HRoi
Stylish Dinosaur
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2008
- Messages
- 25,295
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Ok, here goes. I drove a Turbo (not S) in about 10 miles of city and highway driving. No launches allowed, unfortunately.
Overall verdict: i think Porsche made an EV that will satisfy Porsche fanbois and ‘car guys’ as being a true Porsche.
Exterior: wow. It’s a very pretty vehicle, despite not being as crazy as the mission e. To me, it’s the prettiest four door Porsche ever, with apologies to my own Macan GTS
Interior: this is how it’s done, Tesla. The interior of this car will not embarrass itself against any car out there, as it shouldn’t for a $150k car. My test car was exactly like my old Macan Turbo - red seats with black trim and deviated stitching. I really liked the pano roof, although in FL the lack of a sunshade will be a problem. Legroom is adequate, similar to Macan.
Cargo space: not great. Because of the batteries, the trunk has a high floor. Somewhat compensated by a frunk, but that frunk is like 2/3d’s the size of the Cayman or 911’s.
Power: it’s utter lunacy. There’s a mountain of torque from any speed, instantaneously. I punched the throttle from a standstill and the g-forces knocked the phone out of my wife’s hand. I deliberately drove the McLaren to the dealership so I could drive them back to back and i think the Taycan Turbo can take it off the line...maybe not by much. Street acceleration, I’d say that of the cars I’ve driven it feels the most like a F90 M5, but the M5 is heavier-feeling (i know it’s actually lighter) and more ponderous..it also feels less able to stop.
Steering: as good as any EPAS system out there. Porsche does it again. No RWS and much more weight than a GT3, so it’s not as nimble as that car, but still...Porsche makes the best modern steering system right now.
Handling: i can see what they say about low center of gravity. Car is planted at x2 the speed limit on long sweepers and very nimble for its weight on quick moves like lane changes. You can feel the weight transfer a little slowly during side to side moves, but..no ****. It’s a heavy car
Range: Iono. I was given the car with 240 miles on the display. After some initial aggressive driving it went down to 230 in the first half mile, and then it went down to 228 in the next 9.5 miles. It’s still a concern for me but i didn’t have it enough for anything conclusive.
Other stuff: i actually liked the tron-like engine noise. Felt like i was still driving a car. Regenerative braking is a LOT less shocking than Tesla’s and felt like normal ICE engine braking to me. Controls are intuitive but I’m not sure if i like the menu-driven controls over the 1-button-per-function approach of previous gen Porsche. Tesla’s huge main screen still has far more ‘wow factor’ than Porsche’s interface.
Price: get a Tesla if you want to win by numbers. The Taycan doesn’t offer much more incremental performance for the additional cost, and at least as of right now, the range is a big question mark for the Porsche. Very few people truly care if the Taycan can beat the Model S around the Nurburgring (and i suspect exactly 0 in North America).
The Taycan is for people who want a Porsche EV. And if that was the objective, it’s 100% mission accomplished. People who don’t get the Taycan are the same folks who’d get a Hellcat or a GTR because it would beat a 911 in this test or that test. And that’s totally fine. But the people who want what Porsche offers will gladly pay $50k more for a Taycan
Overall verdict: i think Porsche made an EV that will satisfy Porsche fanbois and ‘car guys’ as being a true Porsche.
Exterior: wow. It’s a very pretty vehicle, despite not being as crazy as the mission e. To me, it’s the prettiest four door Porsche ever, with apologies to my own Macan GTS
Interior: this is how it’s done, Tesla. The interior of this car will not embarrass itself against any car out there, as it shouldn’t for a $150k car. My test car was exactly like my old Macan Turbo - red seats with black trim and deviated stitching. I really liked the pano roof, although in FL the lack of a sunshade will be a problem. Legroom is adequate, similar to Macan.
Cargo space: not great. Because of the batteries, the trunk has a high floor. Somewhat compensated by a frunk, but that frunk is like 2/3d’s the size of the Cayman or 911’s.
Power: it’s utter lunacy. There’s a mountain of torque from any speed, instantaneously. I punched the throttle from a standstill and the g-forces knocked the phone out of my wife’s hand. I deliberately drove the McLaren to the dealership so I could drive them back to back and i think the Taycan Turbo can take it off the line...maybe not by much. Street acceleration, I’d say that of the cars I’ve driven it feels the most like a F90 M5, but the M5 is heavier-feeling (i know it’s actually lighter) and more ponderous..it also feels less able to stop.
Steering: as good as any EPAS system out there. Porsche does it again. No RWS and much more weight than a GT3, so it’s not as nimble as that car, but still...Porsche makes the best modern steering system right now.
Handling: i can see what they say about low center of gravity. Car is planted at x2 the speed limit on long sweepers and very nimble for its weight on quick moves like lane changes. You can feel the weight transfer a little slowly during side to side moves, but..no ****. It’s a heavy car
Range: Iono. I was given the car with 240 miles on the display. After some initial aggressive driving it went down to 230 in the first half mile, and then it went down to 228 in the next 9.5 miles. It’s still a concern for me but i didn’t have it enough for anything conclusive.
Other stuff: i actually liked the tron-like engine noise. Felt like i was still driving a car. Regenerative braking is a LOT less shocking than Tesla’s and felt like normal ICE engine braking to me. Controls are intuitive but I’m not sure if i like the menu-driven controls over the 1-button-per-function approach of previous gen Porsche. Tesla’s huge main screen still has far more ‘wow factor’ than Porsche’s interface.
Price: get a Tesla if you want to win by numbers. The Taycan doesn’t offer much more incremental performance for the additional cost, and at least as of right now, the range is a big question mark for the Porsche. Very few people truly care if the Taycan can beat the Model S around the Nurburgring (and i suspect exactly 0 in North America).
The Taycan is for people who want a Porsche EV. And if that was the objective, it’s 100% mission accomplished. People who don’t get the Taycan are the same folks who’d get a Hellcat or a GTR because it would beat a 911 in this test or that test. And that’s totally fine. But the people who want what Porsche offers will gladly pay $50k more for a Taycan
