Base Taycan announced (RWD/80k). Anyone intrigued?

[robg]

Another review where the Taycan smokes the EPA range. This time a RWD Taycan w/ the larger battery gets 290 miles in this guys 70mph highway test:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C_7fBljFzY&t=644s

[robg]

So, like JST, I bit the bullet and test drove a Taycan 4S today. My thoughts:
Pros:
-Love the styling even more in person. My heart skipped a beat when I saw it. Such a gorgeous car imo. Looked good in all the colors they had on the lot (red, grey, blue, silver, black, white).
-Interior style is also really beautiful and modern.
-Exterior fit and finish was perfect.
-The seating position and view out the front is more like a Porsche sports car than a Panamera.
-The ride quality is amazing. "Magic carpet ride" is a cliche, but it absolutely applies to this car. My tester had the 20" aero wheels. Actually rides better than our Range Rover Sport despite being a low slung car on lower profile tires. Amazing. Closest thing I can think of is a Mclaren 12C i drove many years ago.
-I like the way they've tuned it to build power rather than just an instant on switch. That being said, it could do with a bit more "snap" off the line.
-Got to drive it without the sales guy!
-Really liked the 20" aero wheels in person.
-Handling is great (of course).
Cons:
-There's no way (that I could find) to easily scroll through stations/tracks using the steering wheel controls/instrument cluster. They've copied the tesla instrument cluster interface from the model s almost verbatim which means you can scroll through various top level items but can't really do much with the scroll wheel. You can use the lower middle screen as a trackpad (lexus style) to select and control functions on the upper screen. It's just bananas that they've ditched the track forward button for a regen button that doens't seem to do much. Overall, the steering wheel controls are a wasted opportunity and just poorly done.
-They really need to add a "one pedal driving" mode and some paddles to control regen. Would make the car much more fun in everyday traffic type of situations.
-The nav/voice recognition is fine but still not even as good as my old 2017 bmw x3. Slightly better than our range rover sport (not saying much).
-The seats (14 way) are ok but I can tell they'd start to feel uncomfortable after maybe an hour. You can get massaging seats as an option though.
-Interior storage is pretty poor. By the end of the test drive i was thinking of the car as more of an extended cayman/911 than sport sedan, though, so this doesn't really bother me.
-The infotaintment system in general was pretty poor and managed to be worse than my RRS (and land rover isn't exactly known for their great infotainment systems). As it stands now, if you are trying to scroll through any type of list you'll crash the car. I don't understand the point of the haptic feedback on the lower screen- you still have to look to see where you're pressing and the haptics just adds an extra layer of friction. The screen itself felt kinda cheap and plasticky to touch. Hope that can be turned off. Just use Audi's system if this is the best you can do. Better yet, everyone should just buy BMW's idrive. It's the best by far. I know im making a big deal about this but if you are going to have an "all screen" interface it has to be perfect.
-Some dodgy interior quality: under dash trim had this flimsy feeling felt type material, no trim on underside of trunk deck lid, plastic interior door handles, steering wheel plastic trim squeaked/crackled when pressed, swithcgear (what little there was) was ok but worse than Audi. Overally I'd say our RRS has a nicer interior with better build quality, swtich feel and materials. A bit surprised about this given Porsche's reputation.
-Surround view is mediocre. BMW and Audi (porsche's corporate cousin!) do it much better. No excuse for this. You'll want this since the view out the back is very limited.
-Backseat comfort is ok - better than Model S, but still not that great. Totally fine given how good the car looks and drives though. I'd rank my old e46 sedan better in rear seat comfort. I think the e46 also had a bigger trunk. By the end of the test drive, my bar was "its way more spacious than a 911".
-The adaptive cruise contorl sensor in the front looks like something from 5 years ago. Most companies have managed to integrate and hide it better than Porsche's "HAL 9000" style eye.
-Steering had a lighter weight than i'd expected even in sport mode.
-The steering wheel really does block the left and righ parts of the gauge cluster. I think this migth've been the "GT" style wheel which is thicker and smaller in diameter though.
-My tester didn't have the electric sport sound (or whatever they call it). I kinda wanted to try it out.

Ok, so that sounds more negative than positive but I came away from the drive wanting one even more. It is one of my favorite cars on sale today and I really want one.

[Alan]

It sounds like the car itself drove really well but the tech and comfort fell a little short which is typical of Porsche. Not sure why Porsche is like this but it really is more about the driving experience which you obviously felt being you want one now.

I saw one the other day on the road and it was really cool looking, I love the front as it was approaching me and the rear looked really 911’ish. Just a hot looking car.

[JST]

Nice write up; those are a lot of little details I don’t get a chance to notice.

[Josh (PA)]

As Alan said, your review sounds just like my experience w/ the 991. Especially the cons related to the infotainment idiosyncracies, the steering wheel blocking the gauges and the oddities around simple tasks like switching radio stations.

[wdc330i]

Maybe they’ll sort it all out in the Macan and get it right in Gen 2 Taycans.

The Macan is going to be their bread-and-butter EV, and with so many competitors in that category, they will have to shake out the UI.

[Alan]

Originally Posted by wdc330i

Maybe they’ll sort it all out in the Macan and get it right in Gen 2 Taycans.

The Macan is going to be their bread-and-butter EV, and with so many competitors in that category, they will have to shake out the UI.

I had a Macan loaner a few weeks ago and was surprised the tech was really good, not quite as good as BMW but not off by that much.

[robg]

Originally Posted by wdc330i

Maybe they’ll sort it all out in the Macan and get it right in Gen 2 Taycans.

The Macan is going to be their bread-and-butter EV, and with so many competitors in that category, they will have to shake out the UI.

I guess ergonomics/UI has never really been a Porsche strong suit imo. Starting with the completely haphazard controls in the air cooled cars, progressing through the horrid 996 interior and then several gens of sub-par infotainment systems and a resistance to steering wheel controls (including even shift paddles for many years!) Blocked gauges are also part of the Porsche tradition.

I do think they'll address some of these issues through software updates, and it would be hard for them to make things any worse than this so it can only get better I think.

If I did get one, I think i'd eventually adjust to all its quirks with the exception of music controls. That might be a small thing that eventually drives me a nuts. I guess you can set the one programmable button on the steering wheel to act as a "track forward", but apparenlty it doesn't work with CarPlay!! So stupid. Luckily it'll be atleast 2 years before I can seriously consider getting one so by then some of these things will have been ironed out i'm sure.

[robg]

Originally Posted by Alan

I had a Macan loaner a few weeks ago and was surprised the tech was really good, not quite as good as BMW but not off by that much.

Yeah I think the current Macan is saved by the fact that it still has hard buttons in the center console plus an actual track forward button the steering wheel. I still think that even Idrive 6 is way better, but the current Macan's setup is tolerable. Overall, though, when it comes to something like the Macan I'd feel less enthusiastic about paying the Porsche premium and dealing with some of its BS. An X3 m40 drives almost as well (better in certain ways), leases much better and is just generally more usable (space, electronics, and ergonomics). And in terms of looks I actually prefer the BMW.

[robg]

Originally Posted by Alan

It sounds like the car itself drove really well but the tech and comfort fell a little short which is typical of Porsche. Not sure why Porsche is like this but it really is more about the driving experience which you obviously felt being you want one now.

I saw one the other day on the road and it was really cool looking, I love the front as it was approaching me and the rear looked really 911’ish. Just a hot looking car.

Yup. It looks and feels special-- almost exotic. In a "special occasion" sports car none of this stuff would matter, but in a GT-style daily driver it might become annoying over time. I did eventually adjust to the infotainment quirks of our Range Rover sport (hard after experiencing the perfection of BMW for many years) and its now overall actually my favorite car we've had. But its quirks pale in comparison to what Porsche has cooked up with the Taycan's interface.

I actually think this thing makes a strong case for itself as an alternative to a modern PDK 911. It has that special look and feel but with just enough added comfort and practicality that you'd be able to use it more than a 911. Interestingly, the Taycan 4S lines up almost exactly in terms of price/performance w/ the base Carrera. And a lightly optioned RWD taycan wouldn't be much more expensive than a similarly equipped base Cayman (factoring in the tax credit). Likely way lower running costs than either as well given its an EV.