Torv
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Torv
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2020
- Threads
- 69
- Messages
- 873
- Reaction score
- 1,137
- Location
- Marin County, California
- Vehicles
- Taycan 4S
- Thread starter
- #1
Long story short, it was a piece of cake.
We left Marin after charging to 100% and drove 273 miles to Lost Hills off of I-5 to charge with about 34 miles of range on my Taycan. I drove mostly in Range Mode, setting the cruise control at 79 MPH. Once at Lost Hills, we found a 350kW charger and plugged it in. Plug and Charge worked perfectly, after a few anxious moments as the EA charger went through its rather lengthy authentication process. We had lunch at a crappy Taco Bell as that was the best choice available and hit the road again after the car was charged to 97% after just over 35 minutes. We then drove all the way to Marina Del Rey and our hotel and arrived with 124 miles left in the tank. The hotel had EV charging available so that night I had the valet charge the car up to 85% for the duration of our stay.
The next day it was off to the Porsche Experience Center LA in Carson for a couple of hours of intense instruction on the Taycan 4S. It was a serious blast! My instructor, Eric took me through a phalanx of exercises and courses in one of their Taycans all of which were designed to emphasize the handling and performance characteristics of the Taycan. There was a mini Nürburgring with tight corners, wild-ass chicanes, and straightaways. Eric was in a lead car and instructed me via walkie-talkie about when to brake and accelerate, most of which I kind of already knew. What I didn't know was how fast I could go around the course as he encouraged me to be more aggressive in order to truly experience what the Taycan is capable of. The Taycan has breathtaking handling and adheres to the tarmac like it's on rails, and I never came close to losing the car and was flying through the turns at speeds I would never have thought possible.
Eric also had me do a few launches paired with a few 100% braking stops. I was amazed at how short the stops were at high speeds.
My biggest challenge was the simulated black ice scenario. That was tough. Basically, you're told to drive straight at 25-30 MPH towards a very slick, wet surface. There is a hydraulic kick plate buried under the tarmac that's activated after the front wheel passes a sensor that throws the car into an unexpected, uncontrolled spin. Your instructions are to focus on the Porsche logo on the building ahead counter-steer and bring the car straight after the rear end kicks out. I did the exercise 5 times and could only succeed once in bringing the car straight and to a controlled, safe stop. The rest I completely spun 360s. Eric kept telling me to be more aggressive with the steering input, really whip it around to lock and back again. It was hard, and I need way more practice experiencing that, so it's a good thing I'm a Californian!
Finally, we closed with another couple of launches, propelling the car to about 110MPH coupled a 35º 180 banked turn. I hit the turn at about 60 MPH and the car again glided through like it was glued to the road.
We drove back on Sunday. The only hiccup was I told the valet to charge the car before we checked out and the knucklehead failed to do that, so we drove to the Westfield Mall in Century City where the PIRM indicated there was an EA charger. After driving around the massive parking structure for about 10 minutes, we found the charger, plugged it in, and walked around the mall for about 40 minutes. We returned to the car with 97% charge and an indicated range of 273 miles, and hit the road. We encountered incredibly slow traffic as we left the San Fernando Valley for about 30 minutes until we passed Valencia, then it was smooth sailing, though with more traffic on i-5 than usual the entire way. The PIRM indicated that we stop at the EA charger in Panoche and we did 243 miles later with 47 miles of available range. There was only one 350 kW charger there and it was being used by a Mustang Mach-E, so we plugged into one of the 150 kW chargers, waited for the authentication to complete, and charging began. 30 minutes later we were on the road with 92% charge and made it home with 110 miles of range available.
All told it took about 6 and hours to LA and just over 7 hours home because of traffic. The Taycan is a terrific car for road trips, superbly responsive and relaxing to drive. I wasn't the least bit fatigued and got more than a few thumbs up on the trip. I am absolutely in love with this car!
We left Marin after charging to 100% and drove 273 miles to Lost Hills off of I-5 to charge with about 34 miles of range on my Taycan. I drove mostly in Range Mode, setting the cruise control at 79 MPH. Once at Lost Hills, we found a 350kW charger and plugged it in. Plug and Charge worked perfectly, after a few anxious moments as the EA charger went through its rather lengthy authentication process. We had lunch at a crappy Taco Bell as that was the best choice available and hit the road again after the car was charged to 97% after just over 35 minutes. We then drove all the way to Marina Del Rey and our hotel and arrived with 124 miles left in the tank. The hotel had EV charging available so that night I had the valet charge the car up to 85% for the duration of our stay.
The next day it was off to the Porsche Experience Center LA in Carson for a couple of hours of intense instruction on the Taycan 4S. It was a serious blast! My instructor, Eric took me through a phalanx of exercises and courses in one of their Taycans all of which were designed to emphasize the handling and performance characteristics of the Taycan. There was a mini Nürburgring with tight corners, wild-ass chicanes, and straightaways. Eric was in a lead car and instructed me via walkie-talkie about when to brake and accelerate, most of which I kind of already knew. What I didn't know was how fast I could go around the course as he encouraged me to be more aggressive in order to truly experience what the Taycan is capable of. The Taycan has breathtaking handling and adheres to the tarmac like it's on rails, and I never came close to losing the car and was flying through the turns at speeds I would never have thought possible.
Eric also had me do a few launches paired with a few 100% braking stops. I was amazed at how short the stops were at high speeds.
My biggest challenge was the simulated black ice scenario. That was tough. Basically, you're told to drive straight at 25-30 MPH towards a very slick, wet surface. There is a hydraulic kick plate buried under the tarmac that's activated after the front wheel passes a sensor that throws the car into an unexpected, uncontrolled spin. Your instructions are to focus on the Porsche logo on the building ahead counter-steer and bring the car straight after the rear end kicks out. I did the exercise 5 times and could only succeed once in bringing the car straight and to a controlled, safe stop. The rest I completely spun 360s. Eric kept telling me to be more aggressive with the steering input, really whip it around to lock and back again. It was hard, and I need way more practice experiencing that, so it's a good thing I'm a Californian!
Finally, we closed with another couple of launches, propelling the car to about 110MPH coupled a 35º 180 banked turn. I hit the turn at about 60 MPH and the car again glided through like it was glued to the road.
We drove back on Sunday. The only hiccup was I told the valet to charge the car before we checked out and the knucklehead failed to do that, so we drove to the Westfield Mall in Century City where the PIRM indicated there was an EA charger. After driving around the massive parking structure for about 10 minutes, we found the charger, plugged it in, and walked around the mall for about 40 minutes. We returned to the car with 97% charge and an indicated range of 273 miles, and hit the road. We encountered incredibly slow traffic as we left the San Fernando Valley for about 30 minutes until we passed Valencia, then it was smooth sailing, though with more traffic on i-5 than usual the entire way. The PIRM indicated that we stop at the EA charger in Panoche and we did 243 miles later with 47 miles of available range. There was only one 350 kW charger there and it was being used by a Mustang Mach-E, so we plugged into one of the 150 kW chargers, waited for the authentication to complete, and charging began. 30 minutes later we were on the road with 92% charge and made it home with 110 miles of range available.
All told it took about 6 and hours to LA and just over 7 hours home because of traffic. The Taycan is a terrific car for road trips, superbly responsive and relaxing to drive. I wasn't the least bit fatigued and got more than a few thumbs up on the trip. I am absolutely in love with this car!