freight train, they've slapped on 17.3-inch front brake discs. You could literally serve a Thanksgiving turkey on those.
Image Credit: Porsche AG.
Lars Kern, the Porsche development driver who clearly has no fear of death, said this kit turns the Taycan into the "ultimate track tool." He managed to carry 8.7 mph more speed through the "Lauda-Lefthander" section than he did in the standard car. That is pure madness. It proves that while you can build a car with 1,500 horsepower, making it handle like a surgical instrument requires the kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder only found in Stuttgart.
Look, the Xiaomi is still a technical marvel, OK? But the King has returned to his throne. Porsche has shown that a smartphone can take a decent photo, but it still can't outrun a German with a stopwatch and a very large wing. It's a braw day for electric fans, even if your neck muscles will never forgive you for the G-forces.
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