Taycan 4S vs Audi e-tron GT review

[TayFan]

I was a little disappointed how the GT looked, I felt front was a little contrived and busy and overall didn’t look that dissimilar to their normal cars, especial the S7

I think the Taycan will age a lot better

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[BMWMB]

After 4 years of driving a Tesla Model S, i have ordered an e-tron GT. I spoiled myself with a complete Exclusive configuration with Deep green exterior and Alabaster white interior and carbon trim. I'm also owner of 2 Porsches (964 convertible and 992 C2S coupé), and ofcourse i also testdrove the Taycan 4S. However i'm a big Porsche-fan, i decided to go for the e-tron, because it has no resemblance to the 992 as the Taycan does. In my eyes, the e-tron is more beautifull, and it's completely different than what i am used to. Because most of the buyers with this budget go for a Taycan, the e-tron GT is going to be a much more rare car.
For me it's a daily driver, and in the weekends, i take the 964 or the 992.
Delivery is foresees august. Waiting...

 

[RAHRCR]

Indeed the etron has some nice angles despite that front grille. Enjoy your Audi! I will envy your climate control buttons from afar. ?

 

[epirali]

Its funny as someone who had both I must be one of the very few people who didn't mind the Taycan climate control display, in fact I think I preferred it to the Audi buttons...

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

If you think the little switches are cheap in the Taycan, try touching these huge pieces in the E-Tron GT that I highlighted in yellow.
It's the cheapest plastic used in the lowest level VW, cosmetic CF and the instrument cluster overhang feel loose, with a lot of movement. The center console plastic piece is beyond cheap.

Piano black is wood, with a painted black veneer. These are straight plastic.

Taycan is put together much better, tighter fit on the dash.

Agreed. The Taycan is better built and better finished. There are areas in the Audi that use hard scratchy plastics, even if you opt for the full nappa leather upgrade. No such issue with the Taycan. Soft touch plastic abounds, or high grade leather if you option it.

We have a current model S-class as well and I could not say one is superior to the other. They are both remarkably well built and finished, they just have very different haptic and aesthetic aspirations. The S is designed, built and finished to create an air of relaxation and ease of use, whereas the Taycan is very much built as a focused performance car. It feels fantastic and it drives beautifully, but it is not a luxury car. Two very fine machines out of Stuttgart with very different philosophies.

 

[f1eng]

Another review.

This review was done on the roads round here and the stills are from a car park which I use sometimes when I walk my dog.
I had test driven the Audi, which I liked the styling of, but had found it a bit big and clumsy feeling.
My feeling of the superiority of the driving experience of the Taycan over the E-Tron GT is even bigger than they found.

The E-Tron GT with a nice set of upgrades is very much less expensive than the Taycan 4S so it is a great shame IMO.

 

[Jayyvr890]

Is there any mechanical difference between the etron GT and taycan or is it just all cosmetic?

 

[f1eng]

Is there any mechanical difference between the etron GT and taycan or is it just all cosmetic?

The software controlling how the car feels - the steering, ride and handling are all different even though they are controlling the same hardware.

I was surprised how different they felt when I demoed both. The Audi felt bigger and more cumbersome than the Taycan by a considerable margin. Nowhere near as pleasant to drive on the narrow, bumpy, twisty roads around here IMO.

Probably not that noticeable on wide straight highways though.

 

[or1]

Is there any mechanical difference between the etron GT and taycan or is it just all cosmetic?

Same hardware underneath if you spec them with equivalent options.

i have driven both (RS v. GTS) extensively, and agree that the differences in driving feel are remarkable. The RS is softer/number; some may feel it more comfortable on long trips on good roads. The Taycan is definitely more precise (controllable with precision and feedback) and planted, without being uncomfortable at all.

 

[arijaycomet]

The software controlling how the car feels - the steering, ride and handling are all different even though they are controlling the same hardware.

I was surprised how different they felt when I demoed both. The Audi felt bigger and more cumbersome than the Taycan by a considerable margin. Nowhere near as pleasant to drive on the narrow, bumpy, twisty roads around here IMO.

Probably not that noticeable on wide straight highways though.

PERFECTLY articulated here -- I've owned 3x Taycan and 2x eTron GT and would agree 100% with the wording above. Sight lines on the Porsche are better, easier to place. There is a sense of the Taycan shrinking around you, where the eTron GT feels big and burden. Around city roads in Cleveland (Ohio/USA) I did not like daily driving the Audi. It was more cushy on the freeway, but also more numb.

For me the eTron Gt does a better job with the interior ergo, HVAC controls, and normal exterior door handles. But that is really the only benefit to the Audi. In a perfect world if I could get a the steering/ride dynamics & exterior of my T4CT, with the Audi interior, I'd be a happy camper.

 

[kempez]

It's funny because I've just come to be really happy with the HVAC controls etc on the Taycan , albeit I quite liked them at first anyway. The fact that the basics are always there and available and the fact that the only thing I ever need to do on the 'hidden' menu (where the air gets directed), is change from 'Soft' to 'Strong' very infrequently, means they work excellently.

At least Porsche kept the stalks for indication/wipers/cruise and kept the steering wheel pretty much for steering and the odd control (like volume), keeps that part very simple.

For me, the interior works well and is at minimum on par with RS Audi interiors I've had. Build quality is miles ahead of Mercedes plastic-ey/creaky interiors.

 

[arijaycomet]

It's funny because I've just come to be really happy with the HVAC controls etc on the Taycan , albeit I quite liked them at first anyway. The fact that the basics are always there and available and the fact that the only thing I ever need to do on the 'hidden' menu (where the air gets directed), is change from 'Soft' to 'Strong' very infrequently, means they work excellently.

At least Porsche kept the stalks for indication/wipers/cruise and kept the steering wheel pretty much for steering and the odd control (like volume), keeps that part very simple.

For me, the interior works well and is at minimum on par with RS Audi interiors I've had. Build quality is miles ahead of Mercedes plastic-ey/creaky interiors.

In the Volvo/Polestar products (and maybe Tesla these days?) you have to open up a menu to then turn on/set the heated seats/steering wheel etc. So I agree that the physical heater button (wheel) and the "always accessible" heater/cooler buttons (seats) are really nice. However they are VERY low, eyes FAR down off the road. I find it rather unsafe and unsettling to have to take my eyes off the road to find those buttons on a screen. Whereas in the Audi, you dont have to take your eyes down as far, and since your hands are on the right clicker, you can adjust things more intuitively. I don't think the Porsche is bad, but I do think tactile buttons are better.

And don't get me started on the stalks situation. I had looked at the updated Tesla model S a few months ago considering getting one. I hated the lack of stalks, so bad!

I'm the "set it and forget it" type of person with my vents, so having them be screen controlled doesn't bother me. But my wife hates that; and having physical vents she can tweak non-stop is a must-have for her. She loves her Volvo XC40 and will replace it with an EX30, for that reason. She is not a fan of the Porsche/Tesla style of digital HVAC vent aiming.

 

[kempez]

In the Volvo/Polestar products (and maybe Tesla these days?) you have to open up a menu to then turn on/set the heated seats/steering wheel etc. So I agree that the physical heater button (wheel) and the "always accessible" heater/cooler buttons (seats) are really nice. However they are VERY low, eyes FAR down off the road. I find it rather unsafe and unsettling to have to take my eyes off the road to find those buttons on a screen. Whereas in the Audi, you dont have to take your eyes down as far, and since your hands are on the right clicker, you can adjust things more intuitively. I don't think the Porsche is bad, but I do think tactile buttons are better.

And don't get me started on the stalks situation. I had looked at the updated Tesla model S a few months ago considering getting one. I hated the lack of stalks, so bad!

I'm the "set it and forget it" type of person with my vents, so having them be screen controlled doesn't bother me. But my wife hates that; and having physical vents she can tweak non-stop is a must-have for her. She loves her Volvo XC40 and will replace it with an EX30, for that reason. She is not a fan of the Porsche/Tesla style of digital HVAC vent aiming.

Yes we've and XC90 and the HVAC controls are absolutely awful in that! My wife generally sets and forgets in her car, but the temperature and heated wheel/seats etc are a right pain to get at, as are the car modes.

The thing is: it's not much lower, see pictures (best I could do between meetings). However, I do agree that a physical button is easier to locate and so makes more ergonomic sense. I've adapted my muscle memory in mine now such that I easily find the spot without any real distraction.

 

[arijaycomet]

The thing is: it's not much lower, see pictures (best I could do between meetings). However, I do agree that a physical button is easier to locate and so makes more ergonomic sense. I've adapted my muscle memory in mine now such that I easily find the spot without any real distraction.

Perhaps but -- Wow, those photos are a horrible representation of how things actually work in real life. Those are taken from the back seat basically. Which might work for you or someone who is 6ft tall or taller. But I'm at the VERY bottom of height; a mere 5'3" or 1.6 meters tall. Hence for me I sit with the seat VERY far forward. This means that the angle for the screen is very much down towards the ground, not "forward" facing like this photo suggests.

Hence in the Audi, not only were there tactile buttons to be able to hover over w/o looking, then click -- but the heater for the driver seat is at around 3/4 o'clock of the steering wheel. However, on the Porsche, the heater is below the steering wheel bottom (lower than it) and at such a hard angle down off the road that I'm diverting my eyes with no peripheral chance of seeing traffic. additionally no tactile feel, so for me to tweak my seat heat/cooling (which I do often during a drive), I have to look down briefly.

I've used the voice commands, but going back to the Volvo reference, the newer Google AAOS based systems work better. "set the seat heater to high/med/low" works great in google. Porsche only allows you to turn the heated seats down 1x level at a time, or off/on entirely, and it doesn't seem to work as reliably as the volvo new AAOS based systems. and certainly not as fast. But I digress, to each their own.... I happen to think the Volvo/Polestar infotainment systems, while somewhat basic, are snappy and reliable and easy/safer to use than most others. I just prefer how a Porsche drives

 

[Grayblack]

I went from an etron gt to Taycan GTS ST a few weeks ago. I do miss the hvac buttons on the GT, but getting used to the touch screen. The Taycan has a lower seating position than the GT, which I personally prefer. The handling and suspension are tighter in the Taycan. Overall, they're both fantastic cars.

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