On Demand performance upgrades possible?

[Midlifecrisis]

The boost button in an ICE car is great because it boosts the revs to the peak of the power curve by dropping several gears. There wouldn‘t be much to gain in a Taycan over and above putting it into sport mode, which drops to the lower gear. The difference in performance with launch control (I think) is only about 0.2 seconds. So minimal gain. I doubt we would see this as a feature due to the previously mentioned heat that it would generate

Sponsored

 

[mutanthands]

On a GTS it would be the difference between 517hp, boosted to 598hp.
You can definitely feel the difference, so I wouldn’t call the gain minimal.

0-60mph 0.2s gain in speed is almost the difference between an entire trim level!

 

[Mike in CA]

Just a quick follow-up re: an On Demand performance update. I received another Porsche Driver's Council survey today and it asked just 2 questions. A) As a Taycan owner, would you be interested in an On Demand feature that improved 0-60 time by 0.2 seconds and B) If interested would you prefer to subscribe on a per use basis, by the month, or a flat fee for unlimited use that doesn't expire.

I could be wrong, but these sound like pretty specific questions for something that's not being actively considered.

 

[WuffvonTrips]

Just a quick follow-up re: an On Demand performance update. I received another Porsche Driver's Council survey today and it asked just 2 questions. A) As a Taycan owner, would you be interested in an On Demand feature that improved 0-60 time by 0.2 seconds and B) If interested would you prefer to subscribe on a per use basis, by the month, or a flat fee for unlimited use that doesn't expire.

I could be wrong, but these sound like pretty specific questions for something that's not being actively considered.

I'm with you on that. Was there any indication that such an enhancement would also improve acceleration other than from a standing start? Perhaps not coincidentally, in the case of several Taycan variants, that 0.2 seconds is about the difference between standing start acceleration with and without launch control.

 

[simcity]

More power? Sure why not. As long as no transistors, mosfets or thyrostora are harmed or get melted.

The increased angle on the RAS sounds intriguing - five degrees standard, sounds quite low on paper but IRL it makes a good bit of difference.

Ten degrees! would make for a tighter turn than a London black cab…however wearing 12” wide rubber instead of 6” skinny malinky tyres

 

[Mike in CA]

I'm with you on that. Was there any indication that such an enhancement would also improve acceleration other than from a standing start? Perhaps not coincidentally, in the case of several Taycan variants, that 0.2 seconds is about the difference between standing start acceleration with and without launch control.

The question started by referencing existing HP figures and stating that a potential On Demand boost in power would result in a 0.2 second quicker 0-60 time. I think that was just for a reference point. Since we already have launch control my assumption (hope?) was that this possible new On Demand feature would make additional short-term power available for situations other than just a standing start.

 

[whitex]

It wasn't made clear whether the feature would apply to existing models or only future builds. Because the survey started by asking about level of interest in existing On Demand features I kind of inferred that they were testing the waters on adding new ones that might apply to current models, but I could be wrong about that.

Were they asking about monthly subscription FoD (pay monthly), one time fee FoD, or trully on-demand (e.g. pay $5 every time you engage the power boost, or even pro-rated by how many seconds you used it for)?

 

[whitex]

It must be model dependant.
The power one can get from an electric motor and for how long depends strongly on how hot you are prepared to let things get.
The RWD has the same motor as the 4 and 4S in a different state of tune but must be running close to maximum given the performance despite consistent mention it is detuned. Maybe for part of the power curve, perhaps.
The 4 probably has margin but the 4S not much since it already is taking a lot more power than the 4 from the same motors.
The GTS again probably has a fair bit of margin whereas the Turbo probably not much since the only difference between Turbo and Turbo S is launch power and for that it has a bigger front inverter which none of the other models have.

So certainly any offering would have to be model dependant but I don’t see why they would do much of a change for various reasons.

I thought all Taycan's unlocked extra power in launch mode. Couldn't they simply make that same power available on-demand, not just from a stand-still?

 

[whitex]

Exactly. The 20 Seconds Boost feature is just brilliant and much more practical in daily use (just press the button! with no mode switching business) since this is basically an all-out mode up to the limit that all performance systems can handle. This does not need to be 20 seconds in the Taycan but even 5 seconds would be very material when overtaking in particular.

Just trigger it whenever the accelerator hits the floor, then after the 5 or 20 seconds, you have to wait another x minutes before it's available again.

 

[whitex]

More power? Sure why not. As long as no transistors, mosfets or thyrostora are harmed or get melted.

The increased angle on the RAS sounds intriguing - five degrees standard, sounds quite low on paper but IRL it makes a good bit of difference.

Ten degrees! would make for a tighter turn than a London black cab…however wearing 12” wide rubber instead of 6” skinny malinky tyres

Apparently they are thinking of copying Mercedes, who already charges a subscription for increased rear wheel steering angle. In the USA however it's always enabled, so they must have found people don't want to pay per month (or per turn ).

 

[f1eng]

I thought all Taycan's unlocked extra power in launch mode. Couldn't they simply make that same power available on-demand, not just from a stand-still?

Yes, of course, I am not sure how long it can be used nor how long it takes for the cooling to get the motors back into the temperature window. Probably 5 to 10 seconds for the first and a few minutes for the second.

I haven’t used launch control yet. My 4S has plenty of power for 99% of my driving around here. More power would be nice on paper but pointless in practice for me.

 

[whitex]

Yes, of course, I am not sure how long it can be used nor how long it takes for the cooling to get the motors back into the temperature window. Probably 5 to 10 seconds for the first and a few minutes for the second.

I haven’t used launch control yet. My 4S has plenty of power for 99% of my driving around here. More power would be nice on paper but pointless in practice for me.

I haven't used my launch control and have no plans on using it any time soon. Will probably try it once before the warranty is over to make sure it works and that nothing breaks.

That said, I would be interested if there was a boost mode, triggered when my accelerator hits the floor for even a few seconds, even if there was a recovery period afterwards. Is this a must-have, absolutely not, but a nice-to-have, sure. How much would it be worth to me, I would have to try it on a highway. That said, my car definitely has the kick I like - I did manage to break rear traction when punching the accelerator doing ~80mph on a straightaway once, granted there was blowing snow across the highway, but still. Some chance this could have been a gear change rather than raw torque that made the rear dance a little.

 

[Manyana]

Yes, of course, I am not sure how long it can be used nor how long it takes for the cooling to get the motors back into the temperature window. Probably 5 to 10 seconds for the first and a few minutes for the second.

I haven’t used launch control yet. My 4S has plenty of power for 99% of my driving around here. More power would be nice on paper but pointless in practice for me.

Do we want more power? Most of us would say yes however I had that very conversation with a mate the has a 718 Spyder, the same as I have. We both come from a racing background and were discussing whether we would upgrade to the GT4RS. As neither of us race anymore we debated how useable it would be on the road; it is probably the same answer with the Taycan.
I have also not used launch control and maybe never will, and I have driven the Turbo S many times, awesome acceleration but I just don’t need it.
Don’t you just hate getting old

 

[WuffvonTrips]

....
That said, I would be interested if there was a boost mode, triggered when my accelerator hits the floor for even a few seconds, even if there was a recovery period afterwards.

That sounds like the simplest way to implement it, though with the slight issue that the resultant boost would be unpredictable without a means of flagging its availability. For the fun factor, I'd like it done the way that ICE Porsche's deliver boost- a button in the centre of the sport chrono dial that counts down 10 seconds of boost on the instrument panel.
I find launch in the Turbo borderline unpleasant (in a way that similar g levels from braking and cornering isn't) and tbh it seems too boy racerish to do when there's anyone around to witness it - but extra punch once moving would always be welcome and usable.

 

[BigBob]

Do we want more power? Most of us would say yes however I had that very conversation with a mate the has a 718 Spyder, the same as I have. We both come from a racing background and were discussing whether we would upgrade to the GT4RS. As neither of us race anymore we debated how useable it would be on the road; it is probably the same answer with the Taycan.
I have also not used launch control and maybe never will, and I have driven the Turbo S many times, awesome acceleration but I just don’t need it.
Don’t you just hate getting old

Do a launch with your great grandchildren on board. They'll love it and you'll be the coolest grandpa out there.

Sponsored