What's the best alternative to the Taycan?

[azf100]

Every time I see one of these they remind me of Buc-ee’s.

Haha same. It's grown on me though and don't notice it as much. It's the wife's car anyways

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[Fun TC Driving]

Good thing about Buc-ee‘s, in addition to their food and different ambiance, isthat their corporate policy is that all new locations (they just announced seven new locations today) will have lots of EV charging stations — as almost almost all of their current ones already have.

 

[69Mach390]

Every time I see one of these they remind me of Buc-ee’s.

You’re too kind.

I’m always reminded of this Star Wars character:

 

[gnr3312]

Good thing about Buc-ee‘s, in addition to their food and different ambiance, isthat their corporate policy is that all new locations (they just announced seven new locations today) will have lots of EV charging stations — as almost almost all of their current ones already have.

I travel about once a month to DFW and stop by their store at Hillsboro, they have 24 Tesla spots and 10 Mercedes Benz. I plug in, walk to the store, use the world’s cleanest gas station bathroom, grab some swag, eat a sandwich and 30-40 mins later we are good to go LOL

 

[Gkwan]

I don’t think your description matches the review in the video.

Had to make it 25 minutes in for them to describe the handling. They said it was “responsive” but compared to the Etron GT RS it’s “not quite as good.”

That’s a long ways from “severely disappointed.”

Either way, it’s still worth considering based on the OPs criteria.

Indeed, I drove recently for ~40 minutes the Emeya 600 Sport SE 21" : 614ch and this one has the maximum technologies the platform can offer (same as the 900ch models, while the less expensive 600 models lack a few technical options).
It's true I felt more its weight than my Taycan Turbo, but it could be an interesting choice as it drives quite well overall, nice acceleration (again less than my Turbo but not so far & still fun) and overall a bit more comfortable than mine (but I don't have active ride), with a relaxed/modern interior & overall you feel a bit "cooler" inside the cockpit.
Other + point : slightly better pricing.
One silly point : no passenger screen, and despite the more technological look & feel, there aren't any streaming options, and no plan (not a deal breaker but surprising).
It looks good but I probably still prefer my Taycan J1.1 - everytime I come accross another car, at first I think it's cool, then I look again at mine and I'm like "nope...nothing beats it yet" lol

 

[Gkwan]

the Porsche owner delima…

#1 do you wanna love the car when it's working
#2 do you wanna love the car when it's being serviced/repaired

pick one…

a lot of people optimize for #2 - they end up driving a crappy car because it doesn't ever need to be fixed - never mind that it's a crappy car - I prefer to like the car when it's working and tolerate the car when it needs some TLC…

I've owned a lot of cars over the years - and Porsche's since 2008 - there is no such thing as greener grass - only different landscaping choices but eventually you still find the crab grass and weeds…

my Porsche are sooooooo much better than the alternatives when they are working I will happily tolerate them when they aren't knowing that if we can get them repaired they will be back to good again…and when they are good, they are oh sooo good…

and if Porsche refuses to "make their cars good" again - well I've had some success getting them to work with me to achieve acceptable outcomes - sometimes at great expense to the Porsche organization - but I've either been made happy and moved on, or they eventually get the car back to working well enough that I'm happy again to keep the car…but it takes time and effort and is not for the faint of heart…

again returning to the two choices at the top of this posting…

pick one…

but if you think another brand is going to be "better" - well at the end of they day you can encounter situations with all of them where they will disappoint you and no one vendor is universally good or perfect or defect free.



People who pride themselves on never buying a car as expensive as my Porsche's and wouldn't be caught dead believing paying more for something might mean it's actually better in some dimensions get into my cars all the time. And most of them comment - wow this is a nice car - and then follow up with the statement for hte record but I'd never be caught dead paying that much for a car - it's just stupid - but wow this is a nice car…they can not reconcile paying too much money for something that is better than average (and let's be clear we all pay too much money for our Porsches) - but their is nothing quite like them on the market…and once you know, experience, and understand the differences - it's oh so hard to go back and nothing else ever quite scratches the itch…

I'm reminded of this every time I'm in a rental car- even a "good" rental car…

Porsche's are too much money
sometimes Porsche's are too much frustration
sometimes Porsche will not make you happy and you just have to move on
sometimes Porsche simply will not acknowledge a mistake or defect
but rarely will you find something better or even equal at any price…

I believe this entire post, it's my opinion, it's my personal experience, and it's my curse…I'd jump at the chance to stop being a Porsche victim - if only I could find something that even comes close…

if you find it and it's truly better or even equal - let me know - I'll be next inline for your referral to your dealer - and I'll trade my Porsche's on the spot…

friendly bet you can't find it…but you can compromise for alternative product with a different set of trade offs…but then you're back to the two choices at the top of this posting.

I totally vote for MPGA : Make Porsche Great Again
(certainly not MAGA decerebrates lol)

 

[Gkwan]

I recall when that was said about the Japanese motorbikes. The Japanese watched the Isle of Man race with the British Triumph, Norton and BSA powerful bikes.

And said we can do better than that!

Everybody laughed at the beginning at the Japanese bikes that came in at a much lower price!

Where are Triumph, BSA and Norton today??

So I will not dismiss the Chinese cars. They may be learning about the European market at the moment and will adapt and improve. It will need a lot of courage and determination to get the western car industry to shape up. No more POET’s Day on Friday ( Piss off Early, Tomorrow is Saturday)!

As you know Pierre I drove a Xpeng G9 Performance (550ch) for 1 year
A real "flying carpet" in Comfort+ mode, but nowhere near as fun to drive as a Taycan, and a great technology inside, very user oriented.
In a nutshell, if someone could build a car with Xpeng tech & Porsche chassis/riding quality that would be the perfect compromise for me
Maybe the P7 facelift available in Chine (journalists from Frandroid who tested extensively the Taycan too told me it was a good compromise between a G9 & Taycan) - not to be mistaken with the P7 "plus" coming out here in France this summer, which isn't as good as the facelifted P7 in China.

 

[Gkwan]

If you want a Taycan alternative with prestige to spare, go for fully loaded Rimac Nevera.

welllllll did you forget it's 2M€ ? 10 times the price of a Taycan qualifies as "not being a competitor" for me

 

[Gkwan]

Matter of opinion I guess, but, to me, the front is not a toss up. They aren’t even in the same category to compare.

All of the fake EV front grills are really ugly IMO. No offense.

That’s really unfortunate. My local dealer has always been great the last 10+ years I’ve worked with them. I had a red chassis error this past week. Dropped it off unscheduled Tuesday night. They had it fixed by this morning. No charge. I was expecting to pay at 65k miles, but I guess not. And a little over 2 days for an unscheduled repair seemed pretty good to me. First time the car has been at the dealer in over 2 years also. And I never get attitude. They are always friendly and helpful to me.

Just want spread some Porsche cheer amid all of the doom and gloom.

All that said, I had an ICE Audi a number of years ago and the Audi dealer service was fine also.

Just joining you to say I'm happy with the service of my French Porsche dealer ("Paris Ouest"), really nice team, good tech & sales.
I'm picking up my Turbo on Monday after a battery modules replacement, I'll post a summary soon, they've done a good job for me up to now

 

[whitex]

welllllll did you forget it's 2M€ ? 10 times the price of a Taycan qualifies as "not being a competitor" for me

Well, I never said it’s a direct competitor, but rather (a much more expensive) alternative. It’s just like Taycans being considered an alternative to Teslas or some of the Chinese offerings (one of which even looks like a Taycan).

Perhaps the same argument that people use to justify paying for a Porsche can be applied to the Rimac - if you want premium products, you have to pay the premium.

 

[Gkwan]

I drove the i4 and i5 on one of those BMW hosted experience days. The i5 was noticeably floaty and nowhere near as good as the Taycan or even the gasoline 5 series they also had. Probably still a good family car but I don’t see it as a Taycan competitor. More an EQE competitor.

The i4 was pretty good. It felt nimbler than the i5 and definetly fun to drive. Still feels close to a regular 3 series in a good way, just a touch higher CoG if I had to guess (didn’t have the IC version to drive back to back). Could be a close alternative but doesn’t give me the visceral excitement of the Taycan.

Exactly same opinion as you after driving both (end of 2024 though)

 

[Gkwan]

Look at the Lotus eletre. ive had my eye on that for a while. so far my taycan has been mostly trouble free but the lotus eletreis my next car hopefully. looks like a lambo urus. lotus is owned by same parent company who also make polestar and the LEVC so good electric background.

you mean the Emeya which is the sport sedan version, while Eletre is the SUV - exactly same platform though - I drove both, good cars, Emeya vs Taycan is a close call, the proposal is different, for me it's still a short lead for the Taycan.

 

[Gkwan]

To me, it feels like comparing a Suzuki Jimny to a Mercedes-Benz G-Class. They share some design similarities, but they are entirely different cars catering to different budgets and preferences. I don’t believe a Taycan customer would choose between these two options.

agree with you, until I can actually drive a Xiaomi SU7, HP/NM numbers won't mean anything if it drives like my Xpeng G9 P (very good family car, "flying carpet", nothing comparable to the Taycan ).
But if by some miracle they got the chassis/suspension/steering right + comfort, then I'll definitely look at it, at least it's worth a try.
Same for the Xpeng P7 facelift 2026 (China version, not the P7+ we'll have this summer in Europe)

 

[Gkwan]

Re: BMW active suspension:

this isn't out yet. If you search, the hits and the AI summaries all just rehash the Adaptive suspension. I have "M Adaptive Suspension" on my i5 M60 with DHP package, and it is a true adaptive suspensions (i.e. the damper characteristics are computer controlled, but are not hydraulic units that can "push back" like active suspension).

BMW is supposedly working on their own Active suspension, like PAR. I don't think it's officially announced for any upcoming vehicle so that's another wait and see. I'd like to see BMW actually put active suspension on an M car. PAR was very compelling to me, and I definitely would have spec'ed that on a Taycan.

ah, my understanding was the "i" M being revealed in ~1 month has a DHP which is active & equivalent to PAR ?
But right now, it seems the best they have is Air Suspension on the i7, and nothing on the new iX3 (very disappointing), or sometimes they have something only on the rear axis, not rear+front, not sure where they are going with that, but it doesn't put stars in my eyes for sure.

I'll still try the new GLC electric with the "technical pack", it was really doing a great job on the previous MY24/25 hybrid GLC, and the new Cayenne of course, which alas doesn't seem to have the PAR in configurator :-(

As far as Sports sedans go, I'll test-drive anything that seems at least "not too far" of a Taycan, just in case

 

[RacingDuck]

If the Denza Z9 GT got the suspension from the Yangwang U9 then it would be a big contender for all the Turismo fans.

But the last thing I heard about the Denza was that the ride is not that nice. But that was the PHEV and not the new? version with the Blade 2.0 batteries.

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