Reg
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- Taycan 4S
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I recently picked up my Taycan at the Porsche Delivery Service in Los Angeles and thought I would share my experiences there.
TL, DR. It was an A+ experience. Charles and Eric and the rest of the team were excellent!
Background. Never owned a Porsche before and have never tracked a car. Been driving for over…ahem…years…let’s just say a long time.
Pre-game.
Leading up to the pick-up day, the communication was great. They made sure all the paperwork and process things were done, Charles, my delivery specialist, was clear in terms of what I needed to bring with me, he explained what I needed to do with regard to downloading the apps, setting up an account, etc., and they sent me a questionnaire about my background and experiences and even meal preferences. Charles was very responsive and detailed in answering my questions and requests before I showed up, he also was really enthusiastic and excited for me which was really nice.
The day.
The day started at 8:30 with the obligatory COVID precautions – temp check, brief reminders about keeping mask on, social distancing, etc. Then I met Charles who gave me a rundown of the agenda, a tour of the place, a description of some of the classic cars in the huge lobby, a discussion about Porsche Motorsport which was adjacent to the lobby, separated by floor to ceiling glass so you can see everything going on in the shop, as well as some of the classic race cars they had there. His enthusiasm about the Porsche brand was infectious. Then he introduced me to Eric who was my trainer for the driving, and off we went on the track.
Before getting into the cars, Eric gave me an explanation of the process, the track, things to think about, etc. Due to COVID, Eric could not be with me in the car, and instead there was a one-way radio on the passenger seat, strapped to the seat belt and Eric was in constant communication with me through the 3 different events on the track. Frankly, I preferred this a lot better to having someone sitting on the passenger seat since I was less self-conscious with a passenger there and could just drive and react to the feedback I was getting. I need to also add that Eric was also really excited about the Taycan and it really showed as he described what we were about to go through.
The track.
For that, Eric drove ahead of me and had a consistent and smooth discussion with me – either encouraging me, correcting me, or telling me what was about to happen (ok, we have a hairpin curve coming up). In retrospect, it was actually impressive how he was able to do that, drive really well, and even notice things that I was doing (keep hands at 9-3…speed up a bit coming out of the corner, etc.) The first lap was introductory, and then in each successive lap we went faster and faster until at the end, I started feeling really comfortable in taking the turns and the straightaways at, for me anyway, exhilarating speeds.
The next part was the kickplate and where I was convinced that I was going to wreck the car in my first attempt. For the kickplate, at around 20mph, you approach an area that is around the size of a football field – the surface is slick and they have small sprinklers running all the time to keep the surface slick. Then, right as your rear tires enter the field, a kickplate triggers and rapidly moves your tires to the left…or the right…which starts to send the car into a spin and your job is to not panic and to correct the steering to get yourself out of the spin. As I expected, on my first attempt, I did neither. First, I steered in the wrong direction and then as I was spinning even worse, I had a flash forward where I was explaining all of this to someone in the insurance department. I lost count, maybe I did a 360 or 540, and as it was doing that, the car was moving and towards the concrete barriers that lined the area. Remarkably, Eric was exceptionally calm as he explained what I did wrong and also pointed out that I wasn’t nearly as close to disaster as I thought. I went through this many times until I finally got the hang of it, and again, Eric was really patient and great at talking me through it via the radio. I really got to appreciate the 50:50 weight distribution, the steering control and of course the braking of the Taycan through this process.
Next up was so work on corning and abrupt braking. Cones were set up and I ran short sprints around some tight corners, getting feedback via radio on when I should be braking, and accelerating out of the corner, then ending in really abrupt braking. Yeah, I knew Porsche is is excellent at steering and braking and handling those corners – so it was great to experience it in the Taycan. I ended that area with a bunch of launch controls coupled with aggressive braking.
Whew. But there was one more.
Next was a watered surface similar to the kickplate area, but it was a large circle. In this, I drove around in circles and needed to correct the steering to keep control of the car. For that all of the driver assistance features (stability control, etc.) were turned off.
Again, Eric was fantastic in terms of his comments, advice and calm demeanor as I was skidding around trying to figure it all out. Exceptional patience and a great teacher. I should also mention that Charles drove out to the track area while I was doing all of this and was taking pictures that he gave me at the end of the day. I thought that was a really nice touch and his pictures were great.
The presentation of my car.
For that there was a separate room that only had my car, a table, some furniture, a large screen TV on the wall welcoming me to Porsche and a lot of cool Porsche things lining the wall. My car was under a black cloth, and what I thought was cool, is that they had the lights on the car, so I could see that red stripe on the rear of the car shining through the cloth. After a short presentation about Porsche, the Taycan, the cloth was pulled off in dramatic fashion revealing my car and I was presented with the keys. Fun showmanship that worked! Eric and Charles went through the car with me, pointing out many things. Since I RTFM, I knew a lot, but it was still fun to go through things with my car. Trivia point I didn’t know, and probably never would have figured out is how to activate the steering wheel heating (there is a button behind the metal part at the 6 o’clock position). There were some other nice touches that I don’t want to ruin for other people going to the PEC. I was impressed by the entire process of presenting the car – I really appreciated that and that is coming from someone who would normally have just walked into the room, asked for the keys and then wanting to drive away. I did have an issue entering my password into the car, which Charles said he would sort out while I was at lunch.
Lunch was great. Due to COVID, it was not in their restaurant, but rather they set up tables outside – just steps away from where I got into the car to do the track experience. The food was top notch, but more important, the chef was another person who was genuinely excited about Porsche and that I was picking up my car. Here is the Porsche butter.
After lunch, the assessment was that I needed to retry entering my password when the car was outside (vs. in the delivery room that had bad reception) and that I should change my password to not be 8 characters. I did both and voila, I was in business. I got there at 8:30 and I left at around 2 – a long day and I had a long drive home – which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Can’t say enough about how great and fun of an experience it was. I appreciate all their efforts in light of COVID to find ways to still make it interesting, fun and special. Again, thanks especially to Charles and Eric and the entire team for making this all happen, and of course, special thanks to Jeff at Boise for the entire process of selecting, buying and getting the Taycan and being patient with my frequent texts and questions.
TL, DR. It was an A+ experience. Charles and Eric and the rest of the team were excellent!
Background. Never owned a Porsche before and have never tracked a car. Been driving for over…ahem…years…let’s just say a long time.
Pre-game.
Leading up to the pick-up day, the communication was great. They made sure all the paperwork and process things were done, Charles, my delivery specialist, was clear in terms of what I needed to bring with me, he explained what I needed to do with regard to downloading the apps, setting up an account, etc., and they sent me a questionnaire about my background and experiences and even meal preferences. Charles was very responsive and detailed in answering my questions and requests before I showed up, he also was really enthusiastic and excited for me which was really nice.
The day.
The day started at 8:30 with the obligatory COVID precautions – temp check, brief reminders about keeping mask on, social distancing, etc. Then I met Charles who gave me a rundown of the agenda, a tour of the place, a description of some of the classic cars in the huge lobby, a discussion about Porsche Motorsport which was adjacent to the lobby, separated by floor to ceiling glass so you can see everything going on in the shop, as well as some of the classic race cars they had there. His enthusiasm about the Porsche brand was infectious. Then he introduced me to Eric who was my trainer for the driving, and off we went on the track.
Before getting into the cars, Eric gave me an explanation of the process, the track, things to think about, etc. Due to COVID, Eric could not be with me in the car, and instead there was a one-way radio on the passenger seat, strapped to the seat belt and Eric was in constant communication with me through the 3 different events on the track. Frankly, I preferred this a lot better to having someone sitting on the passenger seat since I was less self-conscious with a passenger there and could just drive and react to the feedback I was getting. I need to also add that Eric was also really excited about the Taycan and it really showed as he described what we were about to go through.
The track.
For that, Eric drove ahead of me and had a consistent and smooth discussion with me – either encouraging me, correcting me, or telling me what was about to happen (ok, we have a hairpin curve coming up). In retrospect, it was actually impressive how he was able to do that, drive really well, and even notice things that I was doing (keep hands at 9-3…speed up a bit coming out of the corner, etc.) The first lap was introductory, and then in each successive lap we went faster and faster until at the end, I started feeling really comfortable in taking the turns and the straightaways at, for me anyway, exhilarating speeds.
The next part was the kickplate and where I was convinced that I was going to wreck the car in my first attempt. For the kickplate, at around 20mph, you approach an area that is around the size of a football field – the surface is slick and they have small sprinklers running all the time to keep the surface slick. Then, right as your rear tires enter the field, a kickplate triggers and rapidly moves your tires to the left…or the right…which starts to send the car into a spin and your job is to not panic and to correct the steering to get yourself out of the spin. As I expected, on my first attempt, I did neither. First, I steered in the wrong direction and then as I was spinning even worse, I had a flash forward where I was explaining all of this to someone in the insurance department. I lost count, maybe I did a 360 or 540, and as it was doing that, the car was moving and towards the concrete barriers that lined the area. Remarkably, Eric was exceptionally calm as he explained what I did wrong and also pointed out that I wasn’t nearly as close to disaster as I thought. I went through this many times until I finally got the hang of it, and again, Eric was really patient and great at talking me through it via the radio. I really got to appreciate the 50:50 weight distribution, the steering control and of course the braking of the Taycan through this process.
Next up was so work on corning and abrupt braking. Cones were set up and I ran short sprints around some tight corners, getting feedback via radio on when I should be braking, and accelerating out of the corner, then ending in really abrupt braking. Yeah, I knew Porsche is is excellent at steering and braking and handling those corners – so it was great to experience it in the Taycan. I ended that area with a bunch of launch controls coupled with aggressive braking.
Whew. But there was one more.
Next was a watered surface similar to the kickplate area, but it was a large circle. In this, I drove around in circles and needed to correct the steering to keep control of the car. For that all of the driver assistance features (stability control, etc.) were turned off.
Again, Eric was fantastic in terms of his comments, advice and calm demeanor as I was skidding around trying to figure it all out. Exceptional patience and a great teacher. I should also mention that Charles drove out to the track area while I was doing all of this and was taking pictures that he gave me at the end of the day. I thought that was a really nice touch and his pictures were great.
The presentation of my car.
For that there was a separate room that only had my car, a table, some furniture, a large screen TV on the wall welcoming me to Porsche and a lot of cool Porsche things lining the wall. My car was under a black cloth, and what I thought was cool, is that they had the lights on the car, so I could see that red stripe on the rear of the car shining through the cloth. After a short presentation about Porsche, the Taycan, the cloth was pulled off in dramatic fashion revealing my car and I was presented with the keys. Fun showmanship that worked! Eric and Charles went through the car with me, pointing out many things. Since I RTFM, I knew a lot, but it was still fun to go through things with my car. Trivia point I didn’t know, and probably never would have figured out is how to activate the steering wheel heating (there is a button behind the metal part at the 6 o’clock position). There were some other nice touches that I don’t want to ruin for other people going to the PEC. I was impressed by the entire process of presenting the car – I really appreciated that and that is coming from someone who would normally have just walked into the room, asked for the keys and then wanting to drive away. I did have an issue entering my password into the car, which Charles said he would sort out while I was at lunch.
Lunch was great. Due to COVID, it was not in their restaurant, but rather they set up tables outside – just steps away from where I got into the car to do the track experience. The food was top notch, but more important, the chef was another person who was genuinely excited about Porsche and that I was picking up my car. Here is the Porsche butter.
After lunch, the assessment was that I needed to retry entering my password when the car was outside (vs. in the delivery room that had bad reception) and that I should change my password to not be 8 characters. I did both and voila, I was in business. I got there at 8:30 and I left at around 2 – a long day and I had a long drive home – which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Can’t say enough about how great and fun of an experience it was. I appreciate all their efforts in light of COVID to find ways to still make it interesting, fun and special. Again, thanks especially to Charles and Eric and the entire team for making this all happen, and of course, special thanks to Jeff at Boise for the entire process of selecting, buying and getting the Taycan and being patient with my frequent texts and questions.
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