Is the Taycan quieter than the Boxster, for road noise especially?

[mystermykee]

On 21's Goodyear Asymmetric 5, at 70mph on majority of CA freeways, my Apple Watch measures around 62-65 dbs. Radio off, venting level 1.

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[magnitude]

So, as expected, it proves to be really difficult to find a Taycan (of any trim) that actually has the Burmester. There are a few in South California, which is too far away. There is one in my price range nearby... but it does not have the ACC.

After compromising on my Boxster and ultimately regretting it (though I've still had it for 7 years or so now and think it's awesome), this time I really will wait until I can find one with Burmester, ACC, and noise insulated glass.

Not sure I have a choice on tire size then... we'll see how long it takes for something to pop up to begin with!

 

[irrelevant]

So, as expected, it proves to be really difficult to find a Taycan (of any trim) that actually has the Burmester. There are a few in South California, which is too far away. There is one in my price range nearby... but it does not have the ACC.

After compromising on my Boxster and ultimately regretting it (though I've still had it for 7 years or so now and think it's awesome), this time I really will wait until I can find one with Burmester, ACC, and noise insulated glass.

Not sure I have a choice on tire size then... we'll see how long it takes for something to pop up to begin with!

Check the classifieds here for your preferred wheel/tire size. Someone is usually selling some they've taken off their car when replacing with aftermarket.

 

[andb]

There is one in my price range nearby... but it does not have the ACC.

Have you tried to listen Bose/Burmester on the road? Some people here are saying that while driving there isn't such big gap between Bose and Burmester like when listening on the showroom.

I'm looking for a similar spec Turbo with Burmester, ACC, Acoustic glass, etc but its very annoying to wait for a used one to come at the right price while many nice ones with Bose come and go.

 

[magnitude]

but its very annoying to wait for a used one to come at the right price while many nice ones with Bose come and go.

I very much agree, it's painful, but I have some experience there. Everyone's situation is different, so don't take it as fact, but if you enjoy listening to music in your car a lot, and you already decided that you would be willing to play the price difference for the better stereo, maybe this applies to you as well:

When I looked for my Boxster around 7 years ago, finding one with a Burmester was even more frustrating than now (probably for good reason, Boxsters are loud and more "track compatible" cars). I grew tired of waiting, caved in, and got a Boxster with the BOSE.

It also had a different color, and different options all around. All of this was fine, even the color really grew on me.

But the sound system was the one thing that kept bothering me. I was never quite happy with the BOSE. Meanwhile, I did hear and read from people, in reviews and videos, about how nice the Burmester sounds, and I always thought "what if". I became determined not to make that mistake again.

In the end, I'm actually more willing to take the chance that the Burmester is not that much better, than the chance of going with the BOSE again. I just listen to music too much for that.

Now, that car nearby with the Burmester but without ACC, I'm kind of wondering... but I have a feeling not getting ACC could be another mistake, as I really liked the ACC during my commute in the Maycan I was loaned while my Boxster was in for service.

 

[andb]

Depends on your needs. I drive mostly in the city and rarely use ACC so I'll take Burmester.

ACC for me is more like a safety option, very helpful during emergency braking. I can live without it but it's a shame not to have radar cruise in a 100k car.

 

[magnitude]

Depends on your needs. I drive mostly in the city and rarely use ACC so I'll take Burmester.

Yeah, I'd do the same in your situation. It's useless in the city. My commute is 45 miles (~70 km) in one direction, and it's almost all freeway, so it's different. I didn't care about ACC in my Boxster, but when I tried it on the Macan, it was actually really nice to not have to constantly match speeds with the cars in front of me, because it was a day where I was stressed out and tired and not in the mood for "spirited driving".

I'm still thinking "do I really need ACC" with the prospect of that other car, but I keep remembering that stressed out evening commute. Also, I don't like its interior anyway, so...

 

[daveo4EV]

ACC is great in stop and go traffic while you're listening to your burmester

upgrading a boses system with better after market stuff is very doable - but adding ACC after the fact is not - I'd get bose Taycan and if it's busting your hump - get a local stereo guy to trick it out - probably get better than burmester at the end of the day if you go after market.

 

[magnitude]

So, also thanks to the replies in this thread, I felt comfortable buying a Taycan Turbo. And I have to say, the answer to my question is indeed: Yes, the Taycan is much, much quieter than my old Boxster at least. Even with the 21" Mission E tires on it and some audible road noise, it just does not compare.

I am immensely happy. The "quiet power" will make my commute so much better. This also goes for this:

ACC is great in stop and go traffic while you're listening to your burmester

Having had plenty of opportunity to try out the ACC in all kinds of situations during the ~500 miles home, that sentence is completely true.

 

[magnitude]

Now, the Burmester. Is it worth it compared to the BOSE? I don't know, and my guess is it mostly depends on whether the BOSE has speakers in the pillars.

I have no conclusive answer, because the CPO car I bought had all options I wanted and them some, including the Burmester. So I did not have much appetite to compare with the BOSE at the dealership.

But the main thing I noticed is that the Taycan with Burmester has speakers in the pillars, roughly at ear level, which seems to make a difference in making the sound not so much "coming from below" compared to my Boxster. I do not know if the BOSE also has pillar speakers, if not it could be a very relevant difference.

The BOSE in my 981S was bad overall, and so in a BOSE Taycan I would have this nagging feeling of whether I could have gotten better. But I've also heard that the BOSE was improved in the 718 Boxster already, and the Taycan is a different beast altogether, so this is not a valid comparison.

Either way, while the Burmester is probably not worth $6000 (a multiband EQ might have made that slightly more faroable), given that I effectively got it cheaper (used car depreciation), I'm very happy. When I wasn't just enjoying the relative silence of my Taycan even on rough roads, I had a blast listening to music with it for much of the roughly 500 miles, while not having to increase the volume up to ear piercing levels just to drown out road noise.

 

[daveo4EV]

Now, the Burmester. Is it worth it compared to the BOSE? I don't know, and my guess is it mostly depends on whether the BOSE has speakers in the pillars.

I have no conclusive answer, because the CPO car I bought had all options I wanted and them some, including the Burmester. So I did not have much appetite to compare with the BOSE at the dealership.

But the main thing I noticed is that the Taycan with Burmester has speakers in the pillars, roughly at ear level, which seems to make a difference in making the sound not so much "coming from below" compared to my Boxster. I do not know if the BOSE also has pillar speakers, if not it could be a very relevant difference.

The BOSE in my 981S was bad overall, and so in a BOSE Taycan I would have this nagging feeling of whether I could have gotten better. But I've also heard that the BOSE was improved in the 718 Boxster already, and the Taycan is a different beast altogether, so this is not a valid comparison.

Either way, while the Burmester is probably not worth $6000 (a multiband EQ might have made that slightly more faroable), given that I effectively got it cheaper (used car depreciation), I'm very happy. When I wasn't just enjoying the relatively silence of my Taycan even on rough roads, I had a blast listening to music with it for much of the roughly 500 miles, while not having to increase the volume up to ear piercing levels just to drown out road noise.

Taycan Turbo -look at you go! congratulations - enjoy and have fun!

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