- The Porsche Taycan Turbo GT and Lucid Air Sapphire are two of the most powerful sedans ever built.
- In a new video, Edmunds pits them head-to-head on in a race that incorporates drag race, braking and cornering performance.
- The Porsche may be lighter and have a two-speed transmission, but it can’t match the tri-motor Lucid Air in acceleration.
In 2000, a four-digit horsepower figure in a production car was unheard of. In 2006, Bugatti made it possible in the hypercar market. In 2024, you can get over 1,000 hp in a pickup truck, in a hypercar in a family sedan. Among those family sedans, two reign supreme: The Lucid Air Sapphire and the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT. Now, Edmunds has pitted them against each other.
And yes, me leaving out the Tesla Model S Plaid was intentional. Because it’s one thing to provide 1,000 hp. It’s another to build a chassis and braking system that can handle that output competently, then tune them well enough for everyday customers. That matters here, because Edmunds‘ U-Drag race involves braking and cornering, in addition to the quarter-mile drag race. I’ve driven a Model S Plaid hard on a canyon road, and I can only describe the braking experience as “frightening.” A Taycan Turbo S on the same road was a lot more fun, and quicker in the real world. And now, there’s the Taycan Turbo GT.
The ultra-Taycan offers 777 hp and 855 lb-ft of torque in every day usage, far from the quad digits. But hit the “boost” button and you can get 1,092 hp and 988 lb-ft for 10 seconds. It also has a two-speed transmission to help its high-speed acceleration, and carries a few hundred fewer pounds than the bigger Lucid Air Sapphire.
That extra cash buys you something: Bragging rights. As the U-Drag shows, the Taycan can’t keep up with the Lucid on the drag race portion, and its braking and cornering performance aren’t enough to overcome its power deficit. I’d think that Porsche’s two-speed transmission would help as speeds increase, but the 457-hp gap means the Lucid keeps pulling away. If straight-speed is your drug, the Lucid Air Sapphire is the best dealer in town.
But that doesn’t mean it’s the better performance product. While Edmunds’ test does incorporate a high-speed U-turn, it doesn’t involve as much cornering as a race-track test. There, I’d expect the lighter Porsche to edge out the Lucid, as the Turbo GT achieved a Nurbürgring EV lap record. Even if Xiaomi may have beaten that record, Lucid hasn’t. Yet. So if you want a brutally fast EV sedan, you can’t go too wrong with either car.