The line up for the Porsche Driven at the American Muscle Car Museum.
When you are asked by Porsche Melbourne to test drive the new electric Porsche Taycan Turbo S and then be a part of an exclusive Porsche Stay Driven event hosted by Porsche USA, you don’t spend too long contemplating your answer. It’s as simple as saying “Yes of course” followed swiftly by “When should I be there?”.
The Taycan Turbo S is the performance model of the Taycan line peaking at 750 hp and while it can be a beast on the road when you apply pressure to the go pedal, it is also quite civilized in traffic when it needs to be. With four doors, a pretty spacious backseat for a sports car and all of the gadgets you could ask for (including a list a page long you probably didn’t think could exist), it’s quite a vehicle.
After taking the Taycan for a drive, including a pair of 0-60 runs using the launch control feature, it was time to head back to the dealership and look forward to the Stay Driven event!
Brevard County’s Porsche Dealership, Porsche Melbourne.
The two-day event was geared toward current Porsche owners and a few other lucky souls (myself included in the latter group!) took place at the American Muscle Car Museum in Melbourne where four groups of drivers were met by staff from Porsche Melbourne and several Porsche Brand Ambassadors. Waiting outside were several models including; Cayennes, Macans, Panameras and of course the new Taycans all of which represent the extensive collection of four door Porsche vehicles.
Pretty much all you’ll see of a Taycan Turbo S on the road.
After an introduction from the drivers who would lead the groups out and speak to us while on the road, we were off to Yellow Dog Café in Malabar for lunch.
For the outgoing leg I was given the Cayenne S to drive and having had the opportunity to drive it’s little brother, the Macan, two years ago I will say that as fun as the smaller SUV was to drive, the Cayenne is an entirely different beast. Plenty of room for a family of five, even five adults (whereas the back seat of the Macan is more suitable for two), more amenities available to the driver than most SUVs on the market and plenty of power under the hood (the Cayenne S has 434 hp but you can step up to 541 hp in the Cayenne Turbo and an eye opening 670 hp in the Cayenne Turbo S E-Hybrid!). Getting onto the highway and merging with traffic was no problem and the ride was so relaxing that it was easy to forget what exactly I was driving. Definitely a drivers SUV with the power to pass when needed.
During lunch at the Yellow Dog Café, we were able to chat with the others in the group and ask any questions we had about the vehicles as the Porsche Brand Ambassadors were there with us. FYI, lunch or dinner at the Yellow Dog Café is always a real treat and the view of the Indian River is tough to beat!
The Sloppy Dog at the Yellow Dog Cafe in Malabar.
For the ride back we were assigned different vehicles and I found myself behind the wheel of the Taycan Turbo S (which of course put a pretty wide grin on my face since I knew what it was capable of and could focus on the driving experience instead of looking for the “wow” factor). At the last moment, the photographer Porsche had assigned for the event asked if she could ride with me since I was directly behind the lead vehicle and she needed more images. Knowing that I could help put her in the right spots for her shots I agreed and off we went.
While there wasn’t much maneuvering room on the way to 95, I did turn into a salesperson for a few minutes to show her some of the features the car had since I was familiar with them and she had never been in one. Once we were on the interstate, the Taycan with the power it has just waiting to be unleashed, made it easy to position us so that she could get what she was looking for and yes the lead car was probably wondering what we were doing as we didn’t stay directly behind them the whole trip (hey, it was a working drive after all!). This was the first time I had the opportunity to give the Taycan a little slack in the reins and it doesn’t take much of a push to go from traveling with traffic to getting where you want to be in a hurry. If you have not had the opportunity to drive an electric vehicle with a decent amount of horsepower, the way the vehicle accelerates can be a bit unnerving. There’s none of the hesitation you can experience with an internal combustion engine. It simply goes. And keeps going until you tell it to stop. At least until the battery starts to lose its charge!
The Porsche Taycan Turbo S.
It was an incredible event to be a part of and if you’d like to experience the thrill of sitting behind the wheel of a Porsche, stop by Porsche Melbourne at 509 E. Nasa Blvd., Melbourne FL 32901, give them a call at (321) 306-5985 or visit them at https://www.porschemelbourne.com/.
