Out of Spec Review Cross Turismo 4 Video

riburn3

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The content is coming in fast and fierce lately.



Another solid video from Out of Spec Reviews that asks the question, is the CT4 all that's really needed?

This was a question I asked myself coming from a 4S Taycan and ordering a CT4, and I ultimately realized the extra power wasn't worth the cost premium as a daily driver. After I got over the novelty speed of the 4S and my performance Model S before it, I basically never launched the cars again and never truly utilized all the extra power in the day to day.
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Kayone73

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His review was pretty fair and balanced, but having driven a normal 4S sedan before, that had just the right amount of straight line 'oomph' for the money IMHO, so I knew I wouldn't want to settle for the straight line power in the base CT4 when I ordered my CT4S.

Agree that aside from that detail, the regular CT4 would probably be perfect for most owners needs.
 
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riburn3

riburn3

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His review was pretty fair and balanced, but having driven a normal 4S sedan before, that had just the right amount of straight line 'oomph' for the money IMHO, so I knew I wouldn't want to settle for the straight line power in the base CT4 when I ordered my CT4S.

Agree that aside from that detail, the regular CT4 would probably be perfect for most owners needs.
Yeah it's all very personal. I have daily driven a 4S sedan for over a year now, and I really went back and forth about whether or not my Cross Turismo should be 4 or 4S. I even tested a RWD Taycan just to see if the power loss would bother me, and ultimately it didn't, and I still found it great to drive (and it's technically slower in a straight line than the CT4). That's ultimately why I decided to go with the CT4 instead. If the price gap between trims was a little closer, I would likely have gone with the CT4S, but knowing my driving habits living with a 4S for a year, I decided to save the nearly 20 grand. I think it's a really hard call in the CT range since they all come stock with a lot of base goodies that the sedan range does not.

You're right about the reviews. He is probably one of my favorite reviewers because he clearly knows about EV's and is enthusiastic about them. I feel like traditional car blogs/magazines still treat them as novelty. I loved his Lucid first drive video, where he has no trouble being critical of aspects of the car with the Lucid rep sitting right next to him.
 

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You're right about the reviews. He is probably one of my favorite reviewers because he clearly knows about EV's and is enthusiastic about them. I feel like traditional car blogs/magazines still treat them as novelty. I loved his Lucid first drive video, where he has no trouble being critical of aspects of the car with the Lucid rep sitting right next to him.
I also like how he's clearly a car/driving enthusiast in general, so his EV reviews speak to us more than some dedicated EV reviewers who mainly focus on battery range/efficiency and interior tech.
 
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riburn3

riburn3

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I also like how he's clearly a car/driving enthusiast in general, so his EV reviews speak to us more than some dedicated EV reviewers who mainly focus on battery range/efficiency and interior tech.
Absolutely, I think because of his EV Cannonball runs, he's one of the first in the media to realize a faster charge on a road trip is usually much more valuable than a bigger battery.

Tesla homers still continue to knock the range of Taycan, but if you plug even the longest range new Tesla S versus most Taycan trims for just about any road trip, the Taycan beats or at least ties the Tesla despite having "half" the EPA range.
 


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Not a fan of YouTube reviews. The majority of these “experts” are payed to give they’re opinion. I listen to folks who actually payed for their cars and actually lived with the car not a guy that drove the car for one day or one hour. I tend to believe that people in general are looking for confirmation bias when watching the influencers. Just my 0.02.
 
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riburn3

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Not a fan of YouTube reviews. The majority of these “experts” are payed to give they’re opinion. I listen to folks who actually payed for their cars and actually lived with the car not a guy that drove the car for one day or one hour. I tend to believe that people in general are looking for confirmation bias when watching the influencers. Just my 0.02.
If you actually followed this particular reviewer, he is mostly an EV focused enthusiast and has spent dozens if not hundreds of hours in the Taycan. He broke the EV Cannonball record in a Taycan which is nearly a 2 day journey in the car at dozens of charging stations (after breaking it in a Tesla previously). He's probably more of an expert about the ins and outs of a Taycan and the charging infrastructure across the whole nation than many of us.

I agree with you about more "traditional" car magazines and reviewers, and a lot of it exists for confirmation bias, but I seriously recommend taking a look at his reviews of other EV's as well. He's not afraid to dunk on something he doesn't like, and more than anything is just an EV geek like many of us.
 

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Not a fan of YouTube reviews. The majority of these “experts” are payed to give they’re opinion. I listen to folks who actually payed for their cars and actually lived with the car not a guy that drove the car for one day or one hour. I tend to believe that people in general are looking for confirmation bias when watching the influencers. Just my 0.02.
The problem is folks who don't review cars regularly aren't terrible good at giving good, polished, organized reviews and if they record and share a video on YT, they tend be to amateurish and painful to watch/listen to. Plus not being reviewers they tend not to have experience with similar vehicles in the competing segment which also provides useful info to me as a consumer and car enthusiast.

Having experience and reference points for comparison is also very important in a good car review IMHO.
 


Needsdecaf

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Not a fan of YouTube reviews. The majority of these “experts” are payed to give they’re opinion. I listen to folks who actually payed for their cars and actually lived with the car not a guy that drove the car for one day or one hour. I tend to believe that people in general are looking for confirmation bias when watching the influencers. Just my 0.02.
I will respectfully largely disagree with this.

There are many YouTuber influencers out there that are straight trash, doing it for the clicks. But there are multiple review channels that are actually good journalists and reviewers. Some have a style that may resonate with you. Matt Farah of The Smoking Tire is one who's opinion I respect, but his review style is narrow. He gives a brief fly around of the car, then drives it, canyon style. And while I respect his experience, I find this too limited unless it's a Sports Car. On the other end of the spectrum, you have a reviewer like Thomas M of Autogefuhl, who makes a 45 minute video reviewing, interior, exterior, driving, etc. That's a lot of info, but I appreciate the fact that I really get to know what a car is like. Alex on Autos does a very good job of breaking a car down, including pricing and very good discussion on how the car compares in it's segment. He's like a live Consumer Reports with a personality. His focus is on being a buying guide. And his reviews have helped me with placing cars. There are other reviewers that are competent like these guys, but I don't have enough bandwidth to view them all.

Yes, they get paid to do this but the good ones are honest about it. Autogefuhl even includes a "I got paid for this review" even thought the payment in most cases is just free access to the car, or the press launch food.

Kyle from Inside EV's is a pretty thorough journalist. Moreover, he's an EV enthusiast and super knowledgeable about current product. If you look at the last 6 months of his channel(s) and also the InsideEV's channel, he's driven just about every new and significant EV there is. From Lucid, to Plaid, to EQS, to all manner of Taycan, to Model 3 (which he owns), Kia, Audi Etron, EtronGT, Polestar 2, Volvo XC40, etc. Why WOULDN"T you trust a guy who has driven all of those cars, and clearly not afraid to call a spade a spade (he literally critiques the Lucid while driving with a Lucid employee)? He's got the knowledge base. not your or me.

What a random owner lacks on their "review" is perspective. They haven't driven everything in the segment. They haven't experienced multiple products, and multiple classes. They can't make the broad picture conclusions that someone who has literally driven 30-50 different cars a year can. And you talk about confirmation bias...no one is more biased than an owner who purchased a car for a bunch of money and has no plans to replace it. They are the ones creating their own confirmation bias.

So I find these reviews very helpful. Perhaps you need to search for some better sources.
 

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I will respectfully largely disagree with this.

There are many YouTuber influencers out there that are straight trash, doing it for the clicks. But there are multiple review channels that are actually good journalists and reviewers. Some have a style that may resonate with you. Matt Farah of The Smoking Tire is one who's opinion I respect, but his review style is narrow. He gives a brief fly around of the car, then drives it, canyon style. And while I respect his experience, I find this too limited unless it's a Sports Car. On the other end of the spectrum, you have a reviewer like Thomas M of Autogefuhl, who makes a 45 minute video reviewing, interior, exterior, driving, etc. That's a lot of info, but I appreciate the fact that I really get to know what a car is like. Alex on Autos does a very good job of breaking a car down, including pricing and very good discussion on how the car compares in it's segment. He's like a live Consumer Reports with a personality. His focus is on being a buying guide. And his reviews have helped me with placing cars. There are other reviewers that are competent like these guys, but I don't have enough bandwidth to view them all.

Yes, they get paid to do this but the good ones are honest about it. Autogefuhl even includes a "I got paid for this review" even thought the payment in most cases is just free access to the car, or the press launch food.

Kyle from Inside EV's is a pretty thorough journalist. Moreover, he's an EV enthusiast and super knowledgeable about current product. If you look at the last 6 months of his channel(s) and also the InsideEV's channel, he's driven just about every new and significant EV there is. From Lucid, to Plaid, to EQS, to all manner of Taycan, to Model 3 (which he owns), Kia, Audi Etron, EtronGT, Polestar 2, Volvo XC40, etc. Why WOULDN"T you trust a guy who has driven all of those cars, and clearly not afraid to call a spade a spade (he literally critiques the Lucid while driving with a Lucid employee)? He's got the knowledge base. not your or me.

What a random owner lacks on their "review" is perspective. They haven't driven everything in the segment. They haven't experienced multiple products, and multiple classes. They can't make the broad picture conclusions that someone who has literally driven 30-50 different cars a year can. And you talk about confirmation bias...no one is more biased than an owner who purchased a car for a bunch of money and has no plans to replace it. They are the ones creating their own confirmation bias.

So I find these reviews very helpful. Perhaps you need to search for some better sources.
I totally agree with this... There are a bunch of seasoned car reviewers, each of whom bring their own personalities and usefulness to serious potential-car-purchase researchers. Lots of people find Doug Demuro annoying, but he finds interesting features in the cars that he reviews that nobody else brings up. Mat of carwow is immensely fun to watch, and similarly brings up some interesting car features that others tend to miss or ignore. Autogefühl can also be annoying but bring out interesting features in cars that others miss. Shmee150 is among the most annoying, perhaps, but he actually buys cars like Taycan and shares his ownership experiences. Pcarwhisperer is not very polished but again brings out features in Porsches that others miss. The Canadian TheStraightPipes guys are fun to watch. All these guys review Porsches, including Taycans. But nobody reviews them in depth like Kyle, and nobody knows them like Kyle does, with his many long road trips across the US and Europe in Taycans.

Anybody who dismisses YouTube car reviews as being all worthless is missing a lot. Yes, spending a few hours in a car and then doing a review can miss things, but if the reviewer is a seasoned Porsche/Taycan reviewer (and some of them are owners of other/earlier Porsches that they are reviewing), he can bring a lot of information to the serious researcher/shopper; I have learned a lot about options from these YouTube reviews that have heavily influenced my choices when building my Porsches. And some of their reviews of non-Porsche EVs also are weighing heavily in my decision making, as there are some great new EVs coming on the market.
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