mcr21
Well-Known Member
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- #1
Took my new 4S for a long drive down to the Balearic Islands via Paris/Versailles and Barcelona and wanted to share some impressions from the journey which took around 18h of actual driving split into three days - which with breaks meant pretty much being on the road from morning to evening three days in a row.
It’s been a great way to get to know the car better in various environments, road and traffic conditions and generally enjoying summer Europe in what is a fantastic, responsive car to drive be it slowly cruising on picturesque countryside roads in France or on the Autoroute.
An analogy I told a friend is that this car is dressed like an elegant lady (in my case, with a white evening gown) but for all intents and purposes is a true sports car – and I do not even have the Turbo S.
Got a reasonably early start from North London in what turned out to be one of the hottest days in the UK and other parts of Europe for over a decade. Traffic on the ring road leading out of London towards Dover was heavy and the heat clearly got the better of many impatient drivers. Once at Eurotunnel it was smooth sailing, got on the imminent departure and the 35-minute passage passed quickly.
Continued down to Versailles and stayed the night at Waldorf as it was easiest option for the onwards journey. The UAE emir was being hosted next door for an energy security meeting with President Macron, so there were multiple police checks entering the greater Versailles area with diplomatic cars passing by the gates frequently. The hotel had a Porsche Destination Charger, so woke up to a full charge ready to continue the onwards journey.
A bit on the driving performance and experience – the car has an incredible grip on the road, particularly when in sports mode where it simply feels glued and incredible stabile to maneuver regardless of speed and road conditions. The G-force meter is a cool gadget especially when taking on curves. The battery drains meaningfully quicker in sports mode and (obviously) at higher speeds, but it’s worth every kW
Played around with the regenerative charging settings a few times, and it definitely adds range but most of the time had this option deactivated for the sake of driving enjoyment. The BOSE system especially in surround mode is good – clearly not as high quality as the more expensive option, but more than sufficient. Haven’t tested the basic audio system so can’t compare.
The PCM has worked more or less without any hitches, save a very minor issue with CarPlay that was quickly resolved.
The charging network in France has with the notable exception of Ionity been an embarrassment. Ionity worked great at every location both in France and Spain with charging speeds up to 250 kW+, and also used one Tesla Supercharger which although expensive worked perfectly.
On the other side of the spectrum, the one Total Energy 50 kW charger I tried near Montpellier stopped working after 10 minutes and the 175 kW one next to it was completely out of order. Tried another street charging provider in a small town in Southern France, and it point blank refused to play ball.
On a final note, I was surprised about how few Taycans I’ve seen on the roads or cities for that matter in France and Spain, but I guess EVs in general are not as widely adopted in Southern Europe as in e.g.UK, The Netherlands and the Nordics. Spotted a fair bit of Tesla Model 3’s and S though.
I have had a lot of fun driving it so far and look forward to continued adventures.
It’s been a great way to get to know the car better in various environments, road and traffic conditions and generally enjoying summer Europe in what is a fantastic, responsive car to drive be it slowly cruising on picturesque countryside roads in France or on the Autoroute.
An analogy I told a friend is that this car is dressed like an elegant lady (in my case, with a white evening gown) but for all intents and purposes is a true sports car – and I do not even have the Turbo S.
Got a reasonably early start from North London in what turned out to be one of the hottest days in the UK and other parts of Europe for over a decade. Traffic on the ring road leading out of London towards Dover was heavy and the heat clearly got the better of many impatient drivers. Once at Eurotunnel it was smooth sailing, got on the imminent departure and the 35-minute passage passed quickly.
Continued down to Versailles and stayed the night at Waldorf as it was easiest option for the onwards journey. The UAE emir was being hosted next door for an energy security meeting with President Macron, so there were multiple police checks entering the greater Versailles area with diplomatic cars passing by the gates frequently. The hotel had a Porsche Destination Charger, so woke up to a full charge ready to continue the onwards journey.
A bit on the driving performance and experience – the car has an incredible grip on the road, particularly when in sports mode where it simply feels glued and incredible stabile to maneuver regardless of speed and road conditions. The G-force meter is a cool gadget especially when taking on curves. The battery drains meaningfully quicker in sports mode and (obviously) at higher speeds, but it’s worth every kW
Played around with the regenerative charging settings a few times, and it definitely adds range but most of the time had this option deactivated for the sake of driving enjoyment. The BOSE system especially in surround mode is good – clearly not as high quality as the more expensive option, but more than sufficient. Haven’t tested the basic audio system so can’t compare.
The PCM has worked more or less without any hitches, save a very minor issue with CarPlay that was quickly resolved.
The charging network in France has with the notable exception of Ionity been an embarrassment. Ionity worked great at every location both in France and Spain with charging speeds up to 250 kW+, and also used one Tesla Supercharger which although expensive worked perfectly.
On the other side of the spectrum, the one Total Energy 50 kW charger I tried near Montpellier stopped working after 10 minutes and the 175 kW one next to it was completely out of order. Tried another street charging provider in a small town in Southern France, and it point blank refused to play ball.
On a final note, I was surprised about how few Taycans I’ve seen on the roads or cities for that matter in France and Spain, but I guess EVs in general are not as widely adopted in Southern Europe as in e.g.UK, The Netherlands and the Nordics. Spotted a fair bit of Tesla Model 3’s and S though.
I have had a lot of fun driving it so far and look forward to continued adventures.
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