4s vs Turbo

[ponomo]

So, I've put a deposit on a turbo, but I'm thinking that I'd be fine with a base model or 4S with the sport design package and mission e wheels.

I absolutely hate to waste money on things that won't bring me a sufficient upgrade in pleasure or function. My previous love was a 911, so I'm going to be a bit disappointed with the handling regardless of what I choose.

Is there anyone out there who went with a base model or 4S, but is regretting their decision now? Cost is not really a factor, I just don't want to be wasteful. I'm not a speed junky nor do I plan to take it to the track, although I do like to hit the on ramps with a bit of juice

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[ponomo]

I just noticed there's a few other recent threads pretty much asking the same question I have, my apologies for not searching first!

 

[356B]

So, I've put a deposit on a turbo, but I'm thinking that I'd be fine with a base model or 4S with the sport design package and mission e wheels.

I absolutely hate to waste money on things that won't bring me a sufficient upgrade in pleasure or function. My previous love was a 911, so I'm going to be a bit disappointed with the handling regardless of what I choose.

Is there anyone out there who went with a base model or 4S, but is regretting their decision now? Cost is not really a factor, I just don't want to be wasteful. I'm not a speed junky nor do I plan to take it to the track, although I do like to hit the on ramps with a bit of juice

I have a MY 21 4S. I just finished a 140 mile tour with PCA group thru the hills of Western Maryland and into West Virginia. I was third car behind a 991 4S and a 991 Carrera and had no problem keeping up. After a few miles, I placed the suspension in sport mode and it was tight enough that my navigator shook some feelings of motion sickness and all was well. I have a 911 also (so I can compare) and this was an experiment to test range and handling of the 4S. Both went well (140 mile route with 80 miles remaining on the battery at the end). The handing and acceleration were remarkable for a 5000lb car, Does the Taycan feel like a 911? Not really, it is a big car, but it was tight on the curves and responsive. I think the 4s is a great car.
Also as an aside, after a 20 minute spirited run from one town to the next, the brake rotors were at ambient temperature (cool to touch). Regen on the hills is remarkable and you never worry about fade.

 

[Silveral]

I for once love my 4S in a way that my 991 S never got really close. The Taycan is just another planet and I doubt on any ramp any 911 can keep up. Another planet, technology and grip

 

[fullmetalbaal]

So, I've put a deposit on a turbo, but I'm thinking that I'd be fine with a base model or 4S with the sport design package and mission e wheels.

I absolutely hate to waste money on things that won't bring me a sufficient upgrade in pleasure or function. My previous love was a 911, so I'm going to be a bit disappointed with the handling regardless of what I choose.

Is there anyone out there who went with a base model or 4S, but is regretting their decision now? Cost is not really a factor, I just don't want to be wasteful.

I have the 4S, and I catch myself wondering whether I should have gone with a Turbo.
2 reasons:
1- The acceleration on the 4S when not in launch mode boost is OK but not amazing. IMHO it drives like a 4.xs car and not a 3.8s car once you take away the boost. My non-performance Model 3 felt faster subjectively.
2- I am annoyed with how easy it is to catch it "flat footed": cruising at say 30mph and then accelerating aggressively, unless you are already in sport mode you're going to be surprised by a 0.5s delay while the car shifts down.

From the paper stats, the Turbo might help with both of those, but unclear whether enough to actually feel it. If I were in your shoes, if either of those 2 things are likely to bother you, I'd see if I could test drive a Turbo and see if it's markedly different.

Or just gamble on it helping and upgrade
The 4S is definitely NOT "maxed out" when it comes to performance.

 

[356B]

I have the 4S, and I catch myself wondering whether I should have gone with a Turbo.
2 reasons:
1- The acceleration on the 4S when not in launch mode boost is OK but not amazing. IMHO it drives like a 4.xs car and not a 3.8s car once you take away the boost. My non-performance Model 3 felt faster subjectively.
2- I am annoyed with how easy it is to catch it "flat footed": cruising at say 30mph and then accelerating aggressively, unless you are already in sport mode you're going to be surprised by a 0.5s delay while the car shifts down.

From the paper stats, the Turbo might help with both of those, but unclear whether enough to actually feel it. If I were in your shoes, if either of those 2 things are likely to bother you, I'd see if I could test drive a Turbo and see if it's markedly different.

Or just gamble on it helping and upgrade
The 4S is definitely NOT "maxed out" when it comes to performance.

Interesting point, but both 4S and Turbo have the same gear box so won't downshift timing be the same. The extra HP in the turbo will make up for the delay (I haven't really noticed a delay, but if it is there...) and make up for the delay.
So I was wondering, does the quietness of the Taycan mask the feelng of acceleration? The car just leaps to speed. Not a lot of fanfare.

 

[Todd Rose]

I have a turbo and I love it. When I brought it in for the recall the dealer gave me a 4S. It was obviously slower, but I was surprised how noticeably slower it felt. I feel like if I had gone with the 4S from the start I would be happy with it, but now there is no way I could go back. So if money isn’t the issue I believe you will enjoy the all-around boost the Turbo provides.

 

[HelfFL]

I have a turbo and I love it. When I brought it in for the recall the dealer gave me a 4S. It was obviously slower, but I was surprised how noticeably slower it felt. I feel like if I had gone with the 4S from the start I would be happy with it, but now there is no way I could go back. So if money isn’t the issue I believe you will enjoy the all-around boost the Turbo provides.

I had the same experience. I have a Turbo and got a 4S for a loaner once. There was a noticeable difference in power to me as well. But I also agree with Todd that if you start with a 4S and don't drive a Turbo, you'll probably be satisfied with the 4S.

 

[kort]

I had the same experience. I have a Turbo and got a 4S for a loaner once. There was a noticeable difference in power to me as well. But I also agree with Todd that if you start with a 4S and don't drive a Turbo, you'll probably be satisfied with the 4S.

the same exact thing can be said for the difference between a 4S and a base taycan, if you only know what the base can do it is an exception car. I was given a base model when my car was in for an update that took 3 days and the car is noticeably slower but not having air suspension made the ride a bit stiffer than my 4s with the air suspension.
All 3 models are great cars and IMHO the 4s hits the sweet spot.

 

[Todd Rose]

the same exact thing can be said for the difference between a 4S and a base taycan, if you only know what the base can do it is an exception car. I was given a base model when my car was in for an update that took 3 days and the car is noticeably slower but not having air suspension made the ride a bit stiffer than my 4s with the air suspension.
All 3 models are great cars and IMHO the 4s hits the sweet spot.

Yeah, it’s funny. That’s exactly how I felt about the TT vs TTS. However, I could imagine someone who had the TTS saying the same thing about the TT. So finding your personal sweet spot is everything. You can’t really go wrong with any of the variants. Great cars!

 

[fullmetalbaal]

Interesting point, but both 4S and Turbo have the same gear box so won't downshift timing be the same. The extra HP in the turbo will make up for the delay (I haven't really noticed a delay, but if it is there...) and make up for the delay.
So I was wondering, does the quietness of the Taycan mask the feelng of acceleration? The car just leaps to speed. Not a lot of fanfare.

(1) has nothing to do with the transmission, it's just pure acceleration not being enough even in sport mode.

(2) I don't need to be "flooring" it to get into that state. With substantially more hp/torque, presumably there are some conditions where the computer in the Turbo would decide that it doesn't need to shift where in the 4S it would decide to shift. In other words, it's not about making up for the delay, but not having it period.

It's not the lack of noise. The Model 3 makes less noise than the Taycan, and feels faster. Perhaps aided by the bumpier suspension
But I'm willing to bet that the Taycan 4S is a >4s car if you exclude the boost, and outside of a stopped 0-60mph launch controlled launch, I don't think you really experience much of the boost (please correct me if I'm wrong).

I guess it also depends what you are coming from. In my case, both the 911 GTS and the Model 3 felt like they had better acceleration. In hindsight, I probably should have spent a bit more.

 

[JacobDK]

I bought the 4S as could not get a turbo allocation. I specced it pretty much as a Turbo (sport package, wheels, brakes, seats, leather, headliner, Bose etc) and the price difference was less than 10% to a comparable turbo. Given the chance I would have had the turbo due to expected better resale value. But I really don’t think I miss out on anything in the 4S. Its really brilliant. I agree the in normal its not psycho fast but passengers appriciate that. I love switching the dial to sport plus and having the extra performance then. So no regrets and a very happy camper i a 4S.

 

[f1eng]

I think it will hugely depend on the type of roads you mainly drive on.
My experience of North American roads (I have visited dozens of times since my first student exchange in 1970) is wide straight roads with lots of traffic lights.
Drag racing type performance is the main thing to enjoy on these sort of roads.

On the roads round here (Oxfordshire) which are narrow and windy and few traffic lights and even when there were never with 2 lanes side by side do do a "drag race" on so even having worked in motorsport my whole career I have literally never had a drag race with anybody.
The road from Vancouver to Whistler was more like tha sort of roads I am used to, for example.

For me here the extra performance of the Turbo would be un-used 90% of the time I am buying a Taycan for the ride/handling/silence combination which is unassailable IME.

On wide straight roads where the huge bulk of a sports car performance is enjoyed in straight line I can see the Turbo would have more usable performance.

 

[HK111]

At least in my case, if by accident a new Turbo in the right colour and the right specs would be available in Germany, I'd consider switching from my T4S .

 

[whitex]

Personal taste really, perhaps depending on what you're switching out of. I'm currently driving a Model S with Ludicrous mode, so when I test drove the 4S I found it a bit lacking acceleration, especially on the highway. That was the biggest reason I decided to go for a Turbo (even though it is actually costing me longer wait time for an allocation too).

That said, I have another Model S at home which I drive from time to time, which is lower power, and I have owned and/or drove almost the full line of Model S power/performance range, and I learned one thing - after a few hours (sometimes less) of driving the less powerful version, you get used to it. My first Tesla was a the lowest power Model S, so when I would drop it off for service I would always get a faster loaner. Usually the first few hours after going back to my car felt like something is broken with the car's acceleration, but then I would get used it. However, after less than 2 years I did decide to trade it in for the fastest (then) version, so apparently for me power has value, hence going for a Turbo right now (I see no benefit in Turbo S for me, as I don't ever use Launch modes, and without it Turbo and Turbo S are pretty much the same).

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