Whether the combination rear and a little more ground clearance make a difference? Or even accelerate e-mobility? Well, the Porsche Taycan 4S Cross Turismo is above all a statement, and a damn fast one at that – regardless of whether it’s loading or recharging.
Then the others can pack up! Which others? Good question. Because electric sports station wagons like the Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo exist, or better yet, only existed in the Netherlands. No, Spyker has not (yet) been resurrected. Rather, the small coachbuilder RemetzCar buckled Tesla's Model S on a chic backpack there. However, it is questionable whether the Tesla, which has been reworked by hand, could also keep up with the Cross Turismo.
Because when you start, the Taycan can do that easily - or rather several times: You can tense your neck muscles no matter how much. At the latest on the tenth attempt to accelerate with Launch Control - one after the other, of course - the skull lands on the pull-out headrest. While the watch always stops just under four seconds when it reaches the hundred mark.
The overboost power of 420 kW and 650 Nm always catches you unprepared. And this is not the "Turbo S" top model, but only the 4S. You have of course already figured this out from the performance data. Why do we mention it anyway? Well, firstly for the sake of completeness. On the other hand, there is a smooth transition to this not entirely unimportant purchase advice information: Unlike the Taycan sedan, which is around 5,300 euros cheaper, the Cross Turismo is only available with all-wheel drive. With the 4S, which costs at least 111,842 euros, a permanently excited electric motor drives the front and rear axles.
The synchronous machines bring their power (175 kW at the front, 320 kW at the rear) to the 20-inch aero wheels with two gears. And you can feel that. When accelerating hard, the Taycan jerks noticeably at 120 km/h when second gear engages on the rear axle. Conversely, at around 80 km/h, the head nods slightly when downshifting. An unusual feeling in an electric car, especially since the rush of speed up to 240 km/h is accompanied by an artificial warp sound (500 euros).
If you want, you can of course mute the boxes. But maybe you get annoyed about the creaking noises that penetrate the test car from the passenger side. Only a small flaw in the interior, which is otherwise adorned with plenty of carbon, leather, Alcantara, but also plastic. There, the occupants are overwhelmed with information on up to four monitors. Of course it looks great, and after a bit of getting used to it, touching it also works unerringly. Nevertheless, the almost button-free operation is very distracting. But you already know that from the normal Taycan, right?
Good shooting, bad brakes
So let's take a quick look at what's different on the inside – following the roof line that is now three centimeters higher.It is much easier to get in at the rear, despite the wider sills, or buckle up the youngest ones easily on the sporty individual seats. In addition, even tall passengers no longer twist their necks due to the four centimeters more interior height.
It's just a pity that nothing has changed in terms of legroom and consequently the standard seating area. The gain - drum roll, fanfare - is all the greater in the rear. When the chic flap, complete with a continuous strip of light, swings open electrically, climbing equipment can actually be accommodated behind it on 446 liters including the loading floor compartment. Do you have more expansive hobbies? That's fine, then fold down the three-piece rear seat back, resulting in 1,212 litres. Admittedly, that's not exactly lavish for a station wagon. But the Cross Turismo has even more to offer. No, we're not talking about the roof box, which creates 480 liters of additional storage space at speeds of up to 200 km/h. And neither does the 84-litre front trunk, in which the charging cables are accommodated.
Rather, the Cross Turismo in the Porsche commercial likes to drift through deserts and around the Arctic Circle. At this point we can add that the 4S can also do this on gravel in the moderate climate zone. The sculpted wheelhouses are not just ornaments. How far can you actually get off the road? Well, far: To do this, press the Gravel touchpad at the bottom of the console screen. The transmissions now configure their torque control for the best possible traction and minimize speed differences between the axles. Of all this, you only feel that the air suspension fully inflates its three chambers. The clad underbody hovers up to 16 centimeters above the rubble. Using the lift function, the Taycan even remembers off-road passages or curbs, where it regularly prefers to wear its bodywork in a more airy manner. At higher speeds on the road, the Cross Turismo is automatically lowered in two stages by up to 52 millimeters.
Of course, most Cross Porsches will probably not have to cope with more than the gravel road up to their own home. That's why the hill hold function falls into the category: helpful, but rarely used. After all, it holds the Stromer on uphill or downhill gradients without you having to press the brake pedal.
Speaking of which: please tense your muscles again. We're back on the test track, and now we're accelerating negatively. So step hard on the left pedal and the carbon ceramic brakes skip the recuperation phase, with which the Taycan can send up to 290 kW of power back into the battery. Phew, it usually gets hot there, and not just because the thermometer shows over 30 degrees. But this time the delay values leave us rather cold. The Cross Turismo needs 36.9 meters from 100 km/h.By Porsche standards - and you can choose any model from the range - that's a medium-sized catastrophe.
Why is it? Well, when asked, Porsche looks a bit perplexed: The optional ceramic composite brakes for 8,937 euros seem to be in order. After all, it remains fading-free even under repeated heavy use. Nor should it be the weight. Sure, the scales hit 2,360 kg, but that's only 28 kg more than the last Taycan 4S sedan - so you can forget that too. According to the exclusion principle, the ABS control and the tires remain. And that's where it gets tricky. Because the Cross Turismo rolls on smaller and presumably less friction-intensive Michelin Pilot Sport 4 instead of like other Taycan 4S on more grip-optimized Pirelli P Zeros. Conversely, a 130 kg lighter base Taycan came to a standstill after 34.4 meters in our test on these same Michelin tires. So we don't know anything for sure.
Curve discussion
And there is another problem that is not known from Porsche. Because now the Cross Turismo dances around the cones or clears them right away. No, we don't approach the limit from above, but gently step by step. But even at less than 65 km/h in the slalom and 132 km/h in the double lane change, the tires whimper for mercy, while the station wagon understeers towards the test site exit - that's a bit surprising. Sure, the electronically controlled air suspension stays two centimeters higher than usual, but the body movements should actually be better controlled by the dynamic body control for 3,273 euros. In addition, the rear axle in the test car steers for 2,332 euros and torque vectors for 1,488 euros. But when you turn in quickly, the Cross Turismo understeers. That may be safe, but it costs speed and is just not Porsche-like.
Sounds dramatic, doesn't it? But all this is quickly put into perspective on the country road. Subjectively, the steering is still one of the best in its class - even if you think of similarly powerful power combinations with a combustion engine. However, you can't steer wildly, the body mass index and center of gravity are too high for that. So: brake hard, then release, turn in and out of the curve with a slight power slide. At this point at the latest, not only a little electric, but also hardly any combustion engine can keep up. Even if, depending on the driving mode, 360 kW is not always fully available. An overboost button would therefore be great, which, like in the 911, provides full power for 20 seconds.
But enough complaining. Especially since the level is high (no, that doesn't mean the ground clearance) and we're just lounging in strong sports seats with grandiose long-distance comfort.While the adaptively damped air suspension wraps even ailing road surfaces in cotton wool, the kilometers fly by in the carefully insulated Taycan. The consumption: in range mode only 20.8 kWh per 100 km, which would theoretically cover a distance of up to 448 kilometers. But the performance is just too tempting, and so the test consumption of 27.6 kWh determined by us - which corresponds to 336 km - seems more realistic in everyday life. Especially since the minimum value almost doubles with a sporty driving style or brisk motorway stretches.
Problematic? Not really, actually. Sure, charging stops are usually boring, but ideally they are short, because of the 270 kW charging capacity. At the latest now, the Model S Shooting Break could - you guessed it - wrap up. It charges at best with 200 kW.
Conclusion
The weak braking values and the less agile handling cost the electric station wagon one star. Otherwise, the off-road, more spacious and efficient Cross Turismo is the better Taycan.
