Porsche stuck a local hot shoe named Timo in a 911 Turbo S in front of our pack of four Taycan Turbo GTs. Armed with a walkie-talkie and a lifetime of \u2018Ring experience, Timo would guide us around at whatever pace we could manage. I\u2019m fortunate enough to have driven around 50 laps of the N\u00fcrburgring before this trip. I wasn\u2019t intimidated, though my last trip had been in 2019. Blame Covid.<\/p>\n
Regardless, it was most excellent to be back on the track that myself and most other car lovers know to be the greatest place on earth. I remembered about 60 percent of the corners, though I was a little shocked to notice that eight weeks of record-breaking heat and drought had turned the Green Hell quite brown. Sad.<\/p>\n
The first fast lap felt great. The all-wheel drive combined with those relatively normal Pirellis put the power down with brutal authority, and the brakes seemed up to the task of whoaing down the 4,900-pound wunder wagen. The first hot lap.<\/p>\n
During the second lap, things began to fall apart. The brake pedal got increasingly long and difficult to modulate. I found myself inadvertently getting into the ABS in brake zones where I simply should not have been. What had felt like a fine front end just moments before was suddenly pushing and squealing.<\/p>\n
All sense of accuracy seemed to have left the helm. Not only was I truly sweating by lap 4, but the tire screen on the left side of the digital dash was showing bad news. The fronts in particular were roasting away at 169 degrees and 54 pounds of pressure. Not in any way ideal.<\/p>\n
I also noticed that the Turbo GT in question already had nearly 12,000 miles on the odometer. Press car years are akin to dog years, quite rough. I later found out this car had actually been on the launch in 2024.<\/p>\n
As far as battery consumption went, starting with a 100 percent state of charge, my car was at 90 percent after the first (warm-up) lap, 77 percent after the second, 63 percent, then 43 percent, and finally 22 percent after lap 5. Meaning we were increasing our pace each time while the car simultaneously got more and more difficult to drive.<\/p>\n
I made it through the four hot laps fine enough. It wasn\u2019t pretty. I, like the car, was beat.<\/p>\n
Back at our base camp, I\u2019m told to put my helmet back on, as I\u2019m about to set off with Lars as his passenger for a hot lap. The purple car is the same car I witnessed him set the record with at Laguna Seca, as it\u2019s the car given to Manthey to be chopped up and turned into the first working prototype, as well as the car used to retake the N\u00fcrburgring EV record.<\/p>\n
This car is caged, and as we wait, Lars explains that the cage isn\u2019t the advantage people on the internet think it is. There\u2019s no stiffening effect, as modern monocoques reinforced with structural battery packs are plenty stiff. And it adds weight, which Manthey balanced by stripping parts of the interior like the passenger door card.<\/p>\n
The cage is purely a safety thing, he explains, emphasizing that he has three little kids at home. Also, we would need a few corners to warm the tires. Those two last bits put me at ease too. By the time we hit the third corner\u2014a 90-degree right-hander where the proper line is putting the two driver-side wheels on brick under full acceleration\u2014I saw Lars sawing rapidly at the wheel and felt the car squirming for traction.<\/p>\n
“Not warm yet!” He shouted. Oh boy.<\/p>\n
Once the tires did get up to temperature, I was treated to one of the more remarkable passenger experiences of my life. Like all professional drivers I\u2019ve sat next to, the folks who get paid actual money to drive sport such an amazing combination of talent and fearlessness. I\u2019m not sure how to describe what Lars did beyond stating that if aliens came down and compared my lap to his, they would conclude we\u2019re not the same species.<\/p>\n
At one point on the back straights leading up to the Carousel, Lars had the Taycan moving so quickly at such high speeds that I could not understand how he was processing what he was seeing. My brain basically switched off.<\/p>\n
‘Not warm yet!’ He shouted. Oh boy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Then we hit the hard concrete of the Carousel and my helmeted head was violently smacked back and forth between the protruding seat bolsters. I could do nothing but giggle. \u201cYou can really attack here,\u201d Lars tells me. \u201cThe car loves it.\u201d<\/p>\n
After we\u2019re out of the car, I ask him how hard he was actually pushing compared to his 6:55 record lap. He thinks for a second and says, \u201cWith no traffic, that would have been a 7:05.\u201d Gulp. I notice that Lars had taken the battery from 99 to 48 percent SOC on just one lap. Double gulp.<\/p>\n
The Manthey Difference<\/p>\n
![\"Porsche](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/16x9-tr.png\")
<\/p>\n
Porsche Taycan Turbo GT Manthey Kit<\/p>\n
Photo by: Porsche<\/p>\n
Next up, I\u2019m behind the wheel of a Shark Blue 2027 Manthey kitted-out Taycan Turbo GT. The big changes compared to a “standard” car are that the 265-section front wheels are replaced with the rear wheels off a GT3, 305 across and 21 inches high. The rear wheels are 335 wide and also 21 inches tall. Those massive wheels are wrapped in uber-sticky Pirelli P Zero Trofeo RS rubber.<\/p>\n
The front suspension has been tweaked as well to accommodate the larger wheels and tires. Aside from mechanical grip, the other area Manthey focused on was aero. Everywhere you look, the Manthey kit Taycans have surfaces, holes, bulges, slashes, body panels, diffusers, and wings that visually distinguish it from an “ordinary” version. All quite functional, of course, with 1,628 pounds of downforce at 305 kilometers per hour. Which is 190 mph, a speed these cars can easily hit on the Nordschleife\u2019s long front straight. Should be fun!<\/p>\n
We set off again, this time Timo, like Lars, telling us that we only had to drive cautiously for the first few corners as the Trofeos heat up real quick. I\u2019m immediately behind Timo on the first lap (the four Manthey\u2019d Taycans switch position at the start of each lap) and yeah, it\u2019s instantly apparent this modded car is much happier being pushed hard around the track than the “regular” one, Weissach or not.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Photos by: Porsche<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Photos by: Porsche<\/p>\n
The added grip helps everywhere, and sure, putting Trofeo RSs on the other car would help, but it\u2019s as much the increased contact patch as it is pure tire grip. The brakes feel much better, as does stability through corners. I\u2019m not a race car driver, so I find every time I\u2019m in an aero car, it takes me a lap or three before I\u2019m able to “Trust the downforce.” Remember: you\u2019re asking the aero car to do a thing a normal car can\u2019t\u2014it\u2019s a mental game as much as anything else.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not leaning on the aero on this lap, but I\u2019m making mental notes of places where I can forgo the brake pedal and rely on downforce instead.<\/p>\n
About two miles into the second lap, Timo tells us to slow down; there\u2019s been an accident somewhere near H\u00f6he Acht, the highest part of the track. I notice the lights around the \u2018Ring are flashing red, and all the corner workers are waving red flags. A flashing\/waving red, as opposed to a standing one, means that no one is seriously injured. It\u2019s just some bent metal.<\/p>\n
With a pace similar to the day\u2019s initial pace, we flow in formation behind Timo\u2019s blue Turbo until we finally see the poor dark gray Boxster GT4 that spun, crunched into something, and is missing its front wheel as a result.<\/p>\n
“That could easily be you,” my brain tells me as we head back to the four fast chargers keeping the fleet of nine Taycans Porsche brought along fully juiced. It\u2019s going to be a minute before the crash is cleared and the barriers repaired, meaning about an hour. We break for lunch at the Pistenklaus.<\/p>\n
\nIt\u2019s instantly apparent this modded car is much happier being pushed hard around the track than the ‘regular’ one, Weissach or not.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Track now open, I climb back into the blue car. This time it\u2019s just Timo, myself, and a red Manthey piloted by a German journalist named Alex. Everything starts clicking.<\/p>\n
The Taycan\u2019s chassis wants more than 45 degrees of input for most corners. Even when the street tires on the other car were fresh, it just seemed like too much steering angle. Hard to be precise, and I found myself correcting my input several times per corner. By contrast, the 305-section fronts and the rethunk suspension geometry of the Manthey car love the big steering angles the car demands.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a noticeable increase in precision, with the result being you stop thinking about the car and begin concentrating on the track. I was no longer thinking about the long brake pedal; I was thinking about braking points.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the start of the section where my brain shut down as Lars did the seemingly impossible, there\u2019s a nameless left kink. It is quite fast, however, and I remember working up to taking it flat in a previous generation BMW M4 CS.<\/p>\n
For the first laps of the day, I simply couldn\u2019t fully lean into the kink, either reflexively tapping the brake pedal or lifting as I chickened out. This time I decided I\u2019d trust the aero.<\/p>\n
Just blistering, even on that first trust lap. On the second lap of the two-lap session, I went even quicker, registering 129 mph out of the corner of my eye. Timo told us he\u2019d drive as fast as we were able to follow, and in my estimation, we got going pretty good.<\/p>\n
German men don\u2019t fist bump. Rather, when excited, they do that awkward Schwarzenegger\/Carl Weathers thing I stopped doing once I graduated eighth grade. After we were out of the cars, Alex ran up to me, and we embraced, Predator-style. Yeah, baby! Those were the kind of laps you dream about. The battery had dropped from 99 to 52 percent SOC. We were pushing.<\/p>\n
One Last Attack<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Photo by: Porsche<\/p>\n
I\u2019m given one final session in “my” Shark Blue Manthey. This time it\u2019s just Timo and me. It\u2019s even better these last two laps. I\u2019m on the throttle earlier, using all 914 lb-ft of torque to stay on Timo\u2019s bumper as much as I\u2019m able.<\/p>\n
We pass half a dozen other instructor-led trains of fast cars, as were the rules this track day\u2014every manner of Porsche GT product, Ferrari 296s, BMW M3s and M4s, even a weirdly wrapped Lamborghini Revuelto. I realize we\u2019re in an era where weight no longer matters. The engineers have engineered their way around the problem. The only cars we let past us are 992.1 GT3 RSs and GT3 RSs with the Manthey kits, two cars that are quicker around the \u2018Ring than the Taycan by Manthey. Respect.<\/p>\n
As for the incredible electric super sedan that Porsche and Manthey have cooked up, I\u2019m still not sure who it\u2019s for exactly. There are a lot of headwinds blowing against EVs in the enthusiast world right now, and the near-enough $400,000 price doesn\u2019t help. But maybe it will be a Bull Durham situation: build it, and the customers will come?<\/p>\n
Either way, know that the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT Weissach w\/ Manthey Kit will give you one hell of an excellent time on the world\u2019s greatest track. Especially if no one else is using the four fast chargers.<\/p>\n
2027 Porsche Taycan Turbo GT w\/Manthey Kit<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMotor
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tDual Permanent-Magnet Synchronous
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBattery
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t97.0 Kilowatt-Hour Lithium (Usable)
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOutput
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t804 Horsepower \/ 937 Pound-Feet (1,019 HP w\/Launch Control)
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTransmission
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t1-Speed Automatic Front \/ 2-Speed Automatic Rear
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDrive Type
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAll-Wheel Drive
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSpeed 0-60 MPH
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t2.1 Seconds (Est.)
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMaximum speed
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t192 Miles Per Hour
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEV Range
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t230 Miles (Est.)
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCharge Time
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t10\u201380% In 18 Minutes
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCharge Type
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t320-kW DC Fast Charging
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSeating Capacity
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t2
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCargo Volume
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t3.0 \/ 12.9 Cubic Feet
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBase Price
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t$243,700 (Turbo GT w\/Weissach Package)
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTrim Base Price
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t$371,560 (Manthey Kit)
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOn Sale
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tNow
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n
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What would you like to see on Motor1.com?<\/p>\n
\t\t
\n\t\t\tTake our 3 minute survey.\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n– The Motor1.com Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The origin story goes like this: Porsche creates the Taycan Turbo GT Weissach, one of the more improbable…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1162510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[6],"tags":[299434,315607,3606,1838,181078,51,74456,106131,95915,315608,15909,315606,315603,2185,190983,315604,315605,312167,72711,58033,315609,315610,16,15,23576],"class_list":["post-1162509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-advanced-adas","tag-audi-rs-e-tron-gt","tag-b2c","tag-bentley","tag-bev","tag-business","tag-fast-charging","tag-high-performance","tag-lamborghini","tag-lucid-air-sapphire","tag-luxury","tag-manthey","tag-new-car-reviews","tag-porsche","tag-porsche-taycan","tag-porsche-taycan-turbo-gt-weissach","tag-porsche-taycan-turbo-gt-weissach-manthey-kit","tag-racing-oriented","tag-sedan","tag-sporty","tag-tesla-model-s-plaid","tag-test-drive","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-volkswagen-group"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117137463406384192","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1162509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1162509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1162509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1162510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1162509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1162509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1162509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}