Tizzy
New member
So, that’s almost 6 months and 3k miles of Taycan Turbo ownership coming to an end. As this is such a new venture for all of us, I thought I’d put down a few thoughts both for other owners and perhaps for prospectives who might also be reading this Forum.
THE GOOD
- Performance - obviously you will say! But not just the speed, the mid range overtaking - say 50-70 is exceptional and really makes for safer progress on smaller roads.
- Ride, Grip & Handling: The overall ride, grip & handling combination is pretty special. People have described it as Rolls Royce like and having a friend with a Wraith I’d say that is a fair comparison. Mine had the 21” Mission E wheels - I’d say these were a size too big though they looked good - though maybe not in black on an all black car.
- Tyre wear - watch this - the grip is so good you get used to high cornering speeds. My Goodyear Eagle F1’s were showing a significant level of edge wear after less than 3k miles - and they are not going to be cheap!!
- Regen - A lot of people don’t seem to know about the auto-regen setting - feels like active cruise control (mine had radar cruise, but with the A Regen on I never used it). This really worked on twisty A and B roads, you could see the range going up - albeit slowly.
- Rear Wheel Steering - Mine had this and although it was a very pricey option, I would say it made a massive difference to how the car felt when compared to non RWS cars I also drove. At parking speeds the turning circle was tiny for a car this long. On A and B roads pressing on the feeling from the back end was very impressive.
- Seats - Mine had the adaptive sports seats. I would say that these are without doubt the most comfortable seats I’ve ever had in a car. They adjust every which way, but critically cradle your lower back, in a way that very few car seats succeed in doing. Side bolster adjustment on the squab is also unusual and welcome.
THE BAD
- Build quality - it wasn’t special enough at the price point and the badge. My previous RR SVR had less rattles - not a make Porsche would like to be compared to I’m sure - but it was true.
- Performance - Once you get over the Launch Control (gimmick in my view) then other than the overtaking element already mentioned, it’s not as fast as you think. I once had a keen driver lets call him, in an Audi RS5 attach himself to my rear-end, and I wasn’t quick enough to shake him off. RS5 is a quick car but Taycan Turbo is supposed to be quicker - it wasn’t. Other Porsche’s - 992 Turbo S and Panamera Turbo S are also quicker / as quick. And have much better range!! The "gearbox” isn’t exactly subtle either - the harsh clunk when it changes down to 1st is not exactly refined!
- Infortainment - I can only describe the user interface as poor. The performance improved (slightly) post the major software upgrade, but the Apple Music would give me the blue circle of despair as it "Loaded Data” every time. The sat nav wasn‘t user friendly and often forgot it had Google Maps completely. The BOSE strangely enough was one of the best installations (of BOSE) I’ve experienced in a car - usually in other Porsche’s and Audi’s Etc it is really shrill with no bass. In the Taycan it had a really good tone - almost but not quite as good as the Meridian Reference system that was in my SVR. I saw a YouTube video where a guy from BOSE was saying that the Taycan was their best automotive installation yet produced.
- Range - Just not acceptable at this price point. It did get better after the software upgrade - 85% charge went from 190 miles to 206m. I never saw more than 225m even on 100% charge, and use any kind of performance and that would drop really quickly.
Charging - The guy that designed the car obviously never tried to charge the thing on a commercial fast charger!! The cables aren’t that long and inevitably rub around the front valance (worse if like mine yours has the aero body kit). The electric charge point doors were neat but again a pointlessly expensive option. Because the charge cables are short you have to get really close to the charger - and if you don’t have a front camera then it is really tricky to miss crunching the front splitter!
- Reverse Camera - Really!! No width and Really poor resolution - looked like the ones that first came out open big Beemers etc in the 90’s - they must have found a job-lot of these somewhere - the camera on other VAG group products is much better so why does the "Halo” Taycan have to get second best? Rear camera wash? Well it didn’t clean the lens that was for sure - just dribbled all over the back of the car.
- Sports Chrono - Pointless. The Sport setting, which you get on the dampers without SC is as much as you need. 90% of the time I drove the car in Normal as it gave you everything you needed. Sport gave a much harsher throttle response, and twitchy steering. Sport Plus was a tack setting - it was almost un-driveable on normal roads. The little stopwatch looks cool, but once you realise it isn‘t a nice analogue clock, it is pretty pointless.
The Software Upgrade: Much has been written on this so I won’t say too much. My experience at PC Nottingham was good, they said they’d need the car for 2 days and that’s exactly what they took. The smart-lift feature was good, and the apparently slightly improved range was welcome. The car took a while to sort itself out with all the upgrades over the airwaves, but once it had after a few days it seemed fine - other than the previous Google Maps not appearing was still evident and the Apple car play Loading Data was if anything worse!
Practicality - The boot looks big, but is hopeless - the daft rear spoiler takes up so much room for it’s housing that you have to shove things right to the back of the boot otherwise on the electric close it won‘t shut - it does if your manually "assist” it!! The folding rear seats worked well but for most large items it was pretty useless. The front "frunk" is largely useless for storage as it has to contain your charge cables etc.
Interior Storage - there isn’t any! narrow door bins and the infuriating centre storage box that only opens half-way!! Drove me to distraction.
Charging Network - The Shell Recharge 150kW units were good - though didn’t usually give the full rating and are expensive. The Insta-Volt units were low rated at 50kW but were easy to use. I never saw a single Ionity unit because I don’t live near London…
SUMMARY
- Get the Touring version For practicality - even though it doesn't look as nice (my view obviously)
- Get it PPF’d on the front due to chips and the filler cable issue.
- Get it ceramic coated - the factory paint finish isn’t very good and it’s really soft.
- Stick to 20” wheels
- Don‘t waste money on Sports Chrono or electric filler flaps
- Get aftermarket privacy glass - Porsche only tint the rear side windows, they don’t tint the back window and charge you a fortune!
- It felt like I had an iPhone 7 when everyone else had the X
- Get the Panamera E-Hybrid - gives all the good elements and far less of the bad…
- EV’s are definitely the future, but based on this experience I’m going to wait a while for the development to improve - especially battery range and the UK charge network - and will go back to a PHEV.
Obviously all my own views and folks will agree / disagree but hopefully useful nonetheless.
Cheers Chris
THE GOOD
- Performance - obviously you will say! But not just the speed, the mid range overtaking - say 50-70 is exceptional and really makes for safer progress on smaller roads.
- Ride, Grip & Handling: The overall ride, grip & handling combination is pretty special. People have described it as Rolls Royce like and having a friend with a Wraith I’d say that is a fair comparison. Mine had the 21” Mission E wheels - I’d say these were a size too big though they looked good - though maybe not in black on an all black car.
- Tyre wear - watch this - the grip is so good you get used to high cornering speeds. My Goodyear Eagle F1’s were showing a significant level of edge wear after less than 3k miles - and they are not going to be cheap!!
- Regen - A lot of people don’t seem to know about the auto-regen setting - feels like active cruise control (mine had radar cruise, but with the A Regen on I never used it). This really worked on twisty A and B roads, you could see the range going up - albeit slowly.
- Rear Wheel Steering - Mine had this and although it was a very pricey option, I would say it made a massive difference to how the car felt when compared to non RWS cars I also drove. At parking speeds the turning circle was tiny for a car this long. On A and B roads pressing on the feeling from the back end was very impressive.
- Seats - Mine had the adaptive sports seats. I would say that these are without doubt the most comfortable seats I’ve ever had in a car. They adjust every which way, but critically cradle your lower back, in a way that very few car seats succeed in doing. Side bolster adjustment on the squab is also unusual and welcome.
THE BAD
- Build quality - it wasn’t special enough at the price point and the badge. My previous RR SVR had less rattles - not a make Porsche would like to be compared to I’m sure - but it was true.
- Performance - Once you get over the Launch Control (gimmick in my view) then other than the overtaking element already mentioned, it’s not as fast as you think. I once had a keen driver lets call him, in an Audi RS5 attach himself to my rear-end, and I wasn’t quick enough to shake him off. RS5 is a quick car but Taycan Turbo is supposed to be quicker - it wasn’t. Other Porsche’s - 992 Turbo S and Panamera Turbo S are also quicker / as quick. And have much better range!! The "gearbox” isn’t exactly subtle either - the harsh clunk when it changes down to 1st is not exactly refined!
- Infortainment - I can only describe the user interface as poor. The performance improved (slightly) post the major software upgrade, but the Apple Music would give me the blue circle of despair as it "Loaded Data” every time. The sat nav wasn‘t user friendly and often forgot it had Google Maps completely. The BOSE strangely enough was one of the best installations (of BOSE) I’ve experienced in a car - usually in other Porsche’s and Audi’s Etc it is really shrill with no bass. In the Taycan it had a really good tone - almost but not quite as good as the Meridian Reference system that was in my SVR. I saw a YouTube video where a guy from BOSE was saying that the Taycan was their best automotive installation yet produced.
- Range - Just not acceptable at this price point. It did get better after the software upgrade - 85% charge went from 190 miles to 206m. I never saw more than 225m even on 100% charge, and use any kind of performance and that would drop really quickly.
Charging - The guy that designed the car obviously never tried to charge the thing on a commercial fast charger!! The cables aren’t that long and inevitably rub around the front valance (worse if like mine yours has the aero body kit). The electric charge point doors were neat but again a pointlessly expensive option. Because the charge cables are short you have to get really close to the charger - and if you don’t have a front camera then it is really tricky to miss crunching the front splitter!
- Reverse Camera - Really!! No width and Really poor resolution - looked like the ones that first came out open big Beemers etc in the 90’s - they must have found a job-lot of these somewhere - the camera on other VAG group products is much better so why does the "Halo” Taycan have to get second best? Rear camera wash? Well it didn’t clean the lens that was for sure - just dribbled all over the back of the car.
- Sports Chrono - Pointless. The Sport setting, which you get on the dampers without SC is as much as you need. 90% of the time I drove the car in Normal as it gave you everything you needed. Sport gave a much harsher throttle response, and twitchy steering. Sport Plus was a tack setting - it was almost un-driveable on normal roads. The little stopwatch looks cool, but once you realise it isn‘t a nice analogue clock, it is pretty pointless.
The Software Upgrade: Much has been written on this so I won’t say too much. My experience at PC Nottingham was good, they said they’d need the car for 2 days and that’s exactly what they took. The smart-lift feature was good, and the apparently slightly improved range was welcome. The car took a while to sort itself out with all the upgrades over the airwaves, but once it had after a few days it seemed fine - other than the previous Google Maps not appearing was still evident and the Apple car play Loading Data was if anything worse!
Practicality - The boot looks big, but is hopeless - the daft rear spoiler takes up so much room for it’s housing that you have to shove things right to the back of the boot otherwise on the electric close it won‘t shut - it does if your manually "assist” it!! The folding rear seats worked well but for most large items it was pretty useless. The front "frunk" is largely useless for storage as it has to contain your charge cables etc.
Interior Storage - there isn’t any! narrow door bins and the infuriating centre storage box that only opens half-way!! Drove me to distraction.
Charging Network - The Shell Recharge 150kW units were good - though didn’t usually give the full rating and are expensive. The Insta-Volt units were low rated at 50kW but were easy to use. I never saw a single Ionity unit because I don’t live near London…
SUMMARY
- Get the Touring version For practicality - even though it doesn't look as nice (my view obviously)
- Get it PPF’d on the front due to chips and the filler cable issue.
- Get it ceramic coated - the factory paint finish isn’t very good and it’s really soft.
- Stick to 20” wheels
- Don‘t waste money on Sports Chrono or electric filler flaps
- Get aftermarket privacy glass - Porsche only tint the rear side windows, they don’t tint the back window and charge you a fortune!
- It felt like I had an iPhone 7 when everyone else had the X
- Get the Panamera E-Hybrid - gives all the good elements and far less of the bad…
- EV’s are definitely the future, but based on this experience I’m going to wait a while for the development to improve - especially battery range and the UK charge network - and will go back to a PHEV.
Obviously all my own views and folks will agree / disagree but hopefully useful nonetheless.
Cheers Chris
