2020 Taycan 4S Revealed by Porsche!

svp6

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Almost 200lb lighter, slightly less power = longer range. The UK site has the range estimator up and running for the 4S - have at it. The default 30% city, 40% country road, 30% motorway at 20C temperature comes at 220 miles for the battery plus and 188 miles for the small battery - both with the 19" aerowheels. For comparison, the Turbo has 216 miles and the turbo S 205 miles.

Combined range from the UK site

4S: 239-287 miles (206-252 standard battery)
Turbo: 236-279 miles
Turbo S: 241-256 miles
Lurking some more on the UK site. I think the range calculator is as transparent as it can get - 4S defaults to the standard battery with full heating/AC on and the standard wheels. It suggests 188 miles on a 30% city, 40% country road, 30% motorway. For the larger battery, this is 220 miles. If you alter the temp scale from -10C (14F) to 35C (95F) and change the HVAC to Eco mode to off here are the ranges you get. I sure hope they are close to reality - they would fit my needs.

Porsche Taycan 2020 Taycan 4S Revealed by Porsche! ranges-
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TheSnape

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I think it will be difficult to extrapolate from the non-US sites. The configuration for Turbo US cars includes a Premium package, whereas the EU has only individual options that have to be selected one by one. Will have to wait this one out. My guess is that a decent optioned 4S will be north of 130k.
Yeah, I got 111k, and that was just with the Mission E wheels selected as an option before I'd added anything else.
 

svp6

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Configured - a very quick bump to 130k - as expected.
 

KensingtonPark

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OK, so now I've had a chance to play around with the US 4S configurator, I'm left to conclude that Porsche has really done something amazing with this car. As amazing as the Taycan Turbos are, they are basically ~$200K cars that beat up on ~$100K Tesla Model S. Impressive, yes, but not really a fight with the gap in price. Not a lot of cross-shopping will be done between these two.

But you can get a 4S for ~$140K that is superior in many of the same ways to the Tesla Model S. Now that will make someone looking at a Model S say "hmm." I really am amazed at where electric cars have come, with a whole range of vehicle types for anyone to choose from.
 


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OK, so now I've had a chance to play around with the US 4S configurator, I'm left to conclude that Porsche has really done something amazing with this car. As amazing as the Taycan Turbos are, they are basically ~$200K cars that beat up on ~$100K Tesla Model S. Impressive, yes, but not really a fight with the gap in price. Not a lot of cross-shopping will be done between these two.

But you can get a 4S for ~$140K that is superior in many of the same ways to the Tesla Model S. Now that will make someone looking at a Model S say "hmm." I really am amazed at where electric cars have come, with a whole range of vehicle types for anyone to choose from.
Yeah, especially as you can spec the 4S to be visually indistinguishable from the Turbo S
 

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Yeah, especially as you can spec the 4S to be visually indistinguishable from the Turbo S
Indeed! I was very surprised by that, but probably wouldn't have been if I had more experience as a Porsche guy. The 911s are quite similar looking through the range from S through Turbo S. You don't get as much of the visual carrots that you get from, say, Audi with their A5 => S5 => RS5, which change rather significantly in appearance and cannot be made to look as similar.
 

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Indeed! I was very surprised by that, but probably wouldn't have been if I had more experience as a Porsche guy. The 911s are quite similar looking through the range from S through Turbo S. You don't get as much of the visual carrots that you get from, say, Audi with their A5 => S5 => RS5, which change rather significantly in appearance and cannot be made to look as similar.
That is kinda true, actually

Spec the Taycan cleverly, and the only way you can tell the model is if you read the back end, and it'll say 4S. Much easier than on the Turbo, as the Turbo's 1381mm high - and that 3mm makes a BIG difference, and it's easier to tell the Turbo apart from the Turbo S than it is to tell the 4S apart from the Turbo S
 


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Much easier than on the Turbo, as the Turbo's 1381mm high - and that 3mm makes a BIG difference, and it's easier to tell the Turbo apart from the Turbo S than it is to tell the 4S apart from the Turbo S
Where are you getting this info from? On the Porsche USA website it says 3 models are all 54.4" high and all 3 have ride height adjustable air suspension.

[EDIT] I think I figured it out. It's not the ride height it is the factory wheel/tire size that is changing the height between the 3 cars. It would be exactly the same if all 3 models had the same wheel/tire size option.

The front lower bumper, side skirts, rear lower bumper side mirrors are all different on the Turbo as well as a few other smaller details like the stainless pedals and Turbo logo in the headrest.
The mirrors you can change to match but the rest you can't.

I am surprised Porsche did this though. The 911 Turbo has always be easily identified vs the non turbo models via its wide body and/or air intakes.

I prefer the Turbo vs the 4S for two reasons.
You don't use launch control every day so the 670hp overboost mode on the Turbo vs the 563hp on the 4S with battery upgrade isn't as big of a deal to me as is the normal everyday power mode of 616hp which is same as the Turbo S (yet the Turbo has the better CoD).
The 4S with battery upgrade is only 482hp in a 5000lb car.
The Turbos power difference between it's overboost and normal performance is only 54hp but in the 4S battery+ it's difference is 81hp. And if you compare the normal mode power difference between Turbo and 4S battery+ is 134hp!

Remember these are engines that we can't modify (at least easily or cheaply or anytime soon) like we do with an exhaust or tune etc on our ICE engine 911s etc. Getting more power from the factory is about the only way to get more power and the normal mode every day power available in the Turbo is the same as the Turbo S.

Maybe you could swap out the 300amp front inverter in the Turbo to the 600amp version from the Turbo S at a reasonable cost but since the 4S has a different smaller rear motor upgrade options would be very limited so expensive that you are probably better off getting a new Taycan instead of modding in the first place.

The second reason is that the power to weight ratio on the 4S variants under normal power mode are pretty bad. We are talking old 2006 987 Boxster S (291hp) or first gen 2009 Panamera 4S (400hp) power to weight performance ratios here.
Yes the instant electric torque and power across all RPMs makes the Taycan perform better than those ICE cars I mentioned above but it's still a lot of weight at over 10lbs per hp. The launch control 1/4 mile times used by Porsche are deceiving because they don't really show every day use ie non launch mode or overtaking and holding the throttle past the overboost 2.5 second timeout.
 
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Where are you getting this info from? On the Porsche USA website it says 3 models are all 54.4" high and all 3 have ride height adjustable air suspension.

[EDIT] I think I figured it out. It's not the ride height it is the factory wheel/tire size that is changing the height between the 3 cars. It would be exactly the same if all 3 models had the same wheel/tire size option.

The front lower bumper, side skirts, rear lower bumper side mirrors are all different on the Turbo as well as a few other smaller details like the stainless pedals and Turbo logo in the headrest.
The mirrors you can change to match but the rest you can't.
Ahh okay, hopefully you can get all three with the tire size option that makes it 1378mm tall.
 

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I prefer the Turbo vs the 4S for two reasons.
Agreed, the Turbo is better than the 4S. It better be, or else someone a Porsche has made a mistake. I'm just pleased that the 4S, a fantastic electric sport sedan, even exists at all.

In the past, my car buying philosophy was to purchase the highest trim in a model rather than step up a model. So, I would prefer the highest trim model 3 series BMW over the lower trim model 5 series even when the costs were similar. This was born out of the fact that companies kept too many things away from the lower trim models that would make them enjoyable to own. The 4S is simply one of the few times that I have seen a car where I would be quite happy with the lower trim model.
 

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It's quite obvious Turbo is better, but it also costs approximately 40k€ more (I have specced both cars and it resulted in approx 140k€ for 4S and 180k€ for Turbo here in Finland). So if you have the cash and can justify paying that, then go for a Turbo. Keep in mind it's approximately 30% more cash for a Turbo.

Again it comes down to what you're used to driving, I agree the 4S could be a bit lackluster if you've already used to driving very fast cars. For me the 4S is faster than my current Audi A7 (which I already think is pretty fast), so it "ticks the box". It has other advantages such as having the best range of all Taycan's and slightly more space in the trunk.

If I was already driving a really fast car, I couldn't buy the 4S, as it would in some ways feel like a downgrade. So I do get the point. But for me, the 4S is just right. I can buy something faster years from now, when we have the next generation electric cars. But for now the 4S ticks all the boxes for me, basically.
 

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It's quite obvious Turbo is better, but it also costs approximately 40k€ more (I have specced both cars and it resulted in approx 140k€ for 4S and 180k€ for Turbo here in Finland). So if you have the cash and can justify paying that, then go for a Turbo. Keep in mind it's approximately 30% more cash for a Turbo.

Again it comes down to what you're used to driving, I agree the 4S could be a bit lackluster if you've already used to driving very fast cars. For me the 4S is faster than my current Audi A7 (which I already think is pretty fast), so it "ticks the box". It has other advantages such as having the best range of all Taycan's and slightly more space in the trunk.

If I was already driving a really fast car, I couldn't buy the 4S, as it would in some ways feel like a downgrade. So I do get the point. But for me, the 4S is just right. I can buy something faster years from now, when we have the next generation electric cars. But for now the 4S ticks all the boxes for me, basically.
Coming from TESLA Performance models that electric kick is addictive and I really could not go down to a slower model even if handling is a lot better with the Taycan...... so Turbo S it is.
 

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Just to put the power difference in Porsche performance vs Porsche dollars:
The 30hp X51 power kits offered by Porsche over the years for the 911 are usually $13k for the hardware plus installation costs and it comes out to around $20k all in. Almost $700 per hp!

For my configuration the same 4S with battery upgrade vs same Turbo is a $24k difference for 183hp advantage from the factory on a vehicle that will probably have little to no aftermarket power adding options. $131 per hp and you get 6 times more for nearly the same price in Porsche dollars.

The part that gets me with the 4S is price vs. performance is when you compare it to the Model 3 Performance and Model S.
If/when you ignore the badge/handling/interior/exterior looks the Tesla's are a lot stronger of an argument against the Taycan 4S when you start throwing around the more practical/affordable/"bang for the buck" terms. It is a very slippery slope from there to Tesla. Where do you draw the line for the premium Porsche side of things vs the practical side of Tesla like range, price, charging network, interior space etc.
 

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Good points raised. If the difference was only $24k, I would also go for the Turbo. That is not the case however, I got a 40k€ difference. That is 45k in USD. Looking at some of the price lists found on the forum, many extras cost a lot more in EUR over here, than they do in USD in the US. Too bad.

For me the decision comes from the fact that my budget was, and still is, 150k€. Going from 140k€ to 180k€ for the Turbo instead of the 4S, and 30k€ over the original budget, simply doesn't work for me.

Tesla's are not an option for me. I simply don't like their looks from the outside or the inside, and they don't give me the quality feel the Porsche's give in every aspect. The 4S vs Turbo debate aside, I simply don't know of a sub 150k€ car I'd rather buy at the moment than the Taycan 4S.

EDIT: I had to recheck the specs & cost as the difference seemed a bit unbelievable. I remembered wrong, with identical spec to my liking the 4S is 140k€ and the Turbo 174k€ over here. So not quite 40k€ difference but still a 34k€ ($38k) difference and a solid 24k€ over my initial budget.
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