A few days with an ICE car

[Mike in CA]

The Taycan is getting PPF installed on the front end and front doors so my dealer gave me a base Macan to drive for a couple of days. Aside from my F250, it's the first ICE vehicle I've driven in about 6 months. I don't really count the truck as a standard for comparison to the Taycan because, although it rides quite well and is really comfortable for what it is, what it is is a 3/4 ton diesel pickup.

Anyway, I was struck by how much my personal vehicle paradigm has shifted since driving my wife's e-Tron, and especially the Taycan, exclusively over the last weeks. The Macan, even in base form, is by all objective measurements a good example of a modern ICE SUV. So I was shocked at how crude it seems in comparison to the Taycan.

Relatively speaking, it's rough riding, noisy, and lacks throttle response. The PDK gearbox, while among the better auto-manuals out there, seems by comparison slow to respond and downshift into the power band, as opposed to the Taycan which is always in the power band. The steering feels overboosted and the brake pedal is initially softer than I like. And now that I've gotten used to the touch screen driver interface in the Taycan, the huge field of buttons in the Macan seems like something from a bygone era. Ok, so maybe it's not totally fair to compare a 4cyl $50K Macan to a $140K Taycan 4S. But I've had Macan loaners before and I never felt like I was stepping into an anachronism.

One more thing. I had to put fuel in the Macan. Standing at the pump, watching the numbers for premium spin past at the rate of $4.50 per gallon, and experiencing the smell of gasoline once more made me wish for plugging in at home and letting my solar/battery system pump clean electrons into my battery "tank". So yes, I've been spoiled and can't wait to get my Taycan back on Friday.

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[SWORDER]

The Taycan is getting PPF installed on the front end and front doors so my dealer gave me a base Macan to drive for a couple of days. Aside from my F250, it's the first ICE vehicle I've driven in about 6 months. I don't really count the truck as a standard for comparison to the Taycan because, although it rides quite well and is really comfortable for what it is, what it is is a 3/4 ton diesel pickup.

Anyway, I was struck by how much my personal vehicle paradigm has shifted since driving my wife's e-Tron, and especially the Taycan, exclusively over the last weeks. The Macan, even in base form, is by all objective measurements a good example of a modern ICE SUV. So I was shocked at how crude it seems in comparison to the Taycan.

Relatively speaking, it's rough riding, noisy, and lacks throttle response. The PDK gearbox, while among the better auto-manuals out there, seems by comparison slow to respond and downshift into the power band, as opposed to the Taycan which is always in the power band. The steering feels overboosted and the brake pedal is initially softer than I like. And now that I've gotten used to the touch screen driver interface in the Taycan, the huge field of buttons in the Macan seems like something from a bygone era. Ok, so maybe it's not totally fair to compare a 4cyl $50K Macan to a $140K Taycan 4S. But I've had Macan loaners before and I never felt like I was stepping into an anachronism.

One more thing. I had to put fuel in the Macan. Standing at the pump, watching the numbers for premium spin past at the rate of $4.50 per gallon, and experiencing the smell of gasoline once more made me wish for plugging in at home and letting my solar/battery system pump clean electrons into my battery "tank". So yes, I've been spoiled and can't wait to get my Taycan back on Friday.

You're not alone. I drove an Audi rental for four days while the radar detector was installed in my Taycan TS. Felt like I was driving something out of The Flintstone era.

I figured it would take months, possibly a year or more to fully embrace the EV driving experience and lifestyle but, after only three weeks of Taycan ownership, reverting back to ICE seems unfathomable to me.

 

[XLR82XS]

Now go drive a car from 1950-1970.

 

[Silveral]

I experience that on a daily basis. My wife's 2022 BMW 7 series is soooo slow to respond. With my younger daughter we make fun of the BMW by saying "launch control" and appear all squashed up to the seat like we are in the Taycan, but going really slow in the BMW

 

[MissionC]

Just filled up my wife’s SUV (we needed one with three rows that wasn’t a Suburban) for ~$60. The cost of gas is one thing, it’s the lack of anything happening when I mash the go pedal. I can hear the turbos spin up, the car preparing to do something, and then power hits. I’m completely ruined by the instantaneous power delivery in my Taycan. The other area where I’ve realized my driving habits have changed is with braking. Since there’s now gain from braking for energy recuperation, and because the friction brakes don’t kick until just before stopping, I noticed that I brake earlier to recover energy. In an ICE car, it’s just wearing out your pads and have to shift my thinking. I love vacation, but next year I might have to bring two cars

 

[jaybird]

I feel the same way about how quickly ICE antiquates. There was a while where I was thinking about buying an ass kicking ICE car in 2022 to have as a future classic, a big (maybe naturally aspirated) engine to hold me over for years to last me into the future... But then I test drove a Taycan and all that went out the window. It sounds crazy, but it's really that simple.

 

[daveo4EV]

EV spoils you and make even the best ICE vehicles appear "lesser" - and normal ICE vehicles are just plain aweful - you need a really really expensive/rare/special gas car to come to a mid-range EV…it just makes everything else suck.

 

[inkatouring]

Several years ago my wife and I both bought new cars within a year or so of each other--a very rare thing in our house, as I like classic and unique cars generally. She got a bottom of the line Model S Tesla (she loves it, I hate it) and I got a Porsche 981 Cayman S. Her car, of course, was faster and felt even more so, given the instantaneous power.

Based on the Tesla, I never thought I'd go EV. But it was time to let the Cayman go (too for my aging body) and I test drove the BMW I4. Loved it. Said to myself "you have to drive the Taycan before buying the BMW to see if it handles better." Of course it did and now I have my order in for a CT.

I restore old BMWs as a hobby and retirement project to keep myself busy and maybe even make a few dollars (it pays more than my poker playing but less than the consulting I do). I love building engines. I love shifting dog-leg transmissions. I love the sound of an ICE. But that has almost passed. My wife was very surprised I went EV but I told that upon driving the German ones, it was like a switch flipped. Pun intended.

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