StackPivot
Member
- First Name
- Tim
- Joined
- May 9, 2022
- Threads
- 1
- Messages
- 14
- Reaction score
- 23
- Location
- SF Bay Area
- Vehicles
- Taycan RWD
- Thread starter
- #1
I picked up my Taycan almost one year ago and have put on a little more than 8000 miles on it. I hope this is helpful to someone that has an allocation and is considering various options. Everyone has a unique situation on what they’re looking for and their prior automobiles have helped shape their decision on their future cars. I put in some context into which options I chose, why I chose them, and what I think of them now.
Context
Build info with comments
Things I didn’t get and why:
Biggest Surprises
My biggest wish for the Taycan for the model year refresh
Context
- The first car and last car I bought was a S2000 AP1 (I still own and love it!)
- I do have a BMW X1, but I consider that my partner’s daily driver
- I have a son. He was 2 when I got the allocation and was 3 when it was delivered.
- My partner said we needed another car (because of the kiddo) - and it needed to be electric because “the world is on fire.” I said the Taycan is the only EV car I would consider. (Ok - Maybe Audi e Tron or the BMW i4 M50)
- We live in the SF Bay Area and do plenty of city driving.
- This is primarily a daily driver - taking the kiddo to school, grocery runs, going to the office etc.
- I wanted the flexibility of doing a roadtrip (maximize range) and doing some occasional canyon carving.
- I didn’t test drive the car before purchasing it.
Build info with comments
- RWD Taycan
- Cherry Metallic
- Love the color. I’m even happier I got it before they discontinued it for 2024.
- Standard Interior in Black/Limestone Beige
- I know there is a lot of discussion about this. I got the standard interior and I’m happy with it. Very comfortable and nice. I didn’t want to spend the additional money with the car being a daily driver and my toddler son kicking the passenger seat and crawling over the rear seat.
- I wear jeans daily. It’s true that some of the color of the jeans will rub off and onto the seats and is somewhat noticeable on the limestone color.
- Rear Axle Steering
- It really makes the turning radius short.
- You need this if
- You frequently drive in close urban quarters (e.g. Parking garages)
- You don’t need this if
- You’re mostly a suburban driver.
- You need this if
- It really makes the turning radius short.
- Model Designation on Rear in High Gloss Black
- Personal preference
- Adaptive Air Suspension incl. PASM
- I find this invaluable. This car is very low to the ground. Perhaps a bit lower than my S2000. I have a smartlift just for my garage. Also, it’s great lowering the car for range mode while optimizing efficiency and lowering for sport/plus mode.
- You need this if
- You live in a hilly area
- You have a driveway with a sharp angle
- You may not need this if
- You live in an area where it is mostly flat (Florida, midwest, etc) and
- You option the surround view to make sure you don’t hit the parking curb at the supermarket.
- You need this if
- I find this invaluable. This car is very low to the ground. Perhaps a bit lower than my S2000. I have a smartlift just for my garage. Also, it’s great lowering the car for range mode while optimizing efficiency and lowering for sport/plus mode.
- 20" Taycan Turbo Aero Wheels
- Great balance between ride/comfort, efficiency, looks, and price. No complaints.
- Rear 2+1 Seats
- For the occasional extra person/kiddo.
- Sport Chrono Package
- You need this if
- You want Sport Plus for canyon carving
- You want to individualize the driving experience
- You want a simple dial to adjust the driving mode
- You don’t need this if
- You don’t do a lot of spirited driving.
- I like being able to use the dial on the steering wheel to change the driving mode versus using the button on the dash. Also, surprisingly I like the clock on the dash. I find myself looking at the clock on the sport chrono most often because the clock on the dash is obstructed by the steering wheel!
- You need this if
- Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (PTV+)
- The canyon carving on this car is great. I’ve been very happy on the occasional trip with the local PCA. That said, I don’t have a frame of reference for a Taycan without PTV+
- Performance Battery Plus (93.4 kWh)
- For the road tripping piece.
- 19.2 kW On-Board Charger
- You want this if
- You want the fastest charging at home
- You want the fastest “destination charging” available
- You don’t want this if
- You don’t want to put in a hardwired 100 AMP charger/circuit in your home.
- Personally, I didn’t realize that this option would need a hardwired option at home to take advantage of the faster charging. I’ve used this option exactly once to get 14 kw destination charging. I have a NEMA 14-50 in my home and it has been working well. Personally, I wouldn’t choose this for future builds.
- -> Update: After 7200 miles, the charger blew out and it needed to be replaced. Same as this thread. Seems to be a chronic problem with this charger. Given the problems with this charger, I wouldn’t recommend it.
- You want this if
- On-Board 150 kW/400V DC Charger
- You want this if
- You’ll be doing some road tripping and intend to use the Tesla Supercharging network
- You don’t need this if
- You are using J1772 chargers (e.g Electrify America) exclusively for road tripping
- Personally, I think everyone should get this.
- You want this if
- Porsche Intelligent Range Manager
- I don’t know what this thing does. I probably wouldn’t option this again.
- Pedals in Aluminum
- My S2000 has pedals in aluminum. I don’t know why they don’t include this as standard.
- Door-Sill Guards in Black Brushed Aluminum
- My S2000 has aluminum door sills. The plastic ones look cheap. I don’t know why they don’t include this as standard.
- Porsche Experience Center Delivery (Los Angeles)
- This was a great experience with driving time, simulator time, and lunch included. Since purchasing the price has since gone up by 4x.
- Premium Package
- Ionizer
- With all of the wildfires on the west coast, the system seems to do a pretty good job of filtering the air.
- Surround View
- I think everyone should option this. Since the car is very low to the ground the surrounding view is invaluable to make sure that you do not hit the supermarket parking curb.
- Storage Package
- Power Folding Exterior Mirrors
- You need this if
- You have a narrow garage
- I fold in my mirrors every time I get into my garage
- You have a narrow garage
- You may not need this if
- You have a extra wide garage
- You don’t parallel park in a city with the chance of someone clipping your mirrors
- You need this if
- Ambient Lighting
- Party trick. Included in part of the premium package. I’m meh on it. My son (4 y/o now) likes it.
- Ionizer
- Porsche Dynamic Light System Plus (PDLS+)
- I like how the headlights swivel around the corners.
- I didn’t option the LED headlights because of outdated US regulations making them not usable in the US. (If it was allowed, I would have optioned)
- BOSE® Surround Sound System
- I haven’t heard the others. But generally I’m happy with the Bose surround.
- Fixed Panoramic Roof in Glass
- My son kinda likes this. I’m more “meh”. Luckily it doesn’t get the car too hot and the Porsche app helps for pre-cooling helps.
- Ventilated Seats (Front)
- You might want this if
- You live in a hot weather climate (Florida, Texas, SoCal, etc)
- You might not want this if
- You live in a cold or cool weather climate
- Personally, growing up in Florida, I really like being able to throw on the fans in the seat. I’m a fan.
- You might want this if
- Power Seats (14-way) with Comfort Memory
- You want these if:
- Your Taycan is a daily driver
- You’re a bigger person
- You may not want these if:
- You have a GTS, Turbo or Turbo S and are doing some track time and it isn’t your daily driver (get the sports seats). Otherwise, you should consider the comfort seats instead. If you have a GTS, get the GTS package.
- This (comfort seats) is probably the best option for most
- You want these if:
- Remote ParkAssist incl. Lane Change Assist LCA)
- You need this if:
- You are a terrible parallel parker
- You want rear cross traffic alert
- You probably don’t need this if
- You don’t do a lot of parallel parking
- You don’t want a rear cross traffic alert
- Generally I like the remote park assist. I mostly use it for parallel parking because I'm a terrible parallel parker. But it does have its limitations. If you’re on a decline/incline the system cannot parallel park. Also the system will occasionally (but not frequently) get confused as to which spot it is supposed to back into.
- Also, it seems to be reliant on the ultrasonic sensors, which frequently get finicky and will abruptly stop because it perceives an obstacle (maybe because of dirty sensors?)
- The remote park assist has grazed my wheels on the curb, which makes the wheel and tire package a good purchase. ?
- I think that Remote Park Assist also includes rear cross traffic alert. I use every day getting out of my garage and has saved myself and some pedestrians by emergency braking.
- I would get this again just for the rear cross traffic alert!
- Lane change assist.
- Yes! Every car should have this.
- You need this if:
Things I didn’t get and why:
- Innodrive
- I think that Innodrive includes some extra sensors for the front/intersection alerting. I would want to try it, considering how much I like rear traffic alerts. But I wouldn’t get it just to have the system dynamically adjust the speed for an off ramp.
- Electric Sport Sound
- The exterior sound is the perfect amount of sound. There’s a mild amount of noise you can hear inside the car from the outside. Not interested in the generic electric sound.
- PCSB
- I didn’t opt for this because much of the braking occurs via the engine. Ie you’re unlikely to exceed the performance of the brakes with daily driving.
- However, You may want this if
- You track your car
- However, You may want this if
- I didn’t opt for this because much of the braking occurs via the engine. Ie you’re unlikely to exceed the performance of the brakes with daily driving.
- PDCC
- Not available on the RWD Taycan. But this car is so well composed without it, I would encourage anyone to test drive with and without the option before making a decision.
- Heads up display
- Seemed to provide limited useful information (things may have changed). Also, in the dash you can choose to have the map or extended map. Seems to minimize the need for this.
- Passenger Display
- You mean it can only change the audio? Pass.
- Rear seat entertainment
- Get your kiddo an iPad instead
- Mobile connect charger
- Check out the ev guy and get the best charger for you!
- Power charge port cover
- I was concerned about the software/kinks of using the motorized version. Since there has been more than one instance of people having trouble with the motorized cover. I’m happy I didn’t choose this. Also, it adds a small amount of range with the standard cover.
- This car is so calm and composed. Unflappable.
- I love the advanced safety features. I love how the car will auto brake for your when you get too close to another car (e.g. parallel parking)
- The range manager will occasionally give a blue swirling logo. I have to perform a PCM reset to get it calculating again. All other functions work.
- There’s the occasional software gremlins, but nothing major. For example, e sound error, but driving is still possible. I turn off the car and turn on again, and it clears.
- I’ve come to appreciate the hill hold feature very much. I never realized that when you are on a hill that you need the hill hold feature to prevent you from rolling back on a hill in an EV.
- The canyon carving is excellent with RWD + RAS + PTV + Sport Chrono. On par with my S2000 (aside from very noticeable weight difference)
- I really love the build quality. Compared to the horror stories I’ve heard with Tesla, I’m super appreciative of the folks in Stuttgart and the care they put into making the Taycan.
Biggest Surprises
- Acceleration. I was thinking it was going to be more of a melt your face acceleration. The RWD is not that. However, for the day to day I don’t need more than what is in base. I also wonder how much this would be a party trick over time. (ie How much I would really use launch control).
- If I had to do it again and budget permitted, I would have looked closer at the 4S or GTS.
- Holy crap, I dislike the comfort access and touching the door handles for locking.
- I frequently find myself opening the door handle while simultaneously hitting the locking ident. This makes the car lock itself. Once this happens I have to remove my key and purposefully hit the unlock button. Seems to me to be a design flaw
My biggest wish for the Taycan for the model year refresh
- When the Taycan comes out with the NACS port I hope that one side will be NACS and the other will be a J1772/CCS. No more adapters and best of both worlds!
Sponsored
. I love switching between a torque monster and a rev monster on the weekends.
