From Taycan Turbo S to 911 Targa 4 GTS

Each time I went up to Porsche Centre Dublin – the only Porsche dealer in the Republic of Ireland – I had a 911 in my head. I mean, that’s what a real Porsche is, right? Certainly it’s what I’d imagined ever since I was a kid dreaming of owning one.

But each time I was actually in a position to buy a Porsche, I ended up ordering a four-door. The 911 always felt a bit too specific, too impractical as a main car for all our use cases. And in Ireland… too expensive for the spec I wanted.

The first was a Panamera Turbo S Hybrid in Volcano Grey, mostly because I didn’t want to be flashy. A few weeks later the pandemic hit, and the car barely moved. But it gave me a taste for electric power, and once the Taycan started landing in the dealership, my curiosity was well and truly caught.

So I ordered an over-specced Taycan 4S in Neptune Blue with a Blackberry interior – a bit more adventurous. And that’s really where the idea of long, fast European EV road trips was born. As Taycans became popular – and held their value – I swapped it for a near-identical Taycan Turbo S, and the touring continued.

Like anyone buying an EV, I worried about charging on the road. But with a bit (read: a lot) of planning – something I actually enjoyed – it never really held us back. Maybe a little north of Inverness, but even that was manageable.

By the end of our most recent road trip to Norway, it was clear charging had become so plentiful that my meticulous planning was basically overkill.

And the Taycan gave us plenty of smiles – the explosive, near-silent acceleration, or walking out of a hotel in the morning to find a fully charged car waiting.

But the lure of the 911 never went away. And it’s an itch I’ve finally decided to scratch. With the insane tax here – 68% in Ireland – they’re wildly expensive new, and used cars rarely have the options I’ve convinced myself I need.

All the talk of it being a “driver’s car” wasn’t going to persuade me that I didn’t want adaptive cruise control for 1,000 km motorway days.

Then, last week, a 12-month-old 911 Targa 4 GTS showed up at the dealership. When I saw it had Night Vision Assist – something that genuinely saved us twice in Scandinavia in the Taycan – I knew it was worth a look. Nobody specs Night Vision Assist until they’ve ticked nearly every other box. And on this car, the original owner clearly had.

My co-driver was a bit sceptical about luggage space, but that evaporated the moment she sat inside. We could make this work.

We've always been attracted to quirky and compromised cars – and I think the Targa fits that bill perfectly. So with some careful study of the Porsche loading options (PDF) document, we grew in confidence that this would be our next road trip car.

We pick it up this May 2nd – but we're not leaving electric mobility behind – in fact, I predict our brilliantFiat 500 EV – will get even more daily use.

We look forward to the new road trip challenges this car will throw up – and learn about what we prefer and what we miss about our Taycan. Not looking forward to driving a car without any regenerative braking. Or what it will do to brake pads!

Whoever the new owner of our Turbo S is will be getting a brilliant car that has settled down into a very reliable machine.