Taycan 4S vs Audi e-tron GT review

[feye]

The 911 is genuine Porsche, and while an excellent automobile, the Taycan is genuine Volkswagen.

Ups, is that the reason I like my Taycan?

Another insight is that the Taycan and e-tron GT would likely never exist if VW had not bought control of Porsche, but they are losing the uniqueness that is core to the Porsche ownership experience.

How do you figure? Could be the other way around?

Sponsored

 

[zer0t]

We’re driving both this week. It’s for my wife but I’m trying to convince her she likes the Porsche better. The issue I’m dealing with is the only Porsche she’s ever ridden in is my 996 GT3. She haven’t even sat in my 991.2 GT3 because of her perceptions.

hopefully she’ll have an open mind about. Of course one can turn that around on me wrt the Audi and say perhaps I should have an open mind too. Ok, let’s not point that out.

 

[zer0t]

We’re driving both this week. It’s for my wife but I’m trying to convince her she likes the Porsche better. The issue I’m dealing with is the only Porsche she’s ever ridden in is my 996 GT3. She haven’t even sat in my 991.2 GT3 because of her perceptions.

hopefully she’ll have an open mind about. Of course one can turn that around on me wrt the Audi and say perhaps I should have an open mind too. Ok, let’s not point that out.

Well quoting yourself may seem odd but my wife agreed—she loved the Taycan. We are picking up our cherry metallic 4s tomorrow morning.

 

[Mr.Smith]

Well quoting yourself may seem odd but my wife agreed—she loved the Taycan. We are picking up our cherry metallic 4s tomorrow morning.

Why the Taycan over the Audi?

 

[zer0t]

Why the Taycan over the Audi?

She was looking to move to something a bit sportier and she preferred the interior in the Porsche. Her comment was this is like splitting hairs but I’d like the Porsche. She had no bad words, and neither did I, wrt to the Audi.

if anything I really came to appreciate the Audi quite a bit more after I we experienced the GT. If it were an RS, more fair comparison to the 4s, I’m not sure how it would’ve gone. However, what surprised me the most is she was a fan of the Porsche exterior styling.

After spending some significant time on this today I am really optimistic about VAG, and others, putting how such enjoyable electric products. Tesla fan boys should take. note, I traded in a Tesla, that for similar money there’s real competition. We moved from an s550, to a model S and half way through the lease after trying these too cars today we decided to trade the Tesla. We’re going to actually drive this Porsche from central Jersey to Marco Island FL in the next few weeks.

in summary, I’m happy to have gotten either automobile. Fantastic examples of what can be done with electrification.

 

[Mr.Smith]

She was looking to move to something a bit sportier and she preferred the interior in the Porsche. Her comment was this is like splitting hairs but I’d like the Porsche. She had no bad words, and neither did I, wrt to the Audi.

if anything I really came to appreciate the Audi quite a bit more after I we experienced the GT. If it were an RS, more fair comparison to the 4s, I’m not sure how it would’ve gone. However, what surprised me the most is she was a fan of the Porsche exterior styling.

After spending some significant time on this today I am really optimistic about VAG, and others, putting how such enjoyable electric products. Tesla fan boys should take. note, I traded in a Tesla, that for similar money there’s real competition. We moved from an s550, to a model S and half way through the lease after trying these too cars today we decided to trade the Tesla. We’re going to actually drive this Porsche from central Jersey to Marco Island FL in the next few weeks.

in summary, I’m happy to have gotten either automobile. Fantastic examples of what can be done with electrification.

Great feedback

As a note the GT is equivalent to the 4s, the RS equivalent to the Turbo.

 

[Fish Fingers]

Really good video that.

And not annoying like many of the YouTube reviewers tend to be.
He just tells you want you want to know.

I also think the best choice of cars/options etc varies greatly depending on the country.

That video puts the Taycan very much ahead of the Audi on UK roads.
Whereas it may be less of an issue in countries with long, straight, flat roads.

Having owned 2 Audi S3s with that numb, dull steering that everyone in the forums used to dislike, its disappointing its still a trait in this cars.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

I have a friend who mentioned he would like the Audi. Really not interested when I suggested looking at the Porsche. Not sure why, but I think he likes his previous Audis.

So I had a look at the Audi configurator. The Audi GT seems a lot cheaper than a 4S when you look at its standard kit. Its headline price is £4000 lower and it includes the larger battery, folding and dimming mirrors and I think the seats look more like higher spec ones from the Porsche. So that is about £10k cheaper before you start. It doesn’t include air suspension though and as far as I could see, you can only get this by having the expensive Vorsprung package. So if kit or price is the priority then the Audi seems a much better option…. But it is still an Audi. With poor steering and less good looking.

So I won’t be cancelling my Taycan order!

 

[Mr.Smith]

I have a friend who mentioned he would like the Audi. Really not interested when I suggested looking at the Porsche. Not sure why, but I think he likes his previous Audis.

So I had a look at the Audi configurator. The Audi GT seems a lot cheaper than a 4S when you look at its standard kit. Its headline price is £4000 lower and it includes the larger battery, folding and dimming mirrors and I think the seats look more like higher spec ones from the Porsche. So that is about £10k cheaper before you start. It doesn’t include air suspension though and as far as I could see, you can only get this by having the expensive Vorsprung package. So if kit or price is the priority then the Audi seems a much better option…. But it is still an Audi. With poor steering and less good looking.

So I won’t be cancelling my Taycan order!

There is a case for the Audi over the Taycan especially when leasing.
The Audi is between 10% to 15% less, better residual by around 5 points, probably better MF and eventually they will be discounting.
RS has similar straight line performance to a Turbo so it's not slouch.
I like the esthetics of the Taycan better, but the Audi is a very nice IMO.
The exclusive colors is the Audi are $3900, Taycan over $11k.

Audi is a nice, cheaper alternative to the Taycan.

 

[rich_r]

Really good video that.

And not annoying like many of the YouTube reviewers tend to be.
He just tells you want you want to know.

I also think the best choice of cars/options etc varies greatly depending on the country.

That video puts the Taycan very much ahead of the Audi on UK roads.
Whereas it may be less of an issue in countries with long, straight, flat roads.

Having owned 2 Audi S3s with that numb, dull steering that everyone in the forums used to dislike, its disappointing its still a trait in this cars.

Yeah I always figured the steering was a side effect of their FWD based architecture...but with etron being based on the taycan that excuse no longer makes sense. I guess they intentionally tune their steering to feel like that which is crazy.

 

[kort]

I have a friend who mentioned he would like the Audi. Really not interested when I suggested looking at the Porsche. Not sure why, but I think he likes his previous Audis.

So I had a look at the Audi configurator. The Audi GT seems a lot cheaper than a 4S when you look at its standard kit. Its headline price is £4000 lower and it includes the larger battery, folding and dimming mirrors and I think the seats look more like higher spec ones from the Porsche. So that is about £10k cheaper before you start. It doesn’t include air suspension though and as far as I could see, you can only get this by having the expensive Vorsprung package. So if kit or price is the priority then the Audi seems a much better option…. But it is still an Audi. With poor steering and less good looking.

So I won’t be cancelling my Taycan order!

if you are ok with the rear wheel drive version of the taycan then the audi is something to consider. that is significant segment of people but those who want the performance that porsche can deliver and are willing to spend the money to get it would not be happy in the audi.

 

[GG77]

I have a friend who mentioned he would like the Audi. Really not interested when I suggested looking at the Porsche. Not sure why, but I think he likes his previous Audis.

So I had a look at the Audi configurator. The Audi GT seems a lot cheaper than a 4S when you look at its standard kit. Its headline price is £4000 lower and it includes the larger battery, folding and dimming mirrors and I think the seats look more like higher spec ones from the Porsche. So that is about £10k cheaper before you start. It doesn’t include air suspension though and as far as I could see, you can only get this by having the expensive Vorsprung package. So if kit or price is the priority then the Audi seems a much better option…. But it is still an Audi. With poor steering and less good looking.

So I won’t be cancelling my Taycan order!

Interesting how it's specced in the UK. Not sure but I just assumed both RS and non RS models in the U.S have air suspension as standard.

 

[Mr.Smith]

Interesting how it's specced in the UK. Not sure but I just assumed both RS and non RS models in the U.S have air suspension as standard.

For US air suspension is standard on the GT and RS

 

[Tay-k]

Nice review.

Something tells me Audi engineering folk threw a strop at VW management "we want Taycan's chassis and tech" and the good parent that VW is, obviously asked the prettier sibling (aka Porsche) to share. End result? A Bort.

For those wondering what a Bort is:

 

[hkarthik]

Forum newbie here, but I thought I would chime in as it looks like not many in the USA have been able to actually test drive both the e-Tron GT and the Taycan and do a close comparison. This is going to be a longer read, but the TL;DR is that the Taycan still wins out for me due to the driving dynamics outweighing the aesthetics and fit and finish with the e-Tron GT.

For context, I've test driven the RWD, 4S, and Turbo Taycan. I love the Taycan 4S, but the options were expensive and getting a 4S with the options I wanted was going to take me north of $140K, which was higher than my desired budget.

So I was really excited about the e-Tron GT as it seemed like you could get many of the same options as a well optioned 4S for about $30K-$40K less.

There were a few e-Tron GTs that made it to the Audi lots here in Northern California for a brief time, so I quickly found and test drove one. It was a base model GT with performance package. No RS models were available. The car I test drove was sold 3 days later and I haven't seen any more hit the lot since the US launch.

Right away, I could see the infotainment and interior finish was higher in the Audi. Real buttons that were more intuitive, stronger infotainment, and the fit and finish was higher than a Taycan unless you added about $15-$20K in interior upgrades. There was a cheapness to some of the plastic buttons for things like windows/mirror adjustments in the Taycan that bothered me, and this disappeared with the GT. It felt like a $100K+ luxury car was supposed to.

The exterior was also gorgeous. I only sent my wife pictures but she commented on how nice it looked. I still preferred the sportier look of the Taycan, but there was no denying the base config GT has better looks unless you option out the Taycan's exterior.

So everything seemed great so far, and I was excited to test drive it. When the dealer came out with the key, I eagerly pulled it out of the lot and I was on my way.

This is where things turned sour for me. The car felt muted, like something was holding it back. All the excitement in the corners, the acceleration and thrill that I got from the Taycan was missing. I felt the weight of the car and the sluggishness of the acceleration. I tried changing the drive mode settings and things only felt marginally better.

I extended the drive a bit more to see if I could feel some sort of connection with the car, and I just couldn't. It was simply lifeless compared to the Taycan.

A week later, I went back and drove a RWD Taycan with my wife so she could see the Porsche fit and finish. We both enjoyed the ride in that car a lot, and even with the lower grade motor, it was more fun than the GT.

I wish I could have tested out the e-Tron GT RS, but for me the decision is clear. Pay the extra to option out the Taycan 4S, and get a car with more of a soul.

Sponsored