Any RWD owners regret not going to 4S?

RBGtaycan

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Appreciate thoughts on battery, but I am an intown driver. The farthest I drive from Sarasota is St. Pete/Tampa. All easily within range. I rarely rarely go beyond that, and if I did, I could charge (or take our Highlander). Just can't justify paying for the performance battery due to the occasional trip that would be nice to have 30-40 extra miles for. Would rather have other options.
I have RWD, springs only and small battery (which delivers about 260 miles for me BTW)...I use car as daily driver and occasional GT and love it....I have owned GREAT driving cars (M2; Cayman S's) and they were fun - but for daily use and touring what I have is fine (and cost well under 100K)
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mikeva

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My criteria in looking at trying out this 'EV thing' -- 1) easily handle 150 - 175 miles per day, 2) fun to drive (i.e. relatively quick and very good handling), 3) ability to completely recharge overnight and 4) something 'different' from my kid's Teslas. I ended up closing a RWD Taycan and thus far (only 500 miles) am quite happy with my decision.

It is not as fast as the 4S, nor its bigger sisters but around town it is quite enough for the situations I have run into -- in fact today someone that pulled out in front of me had no idea that I could cover that much ground from a stop light that quickly. I guess I need to up my defensive driving quite a bit. I realize it is does not accelerate as quickly as the 4s or Turbo, but if that was the only criteria I was interested in, I probably should be looking at a Tesla Plaid - in other words, just go to the top of the food chain of the EV world.

I have the standard battery and that works great for me (see item #1). But I fully realize that if you want to take it on a long trip, the range is a problem. If range is the key measurement then a Lucid might be a better choice.

Finally, I did not configure this car (and haven't really bought any of my 50+ cars) based on potential resale value. I acquire cars that meet my needs (desires) and to enjoy them while they are in my possession. When it is time for them to go -- they go at whatever the market at the time is willing to pay.
 

taycanfun

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really appreciate everyones posting here- it helps me relax more as I have an RWD on order.
 

Stormtrooper

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When I had my tesla in 2013 and it was a special car then, everyone came to me with questions about the car and I was mostly positive and I did mention the growing pains and how well tesla came through fixing the issues when the Model X came out, and that was a very flawed car, I warned many people to stay away from that car and some people still thank me, now there are literally almost 20 teslas in this little community.
Yes, Porsche is having some growing pains on their first EV. As you stated Tesla had growing pains as well but worked through them and Porsche will too. However, for Porsche's first EV they knocked it out of the park. The fit and finish alone are far superior on the Taycan as compared to the current Tesla. For the record, not everyone is having issues with their Taycan, and to date, I have not had a single issue with my personal Taycan. Also, we are selling every one we can get our hands on and my clients love them in spite of their few issues.
 


nav1

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I got a RWD with performance battery ; I love it so much ; that said if I were to do it again I would get a 4s tho just for the standing start launch controls /speed
 

rich_r

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Was thinking about this thread some more and realized that when I really like a car it doesn't matter to me which version I get; if I can only afford the base version then I'd prefer that vs other cars for the same price. It's pretty rare I get that feeling about a particular model but when it does I know i've found the right car.
 

kort

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Yes, Porsche is having some growing pains on their first EV. As you stated Tesla had growing pains as well but worked through them and Porsche will too.
no porsche is not working through them, their first response to an issue is denial, I have to prove to them that there is an issue. see the recent recall, it took numerous owners contacting NHTSA and forcing porsche to take steps to mitigate the issues. Porsche is not on the same track that tesla was.
However, for Porsche's first EV they knocked it out of the park. The fit and finish alone are far superior on the Taycan as compared to the current Tesla. For the record, not everyone is having issues with their Taycan, and to date, I have not had a single issue with my personal Taycan.
because YOU are not having any issues does not equate to the car not having issues, look around here, I may be one of the more vociferous commenters but I am far from the only one with issues with the car.
Also, we are selling every one we can get our hands on and my clients love them in spite of their few issues.
and there it is I thought that you are just a fan boi, and maybe you are but more importantly you're a salesman.
ciao


fit and finish are great but the car does not perform as advertised. the charging issues caused by either the car or the EA network renders long distance drives to be a gamble.
think of the car as an appliance, an appliance that is incapable of working as advertised.
porsche is in the realm of bait and switch marketers.
 
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buruburu

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When I was purchasing my Taycan, I had to make a similar decision except not only was a debating between the Base & 4S, I was also considering the CT 4S.

My biggest issue w/ buying a base Taycan is resell. On the used market, option doesn't really end up contributing much to the overall resell value. Buyers aren't going to understand the options and they're going to want you to go down to the what a Base w/ no options are selling for.

I struggled between the Turbo and 4S since typically Turbo trim typically commands a higher resell. However WA has stupid expensive registration tax that the difference between the Turbo and 4S is enough to be a deciding factor.

I probably would of optioned out a CT4S instead of my 4S if it weren't for the fact that the 4S I found had all the options I wanted except for PTV+ and was less than MSRP. My 4S is optioned out so that it has most of the options that would be must haves for a owner that wants to autocross / track their Taycan. Which fingers crossed would have sellers that would be interested in the car in the future.
 

PorschePete

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The key is go on a few test drives of both models to get a feel for them. If this is your first performance type car then the base will likely feel great to you. And that is all that matters!

I am transitioning from a 2009 911 Turbo to better accommodate the family. I drove the RWD with performance battery. There was no way I was going to replace my existing car with the base due to a lack of power on what I’d describe as in mid RPM range. There was just not enough there and it felt a little floaty in the corners for my liking.

I didn’t know if this was the car for me. I followed up with a test drive in an upgraded 4s and I was impressed with the power & improved handling. So I said ok let’s go this route. Not hating at all as this is a great car regardless of model. Just adding another perspective. Best of luck with your build!!
 

riburn3

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Porsche is seriously tarnishing the brand.

as good as the ride in the taycan is the baggage that comes along with it really ruins the experience.
In all fairness I think your experiences are fairly unique, at least in terms of your actual vehicle. If anything the Taycan has expanded Porsches appeal and reach. There's a reason sales for this car only get better and are beating nearly everything not named Macan or Cayenne.

Go to any car forum and there's a group of upset owners dealing with a big issue, including on high end cars. If something unusual happens, it's the first place someone goes to find info. No doubt the issues others here have reported are serious, but they represent the exception, not the rule.
 

4thPcar

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I am personally on the fence still between the base and 4s models. I think I'd love the base model, but I expect the residual value of the 4s might argue in favor of spending more now, to recover a larger percentage of the original purchase price later (on resale). Opinions on that?

PS. I've had a 911S (pictured here) and not expecting to ever replace that visceral feeling.
 

riburn3

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I am personally on the fence still between the base and 4s models. I think I'd love the base model, but I expect the residual value of the 4s might argue in favor of spending more now, to recover a larger percentage of the original purchase price later (on resale). Opinions on that?

PS. I've had a 911S (pictured here) and not expecting to ever replace that visceral feeling.
It's hard to gauge resale value on these cars when the few we have seen are going at their MSRP (really more when you consider the new buyer doesn't get the tax credits). I wanna say Porsche initially projected 50% depreciation after 3 years but in today's climate I can't see them dropping that much.

We are also in a situation that is a sellers market quite unlike anything before it. When new cars start catching up with demand I expect the used market to drop a lot but the Porsche brand seem to do pretty well.

That said, historically Porsche models that have an S in the trim level fetch a superior resale value. I think on an EV factors like a larger battery will also be an important factor since we have seen that pattern with Tesla. Mileage will too, more so than petrol cars, since higher mile examples will have more degraded batteries.
 

4thPcar

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It's hard to gauge resale value on these cars when the few we have seen are going at their MSRP (really more when you consider the new buyer doesn't get the tax credits). I wanna say Porsche initially projected 50% depreciation after 3 years but in today's climate I can't see them dropping that much.

We are also in a situation that is a sellers market quite unlike anything before it. When new cars start catching up with demand I expect the used market to drop a lot but the Porsche brand seem to do pretty well.

That said, historically Porsche models that have an S in the trim level fetch a superior resale value. I think on an EV factors like a larger battery will also be an important factor since we have seen that pattern with Tesla. Mileage will too, more so than petrol cars, since higher mile examples will have more degraded batteries.
in other words, “we’re not in Kansas anymore! “
 

FMO

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Greetings!

I have seen a few posts regarding RWD vs 4s but wanted to ask the question directly to you RWD owners. Do any of you regret not splurging for the 4S?

As background, I have never been a car enthusiast. Don't laugh, but I am upgrading from a Nissan Altima and planning to go with a RWD with around $23K in options. So I am sure the RWD will be a big wow for me, but have been watching a view videos that say the 4S is really the best, most balanced model.

I am not a speed hound. When I borrow my friends 911, I do occasionally like gunning it, but don't LOVE that car. Just too loud and the shifting is too jerky. When I first drove the Taycan, the tech geek in me just loved how it drove so much more than the 911. I suppose I value comfort and cool more than performance.

For me to go to the 4S with the same options will be another $18K (some of the options I selected for RWD like Air Suspension and Aluminum Sill guards come standard on 4S). That is a big chunk of change and may push my wife over the edge, but worth it?? Then I wonder if the Performance Battery Plus (which I have not optioned for the RWD since I am not a long distance driver) is more essential for 4S.

http://www.porsche-code.com/PNY7ADA2

Thanks!
I had the exact same dilemma as you. I went for the RWD (uk base 70k at the time) and carefully specced to around 86k (incl bigger battery) - so around 4k over the base price of a 4S (almost 100k for the same spec 4S). The question I kept asking myself was “what do I really care about” and I made some choices you may think are crazy - to give you a specific example I took PSCB under turbo aero wheels - but I thought back to every car I’ve owned and one thing I hated about my 991.1 911 carrera was the unpainted anodised brakes and higher ride height - my OCD couldn’t cope - so here I now have lovely clean painted white brakes (and the added advantage of better brakes :)) and air susp but on the flip side I don’t mind slower as I am generally driving in a city where i always feel too fast anyway … I DO miss the harder acceleration a 4S brings on a rare occasion (pulling out onto the motorway being one) - but I’ve been there done that - I’ve had plenty top trump 0-60 cars incl an RS6 performance (605bhp and 0-60 3.7) but after flooring it a few times I wondered what the point was and I got myself into trouble too easily… ahh the flared wheel arches … but all taycans basically look the same (maybe get the sport design side skirts :))

my point has already been well made by others -different things matter to different people so just focus on what makes you happy ;) but no doubt whichever one you go for it’s an incredible machine!
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